Add ability to properly set locale (session/account)

app/Http/Controllers/HomeController.php

@@ -111,11 +111,13 @@ class HomeController extends Controller
      */
     public function updateLanguage(Request $request): \Illuminate\Http\RedirectResponse
     {
-        if(! in_array($request->language, config('lang-detector.languages'))) {
-            return redirect()->back();
-        }
+        abort_unless(in_array($request->language, config('app.supported_locales'), true), 404);
 
-        Cookie::queue(Cookie::forever('locale', $request->language));
+        session(['locale' => $request->language]);
+
+        if (Auth::check()) {
+            Auth::user()->update(['locale' => $request->language]);
+        }
 
         return redirect()->back();
     }

app/Http/Kernel.php

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ class Kernel extends HttpKernel
             \App\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken::class,
             \Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
             \App\Http\Middleware\IsBanned::class,
+            \App\Http\Middleware\SetLocale::class,
         ],
 
         'api' => [

app/Http/Middleware/SetLocale.php

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Http\Middleware;
+
+use Closure;
+use Illuminate\Http\Request;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\App;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
+
+class SetLocale
+{
+    /**
+     * Handle an incoming request.
+     *
+     * @param  \Closure(\Illuminate\Http\Request): (\Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response)  $next
+     */
+    public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next): Response
+    {
+        // 1. Logged-in user preference
+        if (Auth::check() && Auth::user()->locale) {
+            App::setLocale(Auth::user()->locale);
+            return $next($request);
+        }
+
+        // 2. Session (guest or user override)
+        if (session()->has('locale') && in_array($request->language, config('app.supported_locales'), true)) {
+            App::setLocale(session('locale'));
+            return $next($request);
+        }
+
+        // 3. Browser language
+        $locale = $request->getPreferredLanguage(config('app.supported_locales'));
+
+        if ($locale) {
+            App::setLocale($locale);
+        }
+
+        return $next($request);
+    }
+}

config/app.php

@@ -111,6 +111,18 @@ return [
 
     'faker_locale' => 'en_US',
 
+    /*
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    | Supported Locales
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    |
+    | This is used to display the supported locales by this app, it also is 
+    | used to verify session data and requests in the SetLocale Middleware
+    |
+    */
+
+    'supported_locales' => ['en', 'de', 'fr'],
+
     /*
     |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
     | Encryption Key

database/migrations/2026_01_11_151205_add_locale_to_users_table.php

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    /**
+     * Run the migrations.
+     */
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->string('locale', 10)
+                  ->nullable()
+                  ->after('discord_avatar');
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reverse the migrations.
+     */
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->dropColumn('locale');
+        });
+    }
+};