Version

Debugging Mode

Laravel DataTables includes a debugging mode that helps you inspect the SQL queries and request parameters being used when processing DataTables requests.

Setup

Set APP_DEBUG=true in your .env file:

APP_DEBUG=true

Make sure APP_ENV is set to local or testing in development environments.

[!WARNING] Never enable APP_DEBUG=true in production. Exposing SQL queries and application internals is a security risk.

How It Works

When APP_DEBUG=true, Laravel DataTables automatically intercepts the response and appends debugging information. The debug data is only included when:

APP_DEBUG is true
The request is an AJAX/DataTables request
The response is in JSON format

Example Response

When debugging is enabled, your JSON response includes additional queries and input fields:

{
    "draw": 1,
    "recordsTotal": 10,
    "recordsFiltered": 3,
    "data": [
        {
            "id": 414,
            "name": "Abel Cole",
            "email": "[email protected]",
            "created_at": "2016-07-31 23:26:10",
            "updated_at": "2016-07-31 23:26:10"
        }
    ],
    "queries": [
        {
            "query": "select count(*) as aggregate from (select '1' as `row_count` from `users` where `users`.`deleted_at` is null) count_row_table",
            "bindings": [],
            "time": 1.84
        },
        {
            "query": "select * from `users` where `users`.`deleted_at` is null order by `name` asc limit 10 offset 0",
            "bindings": [],
            "time": 1.8
        }
    ],
    "input": {
        "draw": "1",
        "columns": [
            {
                "data": "id",
                "name": "",
                "searchable": "true",
                "orderable": "true",
                "search": {
                    "value": "",
                    "regex": "false"
                }
            }
        ],
        "order": [
            {
                "column": "1",
                "dir": "asc"
            }
        ],
        "start": "0",
        "length": "10",
        "search": {
            "value": "",
            "regex": "false"
        }
    }
}

Debug Output Fields

Field	Description
`queries`	Array of executed SQL queries with bindings and execution time
`input`	The complete DataTables request parameters including columns, order, and search settings

Query Object Structure

Each query object contains:

Property	Type	Description
`query`	string	The SQL query string with placeholder bindings
`bindings`	array	Parameter values bound to the query
`time`	float	Execution time in milliseconds