Errors, Logs & Debugging

dump() prints its arguments and lets the request continue; dd() prints them and stops execution. Log::debug() writes to the log instead of the output, so it suits queued jobs, JSON endpoints and anything whose output you cannot see.

Create resources/views/errors/404.blade.php (any status code works); Laravel renders it for an HTTP exception with that status and passes it as $exception. 4xx.blade.php and 5xx.blade.php only cover statuses with no specific page, yours or the framework's.

report($e) passes a Throwable to Laravel's exception handler, which applies its filters, throttling, callbacks and default logging, then returns so your code carries on. Call it in a catch block when a failure must be recorded without failing the request.

LOG_CHANNEL picks the default channel (stack), LOG_STACK lists the channels that stack writes to (single), and LOG_LEVEL is the minimum level for channels that read it (debug). So Log::info() lands in storage/logs/laravel.log.

Pass an associative array as the second argument, for example Log::info('Order paid.', ['order_id' => $order->id]); Laravel writes it as JSON after the message. Never put passwords, tokens, card data or a whole $request->all() in it: nothing is redacted.

Register $exceptions->render(function (SeatUnavailableException $e, Request $request) { ... }) in bootstrap/app.php, or give the exception a render($request) method. Return a response to use it, or null/false for the default; respond() adjusts every final exception response.

Inside withExceptions() in bootstrap/app.php, call $exceptions->report(function (SmsGatewayException $e) { ... }); the closure's type-hint selects the class. Laravel still logs the exception afterwards unless you chain ->stop() or the closure returns false.

List daily and slack in the stack channel, give slack a level of critical and daily a lower one. The stack offers every entry to each channel, and a channel writes it only at or above its own minimum level.

Open the admin page's request in Telescope and read its queries: each shows SQL with bindings, duration and the calling file and line. The query watcher tags any query at or above its slow option (100 ms by default) as slow.

Log::withContext() only changes the web process's logger; the job runs later in a worker with a fresh one. Put the id in the Context facade instead: Laravel serialises Context into each job payload and restores it before the job runs.

Outside local, the viewTelescope gate decides who may open /telescope; the published version allows nobody until you list users. Telescope::filter() limits recording to exceptions, failed requests and jobs, scheduled tasks and monitored tags, and hideRequestParameters() masks named fields.

abort(404) throws Symfony's NotFoundHttpException and any other code throws HttpException with that status, message and headers; abort_if() and abort_unless() throw only when the condition is true or false. The handler renders the status's error view or JSON.

Telescope is a first-party dashboard that records requests, queries, jobs, exceptions, logs and mail into database tables. Install it, run telescope:install and migrate, and open /telescope; for local-only use, install with --dev and register its providers only in local.

On a collection they dump its items; ->dump() returns the collection so the chain continues, ->dd() stops. On a query builder they dump the SQL, not results: ->dump() shows ? placeholders plus bindings, ->dumpRawSql() and ->ddRawSql() show the SQL with bindings substituted.

Debugbar injects a toolbar into local HTML pages showing every query with bindings and source line, a timeline, rendered views, log messages and more. It enables itself only when APP_DEBUG is true, the environment is not production or testing, and never in the console.

By default the handler renders JSON when $request->expectsJson() is true: the first Accept type asks for JSON, or an AJAX request accepts anything. shouldRenderJsonWhen() replaces that test; the Laravel 13 skeleton uses api/* paths or expectsJson().

Laravel skips an internal list: HTTP exceptions (so any abort()), validation, authentication, authorization, missing-model, CSRF-token and origin-mismatch errors. dontReport() and the ShouldntReport interface add types, dontReportWhen() adds a condition, stopIgnoring() removes a listed class.

$exceptions->level(Type::class, LogLevel::WARNING) sets the PSR-3 level for a type; unmapped exceptions log at error. Context comes from the exception's context() method and $exceptions->context() closures, plus the logged-in user's id and the exception itself.

Log::channel('payouts') writes to one configured channel, Log::stack(['daily', 'slack']) sends one entry to several channels, and Log::build([...]) creates a channel from an inline config array. Plain Log::info() uses the default channel.

A tap class on a channel receives the built Illuminate\Log\Logger once, to add processors or adjust handlers. The monolog driver builds any Monolog handler from handler and handler_with; a custom driver's via factory returns a whole Monolog logger.

Set a channel's 'formatter' option in config/logging.php to a JSON formatter class, such as Monolog's JsonFormatter or Laravel's own since 13.6. Per-call and withContext data land under the record's context key; Context facade data lands under extra.

Log::withContext() merges data into the default channel only, so entries sent through Log::channel('slack') lack it. Log::shareContext() adds it to every channel already resolved and every channel created afterwards, including on-demand stacks.

Each watcher is a class key in the watchers array, set to a boolean or to an options array with enabled. Surprising defaults: the log watcher records only error and above, and the request watcher keeps at most 64 KB of response.

Dumps are not gated by APP_DEBUG: they still print. In a JSON endpoint they corrupt the body, in a Blade view every visitor sees the data, and dd() in a queued job exits the whole worker, leaving the job to reappear after retry_after.

Before render callbacks run, Laravel's handler converts ModelNotFoundException into a NotFoundHttpException that keeps its 'No query results for model [...]' message, so the callback never matches. Type-hint NotFoundHttpException, check getPrevious(), and return your own body.

Register $exceptions->throttle() in bootstrap/app.php and return Limit::perMinute(n), optionally ->by() a key, for the SMS exception, or Lottery::odds(1, 1000) to sample. Returning null leaves other exceptions unthrottled.

Point logging at the skeleton's stderr channel with LOG_CHANNEL=stderr or LOG_STACK=stderr; it is a Monolog StreamHandler on php://stderr. Under PHP-FPM, worker stderr is discarded unless the pool sets catch_workers_output = yes.

Laravel sends E_DEPRECATED and E_USER_DEPRECATED notices to its deprecations channel, which the skeleton points at the null channel. Set LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL to a real channel, or define a channel named deprecations, and they are logged as warnings.

Context::addHidden() stores values that travel into queued jobs but are never appended to log records. A Context::dehydrating() callback adds request state such as app.locale to the copy sent with the job; a Context::hydrated() callback restores it in the worker.