Related: #57738

The Illuminate\Database\Query\Builder::aggregate() method (used by count(), sum(), min(), max(), avg()) returns only the first row when combined with groupBy(). This behavior is incorrect, misleading, and inconsistent with SQL semantics.

Users expect:

• count() → number of groups
• sum() → sum of group totals
• min() → smallest group value

But Laravel returns only the first group's result.

Current (Buggy) Behavior

Post::groupBy('post_category_id')->count();

Generated SQL (Laravel)

SELECT COUNT(*) AS aggregate 
FROM `posts` 
GROUP BY `post_category_id`;

+-----------+
| aggregate |
+-----------+
|         3 |
|       459 |
+-----------+

Laravel Returns 3 // Only first row — WRONG if user expects group count

User confusion:
“SQL shows 2 groups, but Laravel returns 3?” → Actually returns first group count, not total or group count.

Steps To Reproduce

Example Data

-- Table: posts
+----+--------------------+---------+
| id | post_category_id   | title   |
+----+--------------------+---------+
|  1 |                  1 | Post A  |
|  2 |                  2 | Post B  |
|  3 |                  3 | Post C  |
+----+--------------------+---------+

Post::groupBy('post_category_id')->count(); // returns 1