The built-in unique rule does not automatically ignore soft-deleted records. This means if a record exists with a non-null deleted_at, the default unique validation would still fail.

My UniqueWithTrashed rule automatically ignores soft-deleted items, making it easier to enforce uniqueness only among active records without repeating custom query logic each time. It’s especially helpful in applications that heavily use soft deletes.

The UniqueWithTrashed rule is helpful because it ignores soft-deleted items (deleted_at not null) when checking uniqueness. This ensures that only active records are considered, which the default unique rule doesn’t do automatically.

Rule::unique()->withoutTrashed()