Yeah, that JSON structure you're using is pretty heavy. JSON:API solves some problems, but for most Laravel apps it just adds a lot of noise. If you don’t really need JSON:API compatibility, you can go with something much cleaner and easier to work with. A common pattern is:

• Keep objects mostly flat
• Nest relationships only when needed
• Maybe wrap everything in a simple "data" key
• Skip the whole type, attributes, relationships, included ceremony.

// Example list response:
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "foo": "bar"
    }
  ]
}

// Example show response with an included author:
{
  "data": {
    "id": 1,
    "title": "Bug in checkout",
    "description": "Steps to reproduce...",
    "status": "open",
    "author": {
      "id": 5,
      "name": "Jeremy",
      "email": "jeremy@example.com"
    }
  }
}
// Nice and clean, no extra layers.

A simpler TicketResource example:

public function toArray(Request $request): array
{
    return [
        'id'     => $this->id,
        'title'  => $this->title,
        'description' => $this->when(
            $request->routeIs('tickets.*'),
            $this->description
        ),
        'status' => $this->status,
        // Include relationship only if it's loaded
        'author' => new UserResource($this->whenLoaded('author')),
        // Optional links if you like that style
        'links' => [
            'self'   => route('tickets.show', $this->id),
            'author' => $this->when(
                $this->relationLoaded('author'),
                fn () => route('authors.show', $this->author->id)
            ),
        ],
    ];
}

// Controller example
$tickets = Ticket::query()
    ->when($request->boolean('include_author'), fn ($q) => $q->with('author'))
    ->paginate();

return TicketResource::collection($tickets);

There’s no official Laravel standard for API shape but this lighter style is extremely common and much easier to maintain. If you don’t need strict JSON:API rules, going simpler is usually the better