Error Handling
Introduction
When you start a new Laravel project, error and exception handling is already configured for you; however, at any point, you may use the withExceptions
method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
to manage how exceptions are reported and rendered by your application.
The $exceptions
object provided to the withExceptions
closure is an instance of Illuminate\Foundation\Configuration\Exceptions
and is responsible for managing exception handling in your application. We'll dive deeper into this object throughout this documentation.
Configuration
The debug
option in your config/app.php
configuration file determines how much information about an error is actually displayed to the user. By default, this option is set to respect the value of the APP_DEBUG
environment variable, which is stored in your .env
file.
During local development, you should set the APP_DEBUG
environment variable to true
. In your production environment, this value should always be false
. If the value is set to true
in production, you risk exposing sensitive configuration values to your application's end users.
Handling Exceptions
Reporting Exceptions
In Laravel, exception reporting is used to log exceptions or send them to an external service Sentry or Flare. By default, exceptions will be logged based on your logging configuration. However, you are free to log exceptions however you wish.
If you need to report different types of exceptions in different ways, you may use the report
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
to register a closure that should be executed when an exception of a given type needs to be reported. Laravel will determine what type of exception the closure reports by examining the type-hint of the closure:
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->report(function (InvalidOrderException $e) {3 // ...4 });5})
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->report(function (InvalidOrderException $e) {3 // ...4 });5})
When you register a custom exception reporting callback using the report
method, Laravel will still log the exception using the default logging configuration for the application. If you wish to stop the propagation of the exception to the default logging stack, you may use the stop
method when defining your reporting callback or return false
from the callback:
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->report(function (InvalidOrderException $e) {3 // ...4 })->stop();56 $exceptions->report(function (InvalidOrderException $e) {7 return false;8 });9})
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->report(function (InvalidOrderException $e) {3 // ...4 })->stop();56 $exceptions->report(function (InvalidOrderException $e) {7 return false;8 });9})
To customize the exception reporting for a given exception, you may also utilize reportable exceptions.
Global Log Context
If available, Laravel automatically adds the current user's ID to every exception's log message as contextual data. You may define your own global contextual data using the context
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file. This information will be included in every exception's log message written by your application:
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->context(fn () => [3 'foo' => 'bar',4 ]);5})
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->context(fn () => [3 'foo' => 'bar',4 ]);5})
Exception Log Context
While adding context to every log message can be useful, sometimes a particular exception may have unique context that you would like to include in your logs. By defining a context
method on one of your application's exceptions, you may specify any data relevant to that exception that should be added to the exception's log entry:
1<?php23namespace App\Exceptions;45use Exception;67class InvalidOrderException extends Exception8{9 // ...1011 /**12 * Get the exception's context information.13 *14 * @return array<string, mixed>15 */16 public function context(): array17 {18 return ['order_id' => $this->orderId];19 }20}
1<?php23namespace App\Exceptions;45use Exception;67class InvalidOrderException extends Exception8{9 // ...1011 /**12 * Get the exception's context information.13 *14 * @return array<string, mixed>15 */16 public function context(): array17 {18 return ['order_id' => $this->orderId];19 }20}
The report
Helper
Sometimes you may need to report an exception but continue handling the current request. The report
helper function allows you to quickly report an exception without rendering an error page to the user:
1public function isValid(string $value): bool2{3 try {4 // Validate the value...5 } catch (Throwable $e) {6 report($e);78 return false;9 }10}
1public function isValid(string $value): bool2{3 try {4 // Validate the value...5 } catch (Throwable $e) {6 report($e);78 return false;9 }10}
Deduplicating Reported Exceptions
If you are using the report
function throughout your application, you may occasionally report the same exception multiple times, creating duplicate entries in your logs.
