Lightweight Laravel Request Inspector with Tagged Cache | Mohamed Said [ ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MH.png) Mohamed Said Laravel Backend Engineer ](https://msaied.com) [ Home ](https://msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://msaied.com#contact-section) [ ](https://github.com/EG-Mohamed) [ Home ](https://msaied.com) [ Projects ](https://msaied.com/projects) [ Articles ](https://msaied.com/articles) [ Certificates ](https://msaied.com/certificates) [ Contact ](https://msaied.com#contact-section) [ home ](https://msaied.com) [ articles ](https://msaied.com/articles) Laravel Telescope Alternatives: Building a Lightweight Request Inspector with Tagged Cache On this page 1. [ Why Not Just Use Telescope in Production? ](#why-not-just-use-telescope-in-production) 2. [ The Core Idea: Tagged Cache as a Ring Buffer ](#the-core-idea-tagged-cache-as-a-ring-buffer) 3. [ Storing Query Counts Without a Full Query Log ](#storing-query-counts-without-a-full-query-log) 4. [ Surfacing Data in a Filament Panel ](#surfacing-data-in-a-filament-panel) 5. [ Enabling Only When Needed ](#enabling-only-when-needed) 6. [ Takeaways ](#takeaways) ![Laravel Telescope Alternatives: Building a Lightweight Request Inspector with Tagged Cache](https://cdn.msaied.com/287/9b41ffff50d97af1f781c154d468bfca.png) #laravel #filament #performance #debugging #middleware Laravel Telescope Alternatives: Building a Lightweight Request Inspector with Tagged Cache ============================================================================================ 25 Jun 2026 4 min read ![Mohamed Said](https://cdn.msaied.com/01KT78WE565VEMM3PSNQAAB0MJ.jpg) Mohamed Said Table of contents 1. [ 01 Why Not Just Use Telescope in Production? ](#why-not-just-use-telescope-in-production) 2. [ 02 The Core Idea: Tagged Cache as a Ring Buffer ](#the-core-idea-tagged-cache-as-a-ring-buffer) 3. [ 03 Storing Query Counts Without a Full Query Log ](#storing-query-counts-without-a-full-query-log) 4. [ 04 Surfacing Data in a Filament Panel ](#surfacing-data-in-a-filament-panel) 5. [ 05 Enabling Only When Needed ](#enabling-only-when-needed) 6. [ 06 Takeaways ](#takeaways) Why Not Just Use Telescope in Production? ----------------------------------------- Laravel Telescope is excellent during development, but its write-on-every-request model — storing queries, jobs, logs, and HTTP payloads to a dedicated database table — creates measurable overhead and a growing storage footprint. Most teams disable it in production entirely, leaving a blind spot for intermittent issues that only appear under real traffic. The goal here is a *targeted* inspector: capture only what you opt into, store it ephemerally in Redis via tagged cache, and surface it through a locked-down Filament panel. No extra database tables, no always-on overhead. The Core Idea: Tagged Cache as a Ring Buffer -------------------------------------------- Redis supports tagging via Laravel's `Cache::tags()`. We can write request snapshots under a shared tag and expire them automatically, giving us a rolling window of recent traffic without permanent storage. ```php // app/Http/Middleware/InspectRequest.php namespace App\Http\Middleware; use Closure; use Illuminate\Http\Request; use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Cache; use Illuminate\Support\Str; class InspectRequest { public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next): mixed { $response = $next($request); if (! config('inspector.enabled')) { return $response; } $key = 'req:' . Str::uuid(); Cache::tags(['inspector'])->put($key, [ 'method' => $request->method(), 'path' => $request->path(), 'status' => $response->getStatusCode(), 'duration_ms' => (int) ((microtime(true) - LARAVEL_START) * 1000), 'memory_kb' => (int) (memory_get_peak_usage(true) / 1024), 'ip' => $request->ip(), 'at' => now()->toIso8601String(), ], now()->addMinutes(30)); return $response; } } ``` Register it selectively — not globally — using a route group or a specific middleware alias so you control which routes are traced. Storing Query Counts Without a Full Query Log --------------------------------------------- Rather than logging every SQL statement (Telescope's approach), count