Laravel Log Viewer Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation

   composer require rap2hpoutre/laravel-log-viewer
   

   Add the service provider to config/app.php under providers:

   Mannysoft\LogViewer\LogViewerServiceProvider::class,
   

2. Publish Config (Optional) Publish the default config to customize log paths or filters:

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Mannysoft\LogViewer\LogViewerServiceProvider"
   

   Edit config/log-viewer.php if needed.

3. First Use Case Add a route to access the log viewer (e.g., in routes/web.php):

   use Mannysoft\LogViewer\Controllers\LogViewerController;
   
   Route::get('/logs', [LogViewerController::class, 'index']);
   

   Visit /logs to see a real-time log viewer interface.

Implementation Patterns

Core Workflows

1. Log Filtering

   • Filter logs by level (e.g., error, info) via URL query:

     /logs?level=error
     

   • Filter by date range (YYYY-MM-DD format):

     /logs?from=2024-01-01&to=2024-01-31
     

   • Filter by search term (case-insensitive):

     /logs?search=authentication
     

2. Integration with Existing Logs

   • Works seamlessly with Laravel’s default log channels (single file, daily, syslog, etc.).
   • Supports log rotation (e.g., single, daily) without manual configuration.

3. Customizing Log Paths

   • Override default log paths in config/log-viewer.php:

     'paths' => [
         storage_path('logs/custom-laravel.log'),
         storage_path('logs/another-service.log'),
     ],
     

4. Access Control

   • Restrict access via middleware (e.g., auth or custom middleware):

     Route::get('/logs', [LogViewerController::class, 'index'])->middleware('can:view-logs');
     

5. Programmatic Access

   • Use the LogViewer facade to fetch logs programmatically:

     use Mannysoft\LogViewer\Facades\LogViewer;
     
     $logs = LogViewer::getLogs(['level' => 'error']);
     

Advanced Patterns

1. Extending Log Parsing

   • Override log parsing logic by binding a custom LogParser:

     $this->app->bind('logviewer.parser', function () {
         return new CustomLogParser();
     });
     

   • Implement Mannysoft\LogViewer\Contracts\LogParser to handle custom log formats.

2. Adding Log Actions

   • Extend the controller to add actions (e.g., log deletion):

     public function deleteLogs(Request $request) {
         $this->logViewer->deleteLogs($request->input('files'));
         return back()->with('success', 'Logs deleted');
     }
     

3. Real-Time Updates

   • Use Laravel Echo/Pusher to push log updates to clients (requires frontend integration).

4. Log Export

   • Add a download endpoint to export logs as JSON/CSV:

     public function exportLogs(Request $request) {
         return response()->streamDownload(function () {
             echo json_encode($this->logViewer->getLogs($request->all()));
         }, 'logs.json');
     }
     

Gotchas and Tips

Common Pitfalls

1. Permission Issues

   • Ensure the web server user (e.g., www-data, nginx) has read access to log files:

     chmod -R 755 storage/logs/
     chown -R www-data:www-data storage/logs/
     

   • If using Docker, ensure volumes are mounted correctly.

2. Log Rotation Conflicts

   • If logs are rotated (e.g., daily), the viewer may not show new logs until the next rotation.
   • Fix: Use logrotate with copytruncate or configure Laravel’s Log::rotate() to avoid gaps.

3. Large Log Files

   • Performance degrades with >10MB log files. Consider:
     • Splitting logs into smaller files.
     • Using tail -f for real-time streaming (requires custom implementation).

4. Caching Headaches

   • Avoid caching the log viewer route (e.g., Cache::remember()). Logs are dynamic!

5. Middleware Conflicts

   • If using trustedproxy or throttle, ensure the log viewer route is excluded:

     Route::middleware(['web', 'log-viewer'])->group(function () {
         Route::get('/logs', [LogViewerController::class, 'index']);
     });
     

Debugging Tips

1. Check Log Paths

   • Verify config/log-viewer.php paths match your actual log locations:

     dd(config('log-viewer.paths'));
     

2. Enable Debug Mode

   • Set APP_DEBUG=true to see detailed errors if the viewer loads blank.

3. Log Parser Issues

   • If logs appear garbled, check the LogParser implementation:

     $this->app->singleton('logviewer.parser', function () {
         return new \Mannysoft\LogViewer\Parsers\MonologParser();
     });
     

4. File Permissions

   • Test log access manually:

     tail -n 10 storage/logs/laravel.log
     

   • If this fails, fix permissions before debugging further.

Extension Points

1. Custom Log Formats

   • Override the default Monolog parser for non-standard logs (e.g., JSON, custom delimiters).

2. UI Customization

   • Extend the Blade template (resources/views/vendor/log-viewer/index.blade.php) to add:
     • Syntax highlighting for log levels.
     • Collapsible log entries.
     • Custom CSS/JS.

3. API Endpoint

   • Convert the controller to a JSON API for frontend frameworks:

     public function apiLogs(Request $request) {
         return response()->json($this->logViewer->getLogs($request->all()));
     }
     

4. Log Anonymization

   • Filter sensitive data (e.g., passwords, tokens) before displaying logs:

     $this->app->afterResolving('logviewer.parser', function ($parser) {
         $parser->setFilter(function ($log) {
             return preg_replace('/password=[^&]+/', 'password=***', $log);
         });
     });
     

5. Alerting Integration

   • Hook into log events to trigger alerts (e.g., Slack notifications for error logs):

     LogViewer::listen(function ($logs) {
         if (collect($logs)->contains('authentication failed')) {
             // Send alert
         }
     });