@1. I think I'd probably use a route filter for this, like so:
Route::filter('apikey', function(){
if (Shared\API::checkIfKeyIsValid(Input::get('key') != true){
return Shared\Errors::handleError("bad-api-key");
}
});
You can see this filter checks to make sure some session variables are set and match, and if it returns ANYTHING, that's failing, and it won't send the user where the route normally goes. You'd call it in the route like so:
Route::get('play/{id}', array('before' => 'loggedin', 'uses' => 'ThingController@doThing'));
@2. I think a route group is how I'd structure this (if I understand what you're asking).
Edit: You've changed the question since I answered, regarding the prefix being a variable. I'd reorder your arguments so the API key is at the end, or you could take a look at this, which might do what you want: https://github.com/jasonlewis/enhanced-router
Route::group(array('prefix' => 'api'), function()
{
//the routes for all API calls
Route::group(array('prefix' => '/v1'), function()
{
//for version 1
Route::group(array('prefix' => '/thing', 'before' => 'loggedin'), function()
{
//for things only
Route::get('/getThing/{id}', 'APIController@getThing');
Route::get('/getDifferentThing/{id}/{aux}/{optional?}', 'APIController@getDifferentThing');
});
});
});
@3. The returning of the data should be done via your controller with the data coming from the model. Either return it as a view, or just return it as JSON like so:
return Response::json($data);