them cheaply using the DB `listen` callback scoped to the request lifecycle: ```php // Inside InspectRequest::handle, before $next($request) $queryCount = 0; \DB::listen(static function () use (&$queryCount) { $queryCount++; }); $response = $next($request); // Then include $queryCount in the Cache::tags()->put() payload above. ``` This adds negligible overhead compared to capturing full bindings and execution times for every query. Surfacing Data in a Filament Panel ---------------------------------- Create a read-only Filament resource backed not by Eloquent but by a custom `getTableQuery` override that reads from the tagged cache. ```php // app/Filament/Resources/RequestSnapshotResource.php public static function table(Table $table): Table { return $table ->columns([ TextColumn::make('method')->badge(), TextColumn::make('path'), TextColumn::make('status')->badge() ->color(fn ($state) => $state >= 500 ? 'danger' : ($state >= 400 ? 'warning' : 'success')), TextColumn::make('duration_ms')->suffix(' ms')->sortable(), TextColumn::make('query_count')->label('Queries'), TextColumn::make('at')->since(), ]) ->paginated([25, 50]); } public static function getEloquentQuery(): Builder { // Filament expects a Builder; wrap cache reads in a collection-backed fake. // Use a custom ListRecords page that overrides getTableRecords() instead. throw new \LogicException('Use custom list page.'); } ``` The cleaner approach is to override `getTableRecords()` in a custom `ListRequestSnapshots` page: ```php protected function getTableRecords(): Collection { $keys = Redis::connection()->keys('*inspector*req:*'); return collect($keys) ->map(fn ($key) => Cache::tags(['inspector'])->get( Str::after($key, config('cache.prefix') . 'inspector|') )) ->filter() ->sortByDesc('at') ->values(); } ``` Lock the panel behind a gate or a dedicated guard so it is never publicly accessible. Enabling Only When Needed ------------------------- Add a runtime toggle via an artisan command that flips a cache flag: ```bash php artisan inspector:on # sets inspector.enabled in cache for 1 hour php artisan inspector:off ``` The middleware reads `Cache::get('inspector.enabled', false)` so there is zero overhead when the inspector is off. Takeaways --------- - **Tagged cache as ephemeral storage** gives you a self-expiring ring buffer with no schema migrations. - **Opt-in middleware** keeps production overhead at zero when the inspector is disabled. - **Query counting, not logging**, captures the signal you actually need (N+1 detection) without the storage cost. - **A Filament panel** gives you a polished UI without building a custom frontend. - **Runtime toggle via artisan** lets you enable tracing surgically during an incident and disable it immediately after. Found this useful? [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmsaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-telescope-alternatives-building-a-lightweight-request-inspector-with-tagged-cache&text=Laravel+Telescope+Alternatives%3A+Building+a+Lightweight+Request+Inspector+with+Tagged+Cache) [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmsaied.com%2Farticles%2Flaravel-telescope-alternatives-building-a-lightweight-request-inspector-with-tagged-cache) Frequently Asked Questions ---------------------------- 3 questions Q01 Does tagged cache work with all Laravel cache drivers? No. Cache tags require a driver that supports them — Redis and Memcached. The file and database drivers do not support tagging, so this approach requires Redis in production. Q02 How do I prevent the inspector from capturing sensitive request payloads? Simply omit request body and headers from the cache payload. The middleware shown here stores only method, path, status, timing, and memory — no user data. Add fields deliberately and scrub anything sensitive before writing to cache. Q03 Can I extend this to capture slow queries specifically? Yes. Replace the simple counter with a DB::listen callback that appends queries exceeding a threshold (e.g. 100 ms) to a separate array, then include that array in the cache payload. This keeps storage bounded while surfacing the queries that actually matter. 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