- What is TraceFlow for Laravel and what problem does it solve?
- TraceFlow for Laravel is a lightweight request tracing package that follows a single request as it moves through middleware, database queries, queued jobs, events, and outbound HTTP calls. It assigns automatic trace IDs and builds a timeline with timing and context, making slow endpoints and hidden bottlenecks easier to spot without a full observability stack. It is aimed at Laravel developers who want end-to-end correlation across the HTTP-to-queue boundary.
- How do I install smartness/traceflow-laravel in a Laravel app?
- Install it with composer require smartness/traceflow-laravel. The service provider is auto-discovered and the package ships with zero-config defaults plus a publishable config file. Confirm the exact publish command and environment toggles in the repository README before rolling it out, since the public documentation is still thin.
- Does TraceFlow work with Laravel queues and queued jobs?
- The package states that trace IDs are propagated across requests, queues, and HTTP clients, so a job dispatched during a request should stay on the same trace. Coverage of nested jobs and events is claimed but should be verified against your queue driver, Horizon, and long-lived workers. Test with your actual dispatch patterns before relying on it in production.
- Which Laravel and PHP versions does TraceFlow support?
- The overview says the package is compatible with modern Laravel versions but does not publish a formal version matrix. Check the composer.json constraints and repository tags for the exact PHP and Laravel majors supported. Verify this against the Laravel version you run, especially before a framework upgrade.
- How does sampling work and can I reduce tracing overhead in production?
- TraceFlow advertises configurable sampling, which lets you trace a percentage of requests instead of every one to control overhead and storage. Sampling settings should live in the published config file and be tuned per environment, with higher rates in staging and lower rates in production. Because tracing sits in the request hot path, benchmark overhead under your own traffic before enabling full sampling.
- Does TraceFlow capture database queries and outbound HTTP calls?
- Yes, the package overview lists middleware, queries, events, jobs, and outbound HTTP calls as part of the captured timeline. That means query timing and outbound call timing appear alongside the request that triggered them. Capturing query bindings or request payloads increases sensitivity, so review exactly what is recorded and redacted.
- Where does TraceFlow store trace data and can I use my own storage driver?
- The description mentions pluggable storage drivers and zero-config defaults, with logs, a database, or an external collector as possible targets. There is no confirmed public schema dump or migration detail in the overview, so check the package source before choosing the database driver. If you need vendor-neutral export, confirm whether the collector speaks an open protocol such as OTLP.
- Is TraceFlow a replacement for Laravel Telescope, OpenTelemetry, or an APM tool?
- TraceFlow is narrower than Telescope or a full APM: it focuses on end-to-end trace propagation and timelines rather than a broad debugging dashboard. It overlaps with OpenTelemetry's PHP SDK and first-party APM agents, which have larger maintainer bases and existing integrations. Choose TraceFlow only if its lightweight, Laravel-native trace IDs solve a gap your current tooling does not.
- Can TraceFlow expose request payloads or sensitive data, and is there redaction?
- The timeline captures context around queries, jobs, and HTTP calls, so request bodies, headers, and query bindings are the highest-risk data if payload capture is enabled. Redaction controls are described, but defaults are not documented in the overview, so inspect the config and enforce redaction centrally before production use. Treat the bundled timeline viewer as a new authenticated route surface that needs authorization and data-exposure review.
- How do I test TraceFlow and is it safe to run in production?
- TraceFlow runs in middleware and job hooks, so test it with feature tests that assert trace IDs propagate across dispatch and outbound HTTP calls. In production, verify that export is asynchronous and batched with short timeouts so an unreachable collector cannot stall requests, and check behavior under Octane and long-lived workers. The package has no visible dependents or release history in the overview, so plan for an as-is support relationship.