If you would like to ensure that a single instance of an exception is only ever reported once, you may invoke the dontReportDuplicates
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file:
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->dontReportDuplicates();3})
1->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {2 $exceptions->dontReportDuplicates();3})
Now, when the report
helper is called with the same instance of an exception, only the first call will be reported:
1$original = new RuntimeException('Whoops!');23report($original); // reported45try {6 throw $original;7} catch (Throwable $caught) {8 report($caught); // ignored9}1011report($original); // ignored12report($caught); // ignored
1$original = new RuntimeException('Whoops!');23report($original); // reported45try {6 throw $original;7} catch (Throwable $caught) {8 report($caught); // ignored9}1011report($original); // ignored12report($caught); // ignored
Exception Log Levels
When messages are written to your application's logs, the messages are written at a specified log level, which indicates the severity or importance of the message being logged.
As noted above, even when you register a custom exception reporting callback using the report
method, Laravel will still log the exception using the default logging configuration for the application; however, since the log level can sometimes influence the channels on which a message is logged, you may wish to configure the log level that certain exceptions are logged at.
To accomplish this, you may use the level
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file. This method receives the exception type as its first argument and the log level as its second argument:
1use PDOException;2use Psr\Log\LogLevel;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->level(PDOException::class, LogLevel::CRITICAL);6})
1use PDOException;2use Psr\Log\LogLevel;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->level(PDOException::class, LogLevel::CRITICAL);6})
Ignoring Exceptions by Type
When building your application, there will be some types of exceptions you never want to report. To ignore these exceptions, you may use the dontReport
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file. Any class provided to this method will never be reported; however, they may still have custom rendering logic:
1use App\Exceptions\InvalidOrderException;23->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {4 $exceptions->dontReport([5 InvalidOrderException::class,6 ]);7})
1use App\Exceptions\InvalidOrderException;23->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {4 $exceptions->dontReport([5 InvalidOrderException::class,6 ]);7})
Alternatively, you may simply "mark" an exception class with the Illuminate\Contracts\Debug\ShouldntReport
interface. When an exception is marked with this interface, it will never be reported by Laravel's exception handler:
1<?php23namespace App\Exceptions;45use Exception;6use Illuminate\Contracts\Debug\ShouldntReport;78class PodcastProcessingException extends Exception implements ShouldntReport9{10 //11}
1<?php23namespace App\Exceptions;45use Exception;6use Illuminate\Contracts\Debug\ShouldntReport;78class PodcastProcessingException extends Exception implements ShouldntReport9{10 //11}
Internally, Laravel already ignores some types of errors for you, such as exceptions resulting from 404 HTTP errors or 419 HTTP responses generated by invalid CSRF tokens. If you would like to instruct Laravel to stop ignoring a given type of exception, you may use the stopIgnoring
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file:
1use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\HttpException;23->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {4 $exceptions->stopIgnoring(HttpException::class);5})
1use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\HttpException;23->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {4 $exceptions->stopIgnoring(HttpException::class);5})
Rendering Exceptions
By default, the Laravel exception handler will convert exceptions into an HTTP response for you. However, you are free to register a custom rendering closure for exceptions of a given type. You may accomplish this by using the render
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file.
The closure passed to the render
method should return an instance of Illuminate\Http\Response
, which may be generated via the response
helper. Laravel will determine what type of exception the closure renders by examining the type-hint of the closure:
1use App\Exceptions\InvalidOrderException;2use Illuminate\Http\Request;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->render(function (InvalidOrderException $e, Request $request) {6 return response()->view('errors.invalid-order', status: 500);7 });8})
1use App\Exceptions\InvalidOrderException;2use Illuminate\Http\Request;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->render(function (InvalidOrderException $e, Request $request) {6 return response()->view('errors.invalid-order', status: 500);7 });8})
You may also use the render
method to override the rendering behavior for built-in Laravel or Symfony exceptions such as NotFoundHttpException
. If the closure given to the render
