Logger

Logger is a lightweight, opinionated activity logging package for Laravel that automatically tracks model changes and records who did what, to which model, and when — without polluting your domain logic.

Features:

• Automatic tracking of model changes (create, update, delete, restore)
• Privacy-first with explicit opt-in for sensitive data
• Flexible configuration per model or globally
• Query scopes for easy filtering and analysis
• Batch operations to group related changes
• Lightweight and performant
• Built-in pruning command for cleanup
• Comprehensive audit trails

Installation

You can install the package via composer:

composer require gottvergessen/activity

You can publish and run the migrations with:

php artisan activity:install

Pruning Old Logs

To keep your database clean, you can prune old activity logs:

# Keep only the last 90 days (default)
php artisan activity:prune

# Keep only the last 30 days
php artisan activity:prune --days=30

config/activity.php

return [
    'enabled' => true,

    'table' => 'activity_logs',

    'default_log' => 'default',

    'events' => [
        'created',
        'updated',
        'deleted',
        'restored',
    ],

    'ignore_attributes' => [
        'created_at',
        'updated_at',
        'deleted_at',
        'remember_token',
    ],
];

Basic usage

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\TracksModelActivity;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use TracksModelActivity;
}

Now all changes to the User model are automatically logged:

$user = User::create(['name' => 'John', 'email' => 'john@example.com']);
// ✓ Creates activity log with event='created'

$user->update(['name' => 'Jane']);
// ✓ Creates activity log with event='updated' showing the change

$user->delete();
// ✓ Creates activity log with event='deleted'

View Activity History

Add the InteractsWithActivity trait to access activities:

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\InteractsWithActivity;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use TracksModelActivity, InteractsWithActivity;
}

// Get all activities for a user
$user->activities()->get();

// Get the most recent activity
$latest = $user->latestActivity();

// Check if user has any activities
if ($user->hasActivities()) {
    echo "This user has activity history";
}

Common Examples

Ignore Specific Fields per Model

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\TracksModelActivity;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use TracksModelActivity;

    protected array $ignoredAttributes = [
        'password',
        'remember_token',
    ];

    /*
    * Changes to the listed attributes will not appear in the activity properties
    * If only ignored attributes change, no activity log entry is created
    */
}

Database Schema

The activity_logs table tracks the following information:

Column	Type	Description
id	ID	Primary key
event	string	The event type (created, updated, deleted, restored). Events can be resolved into custom actions and descriptions
action	string	Custom semantic action defined by the model (optional)
log	string	Log category for grouping activities
description	string	Description of the activity (optional)
subject_type	string	The model class that was changed
subject_id	int	The ID of the model that was changed
causer_type	string	The model class of the user who made the change (optional)
causer_id	int	The ID of the user who made the change (optional)
properties	json	The model attributes that changed
meta	json	Metadata including IP, user agent, HTTP method, and host
batch_id	string	Batch ID for grouping related changes (optional)
created_at	timestamp	When the activity was recorded
updated_at	timestamp	When the activity record was last updated

Eloquent Friendly

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\TracksModelActivity;
use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\InteractsWithActivity;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use TracksModelActivity, InteractsWithActivity;
}

With the InteractsWithActivity trait, you can easily query a model's activities:

$users = User::with('activities')->get();

// Access activities for a specific model
$userActivities = $user->activities()->get();
$userActivities = $user->activities()->where('event', 'updated')->get();

The InteractsWithActivity trait is optional and only required if you want to access $model->activities().

Per-Model Event Control

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\TracksModelActivity;

class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use TracksModelActivity;

    protected array $trackEvents = [
        'created',
        'updated',
    ];

    /*
    * Limit which events are tracked for this model
    */
}

Advanced Usage

Custom Log Name per Model

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\TracksModelActivity;

class Invoice extends Model
{
    use TracksModelActivity;

    public function activityLog(): string
    {
        return 'invoices';
    }
}

Custom Action per Model

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\TracksModelActivity;

class Appointment extends Model
{
    use TracksModelActivity;

    public function activityAction(string $event): string
    {
        return match ($event) {
            'created' => 'blog created',
            'updated' => 'blog updated',
            'deleted' => 'cancelled',
        };
    }
}

Custom Description per Model

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Traits\TracksModelActivity;

class Appointment extends Model
{
    use TracksModelActivity;

    public function activityDescription(string $event): string
    {
        return match ($event) {
            'created' => "Appointment was scheduled for {$this->scheduled_at}",
            'updated' => "Appointment has been updated to {$this->new_appointment_date}",
            default   => $event,
        };
    }
}

Batch Operations

Group multiple model changes under a single batch ID:

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Activity;

Activity::batch(function () {
    $user->update(['name' => 'John']);
    $user->profile()->update(['bio' => 'Updated bio']);
    // Both changes share the same batch_id
});

Temporarily Disable Logging

You can temporarily disable activity logging when needed:

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Support\ActivityContext;

ActivityContext::withoutLogging(function () {
    // These changes won't be logged
    User::create(['name' => 'John']);
    $user->update(['email' => 'john@example.com']);
});

// Or manually control logging
ActivityContext::disable();
User::create(['name' => 'Jane']); // Not logged
ActivityContext::enable();
User::create(['name' => 'Bob']); // Logged

Query Scopes

The Activity model provides convenient query scopes:

use Gottvergessen\Activity\Models\Activity;

// Filter by event type
Activity::forEvent('created')->get();

// Filter by subject model
Activity::forSubject($user)->get();

// Filter by causer
Activity::causedBy($admin)->get();

// Filter by batch
Activity::inBatch($batchId)->get();

// Filter by log category
Activity::inLog('invoices')->get();

// Filter by date range
Activity::betweenDates($startDate, $endDate)->get();

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Audit Trail

$deletions = Activity::forEvent('deleted')
    ->forSubject($user)
    ->with('causer')
    ->latest()
    ->get();

Example 2: Document History

class Document extends Model
{
    use TracksModelActivity, InteractsWithActivity;
}

@foreach($document->activities()->latest()->get() as $activity)
    {{ $activity->causer?->name }}: {{ $activity->description }}
@endforeach

For more examples and patterns, see EXAMPLES.md.

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.