How to Get the Query Executed in Laravel 5? DB::getQueryLog() Returning Empty Array

Question

I'm trying to view the log for a query, but DB::getQueryLog() is just returning an empty array:

$user = User::find(5);
print_r(DB::getQueryLog());

Result

Array
(
)

How can I view the log for this query?

Answer 1

By default, the query log is disabled in Laravel 5: https://github.com/laravel/framework/commit/e0abfe5c49d225567cb4dfd56df9ef05cc297448

You will need to enable the query log by calling:

DB::enableQueryLog();

// and then you can get query log

dd(DB::getQueryLog());

or register an event listener:

DB::listen(
    function ($sql, $bindings, $time) {
        //  $sql - select * from `ncv_users` where `ncv_users`.`id` = ? limit 1
        //  $bindings - [5]
        //  $time(in milliseconds) - 0.38 
    }
);  

Some Tips

1. Multiple DB connections

If you have more than one DB connection you must specify which connection to log

To enables query log for my_connection:

DB::connection('my_connection')->enableQueryLog();

To get query log for my_connection:

print_r(
   DB::connection('my_connection')->getQueryLog()
);

2. Where to enable query log ?

For an HTTP request lifecycle, you can enable query log in the `handle` method of some `BeforeAnyDbQueryMiddleware` [middleware][1] and then retrieve the executed queries in the [`terminate`][2] method of the same middleware.

class BeforeAnyDbQueryMiddleware
{
    public function handle($request, Closure $next)
    {
        DB::enableQueryLog();
        return $next($request);
    }

    public function terminate($request, $response)
    {
        // Store or dump the log data...
        dd(
            DB::getQueryLog()
        );
    }
}

A middleware's chain will not run for artisan commands, so for CLI execution you can enable query log in the artisan.start event listener.

For example you can put it in the bootstrap/app.php file

$app['events']->listen('artisan.start', function(){
    \DB::enableQueryLog();
});

3. Memory

Laravel keeps all queries in memory. So in some cases, such as when inserting a large number of rows, or having a long running job with a lot of queries, this can cause the application to use excess memory.

In most cases you will need the query log only for debugging, and if that is the case I would recommend you enable it only for development.

if (App::environment('local')) {
    // The environment is local
    DB::enableQueryLog();
}

References

• https://laravel.com/docs/5.0/database#query-logging