method does not return a value, Laravel's default exception rendering will be utilized:
1use Illuminate\Http\Request;2use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->render(function (NotFoundHttpException $e, Request $request) {6 if ($request->is('api/*')) {7 return response()->json([8 'message' => 'Record not found.'9 ], 404);10 }11 });12})
1use Illuminate\Http\Request;2use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->render(function (NotFoundHttpException $e, Request $request) {6 if ($request->is('api/*')) {7 return response()->json([8 'message' => 'Record not found.'9 ], 404);10 }11 });12})
Rendering Exceptions as JSON
When rendering an exception, Laravel will automatically determine if the exception should be rendered as an HTML or JSON response based on the Accept
header of the request. If you would like to customize how Laravel determines whether to render HTML or JSON exception responses, you may utilize the shouldRenderJsonWhen
method:
1use Illuminate\Http\Request;2use Throwable;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->shouldRenderJsonWhen(function (Request $request, Throwable $e) {6 if ($request->is('admin/*')) {7 return true;8 }910 return $request->expectsJson();11 });12})
1use Illuminate\Http\Request;2use Throwable;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->shouldRenderJsonWhen(function (Request $request, Throwable $e) {6 if ($request->is('admin/*')) {7 return true;8 }910 return $request->expectsJson();11 });12})
Customizing the Exception Response
Rarely, you may need to customize the entire HTTP response rendered by Laravel's exception handler. To accomplish this, you may register a response customization closure using the respond
method:
1use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;23->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {4 $exceptions->respond(function (Response $response) {5 if ($response->getStatusCode() === 419) {6 return back()->with([7 'message' => 'The page expired, please try again.',8 ]);9 }1011 return $response;12 });13})
1use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;23->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {4 $exceptions->respond(function (Response $response) {5 if ($response->getStatusCode() === 419) {6 return back()->with([7 'message' => 'The page expired, please try again.',8 ]);9 }1011 return $response;12 });13})
Reportable and Renderable Exceptions
Instead of defining custom reporting and rendering behavior in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file, you may define report
and render
methods directly on your application's exceptions. When these methods exist, they will automatically be called by the framework:
1<?php23namespace App\Exceptions;45use Exception;6use Illuminate\Http\Request;7use Illuminate\Http\Response;89class InvalidOrderException extends Exception10{11 /**12 * Report the exception.13 */14 public function report(): void15 {16 // ...17 }1819 /**20 * Render the exception into an HTTP response.21 */22 public function render(Request $request): Response23 {24 return response(/* ... */);25 }26}
1<?php23namespace App\Exceptions;45use Exception;6use Illuminate\Http\Request;7use Illuminate\Http\Response;89class InvalidOrderException extends Exception10{11 /**12 * Report the exception.13 */14 public function report(): void15 {16 // ...17 }1819 /**20 * Render the exception into an HTTP response.21 */22 public function render(Request $request): Response23 {24 return response(/* ... */);25 }26}
If your exception extends an exception that is already renderable, such as a built-in Laravel or Symfony exception, you may return false
from the exception's render
method to render the exception's default HTTP response:
1/**2 * Render the exception into an HTTP response.3 */4public function render(Request $request): Response|bool5{6 if (/** Determine if the exception needs custom rendering */) {78 return response(/* ... */);9 }1011 return false;12}
1/**2 * Render the exception into an HTTP response.3 */4public function render(Request $request): Response|bool5{6 if (/** Determine if the exception needs custom rendering */) {78 return response(/* ... */);9 }1011 return false;12}
If your exception contains custom reporting logic that is only necessary when certain conditions are met, you may need to instruct Laravel to sometimes report the exception using the default exception handling configuration. To accomplish this, you may return false
from the exception's report
method:
1/**2 * Report the exception.3 */4public function report(): bool5{6 if (/** Determine if the exception needs custom reporting */) {78 // ...910 return true;11 }1213 return false;14}
1/**2 * Report the exception.3 */4public function report(): bool5{6 if (/** Determine if the exception needs custom reporting */) {78 // ...910 return true;11 }1213 return false;14}
You may type-hint any required dependencies of the report
method and they will automatically be injected into the method by Laravel's service container.
Throttling Reported Exceptions
If your application reports a very large number of exceptions, you may want to throttle how many exceptions are actually logged or sent to your application's external error tracking service.
