laravel: function in model must return a relationship instance

I faced that error when I forgot to write return before relation in the model!
check it out now!

I know this has already been answered and accepted. However, if the OP did want to use a property accessor rather than a method use the "get{property name}Attribute" syntax of Laravel to create a custom attribute.

Here is what it would look like for this specific case:

public function getPathAttribute()
{
    return App\Helper\GeneralController::getURL($this);
}

using this approach "path" can now be called as an attribute and will not be resolved to a relationship using the syntax:

$article->path;

You need to call it:

$article->path()

When you do $article->path, you're trying to use Eloquent relationship which you don't have.

You're calling a relationship.

$article->path

To call the method, use '()', like so,

$article->path()