Middleware Not Functioning Only on API Routes in Laravel 9.19

Question

I have set up a project and written some routes in the api.php route file. I created a middleware, registered the middleware in the Kernel.php file, and then implemented the middleware in the api.php route group. However, when I hit the route, the request is not being received in the middleware. I have even followed the implementation steps from the Laravel documentation, but the problem remains the same – the request is not being received in the middleware.

routes/api.php

Route::group(["middleware" => "api_auth"], function () {
    Route::get("/categories", ["uses" => "ApiController@getCategories"]);
    Route::get("/child/categories", ["uses" => "ApiController@getChildCategories"]);
});

Another method for implementing middleware in api.php routes

Route::middleware(\App\Http\Middleware\ApiAuthentication::class)->group(function () {
    Route::get("/categories", ["uses" => "ApiController@getCategories"]);
    Route::get("/child/categories", ["uses" => "ApiController@getChildCategories"]);
});

app/Http/Kernel.php

protected $routeMiddleware = [
    'api_auth' => \App\Http\Middleware\ApiAuthentication::class,
];

app/Providers/RouteServiceProvider.php

public function boot() {
    $this->configureRateLimiting();

    $this->routes(function () {
        Route::middleware('api')
                ->middleware("throttle:30:1")// 60requests in 2 mins
                ->namespace('App\Http\Controllers')
                ->prefix('api')
                ->group(base_path('routes/api.php'));

        Route::middleware('web')
                ->namespace('App\Http\Controllers\Admin')
                ->group(base_path('routes/web.php'));
    });
}

app/Http/Middleware/ApiAuthentication.php

namespace App\Http\Middleware;

use Closure;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class ApiAuthentication {

    /**
     * Handle an incoming request.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Http\Request  $request
     * @param  \Closure(\Illuminate\Http\Request): (\Illuminate\Http\Response|\Illuminate\Http\RedirectResponse)  $next
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\Response|\Illuminate\Http\RedirectResponse
     */
    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next) {
        $locale = "ar";
        \Log::info("-- middware locale setting --{$locale}");
        app('translator')->setLocale($locale);
        return $next($request);
    }
}

I have spent a significant amount of time on this issue but have been unable to identify the problem.

Answer 1

try

Route::middleware(['api_auth'])->group(function () {
   Route::get("/categories", ["uses" => "ApiController@getCategories"]);
   Route::get("/child/categories", ["uses" => "ApiController@getChildCategories"]);
});