Laravel Log Viewer Laravel Package

Getting Started

Install the package via Composer, register the service provider, and add a simple route to view logs in the browser:

composer require rap2hpoutre/laravel-log-viewer

In config/app.php (or bootstrap/app.php for Lumen), add:

Rap2hpoutre\LaravelLogViewer\LaravelLogViewerServiceProvider::class,

Define a route in routes/web.php:

Route::get('logs', [\Rap2hpoutre\LaravelLogViewer\LogViewerController::class, 'index']);

Visit /logs to see an interactive, color-coded log viewer with search and filtering. First-time users should check the troubleshooting tip about clearing config cache if they encounter view resolution errors.

Implementation Patterns

• Quick Debugging: Ideal for dev and staging environments—just open /logs to inspect recent errors, warnings, and info messages.
• Production Safety: Lock access using middleware (e.g., auth or admin) to prevent exposing sensitive logs:

  Route::get('logs', [...])->middleware('auth');  
  

• Custom View Styling: Publish the log.blade.php view via vendor:publish --tag=views to match your app’s UI or add custom highlighting.
• Configurable Log Location: Update config/logviewer.php (published via vendor:publish) to point to non-default log paths (e.g., storage/logs/custom.log).
• Daily Log Support: Automatically handles Laravel’s daily log channels—no extra config needed beyond ensuring logs follow laravel-{date}.log naming.

Gotchas and Tips

• Laravel 11+ Compatibility: Works out-of-the-box, but always run php artisan config:clear after installation or config changes—cached configs commonly break view resolution.
• Readability Errors: If you see “File not readable” exceptions, verify file permissions (e.g., storage/logs/ owned by www-data/apache).
• Log Rotation Confusion: The package does not support compressed logs (e.g., .gz). Ensure your logging config doesn’t auto-compress logs.
• Performance Overhead: Avoid enabling in high-traffic production; even though it’s lightweight, large log files (>100MB) will slow page loads. Consider restricting access or truncating logs in prod.
• Extending the Controller: Override LogViewerController by extending it and swapping routes—e.g., to add date range filtering or export functionality.
• Security: Never commit logviewer.php config or log view customizations to public repos—log files often contain credentials or PII.