To take a random sample rate of exceptions, you may use the throttle
exception method in your application's bootstrap/app.php
file. The throttle
method receives a closure that should return a Lottery
instance:
1use Illuminate\Support\Lottery;2use Throwable;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {6 return Lottery::odds(1, 1000);7 });8})
1use Illuminate\Support\Lottery;2use Throwable;34->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {5 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {6 return Lottery::odds(1, 1000);7 });8})
It is also possible to conditionally sample based on the exception type. If you would like to only sample instances of a specific exception class, you may return a Lottery
instance only for that class:
1use App\Exceptions\ApiMonitoringException;2use Illuminate\Support\Lottery;3use Throwable;45->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {6 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {7 if ($e instanceof ApiMonitoringException) {8 return Lottery::odds(1, 1000);9 }10 });11})
1use App\Exceptions\ApiMonitoringException;2use Illuminate\Support\Lottery;3use Throwable;45->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {6 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {7 if ($e instanceof ApiMonitoringException) {8 return Lottery::odds(1, 1000);9 }10 });11})
You may also rate limit exceptions logged or sent to an external error tracking service by returning a Limit
instance instead of a Lottery
. This is useful if you want to protect against sudden bursts of exceptions flooding your logs, for example, when a third-party service used by your application is down:
1use Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException;2use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;3use Throwable;45->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {6 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {7 if ($e instanceof BroadcastException) {8 return Limit::perMinute(300);9 }10 });11})
1use Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException;2use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;3use Throwable;45->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {6 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {7 if ($e instanceof BroadcastException) {8 return Limit::perMinute(300);9 }10 });11})
By default, limits will use the exception's class as the rate limit key. You can customize this by specifying your own key using the by
method on the Limit
:
1use Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException;2use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;3use Throwable;45->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {6 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {7 if ($e instanceof BroadcastException) {8 return Limit::perMinute(300)->by($e->getMessage());9 }10 });11})
1use Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException;2use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;3use Throwable;45->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {6 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {7 if ($e instanceof BroadcastException) {8 return Limit::perMinute(300)->by($e->getMessage());9 }10 });11})
Of course, you may return a mixture of Lottery
and Limit
instances for different exceptions:
1use App\Exceptions\ApiMonitoringException;2use Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException;3use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;4use Illuminate\Support\Lottery;5use Throwable;67->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {8 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {9 return match (true) {10 $e instanceof BroadcastException => Limit::perMinute(300),11 $e instanceof ApiMonitoringException => Lottery::odds(1, 1000),12 default => Limit::none(),13 };14 });15})
1use App\Exceptions\ApiMonitoringException;2use Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException;3use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;4use Illuminate\Support\Lottery;5use Throwable;67->withExceptions(function (Exceptions $exceptions) {8 $exceptions->throttle(function (Throwable $e) {9 return match (true) {10 $e instanceof BroadcastException => Limit::perMinute(300),11 $e instanceof ApiMonitoringException => Lottery::odds(1, 1000),12 default => Limit::none(),13 };14 });15})
HTTP Exceptions
Some exceptions describe HTTP error codes from the server. For example, this may be a "page not found" error (404), an "unauthorized error" (401), or even a developer generated 500 error. In order to generate such a response from anywhere in your application, you may use the abort
helper:
1abort(404);
1abort(404);
Custom HTTP Error Pages
Laravel makes it easy to display custom error pages for various HTTP status codes. For example, to customize the error page for 404 HTTP status codes, create a resources/views/errors/404.blade.php
view template. This view will be rendered for all 404 errors generated by your application. The views within this directory should be named to match the HTTP status code they correspond to. The Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\HttpException
instance raised by the abort
function will be passed to the view as an $exception
variable:
1<h2>{{ $exception->getMessage() }}</h2>
1<h2>{{ $exception->getMessage() }}</h2>
You may publish Laravel's default error page templates using the vendor:publish
Artisan command. Once the templates have been published, you may customize them to your liking:
1php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-errors
1php artisan vendor:publish --tag=laravel-errors
Fallback HTTP Error Pages
You may also define a "fallback" error page for a given series of HTTP status codes. This page will be rendered if there is not a corresponding page for the specific HTTP status code that occurred. To accomplish this, define a 4xx.blade.php
template and a 5xx.blade.php
template in your application's resources/views/errors
directory.
When defining fallback error pages, the fallback pages will not affect 404
, 500
, and 503
error responses since Laravel has internal, dedicated pages for these status codes. To customize the pages rendered for these status codes, you should define a custom error page for each of them individually.