If you’ve spent any amount of time working with Laravel, you know that debugging quickly becomes an integral part of the development process. While most developers initially rely on dd() or dump() for quick inspections, these approaches can become cumbersome and cluttered as the complexity of your application increases.

Laradumps addresses that gap. It is a modern, elegant, and highly capable debugging tool purpose-built for Laravel developers. In this article, we will guide you through everything needed to get started — from installation and configuration to real-world usage examples — using a clear, step-by-step approach

1. What is Laradumps?

Laradumps is an open-source debugging solution for Laravel that streams your debug output directly to a dedicated desktop application, rather than cluttering your browser. This approach allows you to keep your debug logs clean, well-formatted, and easily searchable — all without interfering with your application’s normal HTTP responses.

1.1 Key Features:

• Send dumps outside the browser: Keep your application output clean by streaming debug data directly to the Laradumps desktop app.
• Beautifully formatted output: Objects and arrays are displayed in a clean, readable format for faster inspection.
• Real-time notifications: Get instant alerts for database queries, events, and incoming requests.
• Customizable themes: Switch between light and dark modes to suit your workflow.
• Quick setup: Simple installation and an intuitive interface make it easy to get started.

2. Step 1: Install Laradumps Desktop App

Start by downloading the Laradumps desktop application for your operating system — it’s available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. 

Link Download

Once installation is complete, launch the application and keep it running in the background. This is where all of your debugging output will be displayed in real time

3. Step 2: Install Laradumps in Laravel

Next, open your Laravel project and install the Laradumps package using Composer. Run the following command in your terminal:

composer require laradumps/laradumps --dev

This will add Laradumps as a development dependency, ensuring it’s only included in non-production environments.

4. Step 3: (Optional) Publish the Configuration File

If you’d like to customize Laradumps to fit your workflow, you can publish its configuration file using the Artisan command below:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="LaraDumps\LaraDumpsServiceProvider" 

This will create a config/laradumps.php file in your project, where you can adjust settings such as host, port, and other preferences.

5. Step 4: Start Using Laradumps

Now it’s time to put Laradumps into action. Instead of using dd() or dump(), simply use the ds() helper function.

5.1 Example 1: Dumping Variables

You can pass any variable into ds() to inspect its value without stopping the entire application:

$user = User::find(1);
ds($user);

The output will appear instantly in the Laradumps desktop app, formatted for easy reading.

5.2 Example 2: Multiple Dumps

You can call ds() multiple times throughout your code to trace the flow of execution:

ds('Starting process...');

$order = Order::find(10);

ds($order, 'Order Details');

ds('Process completed');

This makes it easy to follow the progress of complex operations without interrupting execution.

5.3 Example 3: Watching for Events

Laradumps can also listen for specific events and log them automatically:

ds()->watch('App\Events\OrderShipped');

Whenever the OrderShipped event is fired, you’ll see a real-time notification in the Laradumps app.

5.4 Example 4: Database Query Debugging

Say goodbye to manual DB::listen() setups. With Laradumps, you can enable query monitoring with a single line:

ds()->queriesOn();

From that point on, every SQL query executed by Laravel will be sent to Laradumps for review — clean, organized, and easy to search.

6. Step 5: Explore Advanced Features

Laradumps includes several powerful features to streamline your debugging workflow:

• Native OS Notifications: Get system-level alerts whenever a dump is sent.
• Color Tagging: Organize your dumps by assigning different colors for better visibility.
• Filtering: Easily filter logs by models, queries, or events to focus on what matters most.

7. Step 6: Choosing Between dd() and ds()

• Use dd() only when you need to stop the application immediately for a full inspection.
• Use ds() when you want non-blocking debug output without breaking the request cycle.
• Use Laradumps for real-time, continuous debugging during development.

8. Conclusion

Laradumps is a true game-changer for Laravel developers. It provides a clean, elegant, and organized way to debug your applications — without cluttering your browser or breaking the flow of your work. Once you start using it, you’ll never want to rely on dd() as your primary debugging tool again.