🔍 Laravel devs, be careful when using count() with groupBy!

If you’re working with queries that include groupBy and having, you should know that the ->count() method can return incorrect results. 😬

That’s because count() ignores the grouping and having filters when building the final query.

❌ Incorrect usage:

$query = User::query()
    ->select('role', DB::raw('count(*) as total'))
    ->groupBy('role')
    ->having('total', '>', 5);

$total = $query->count(); // Ignores groupBy/having

✅ Correct solution:

$total = $query->toBase()->getCountForPagination();

This method respects the grouping and provides an accurate count — especially useful for reports, dashboards, or paginated aggregated data.

📌 Pro tip: When working with grouped or aggregated queries, prefer using toBase()->getCountForPagination() to avoid misleading results.

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