Session

SessionLens records what the session held once a request was handled, and what that request changed in it. It records for every request that has a session, which in a default Laravel application means routes in the web middleware group.

Rows

The session section is one set of facts per capture, not a list of rows.

Key	Meaning	Missing when
driver	the session driver from session.driver (file, database, redis, ...)	-
id	the first 12 characters of a SHA-256 hash of the session id. Use it to tell sessions apart across captures; the id itself is never stored.	-
data	everything in the session after the request was handled, masked. Flash bookkeeping is left out.	empty when the session was empty
changes	one entry per key the request added, changed or removed: field (dot notation, for example cart.items.0.qty), from and to, both masked. from is null for a new key, to is null for a removed one.	null when the session was started without Laravel's StartSession middleware, so there was nothing to compare with; an empty list when nothing changed
flash	the keys in the session's flash data: those flashed during this request for the next one, and those flashed by the previous request	empty when nothing was flashed

Values under keys that match mask.inputs are masked, at any depth. With the default pattern that includes the CSRF token (_token) and keys such as password_hash_web.

Totals, warnings and errors

The lens adds no totals, warnings or errors to the summary.

In the dashboard

The Session tab has no table and no groupings. It shows:

• a line with the driver, the session id hash (with a copy button) and the keys flashed for the next request,
• Changed by this request: a table of each changed key with its value before and after, or "This request did not change the session.",
• Contents: every key in the session with its value, or "The session was empty."

For agents

The session of the latest request:

monocle-show {"id": "latest", "sections": ["session"]}

Answers what the session held, which keys the request changed and what was flashed, for example whether a login stored url.intended or a form flashed its errors.

The session facts on their own:

monocle-rows {"id": "latest", "section": "session"}

Returns the driver, id, data, changes and flash keys as one object.

Configuration

The lens is listed under lenses in config/monocle.php, keyed by SessionLens::class: true turns it on, false turns it off. See Lenses.

The lens has no options of its own.

Other configuration that affects this lens:

Key	Effect
mask.inputs	session keys whose values are masked, and mask.using the mask used for them
except.paths, except.livewire	requests left out there are not recorded, so their session is not either
dashboard.tabs	where the Session tab sits; it comes right after Request by default

A mask entry keyed by SessionLens::class applies to this lens only and wins over the shared one.

use ExeQue\Monocle\Lenses\SessionLens;
use ExeQue\Monocle\Support\Masks\PartialMask;

'lenses' => [
    SessionLens::class => true,
],

'mask' => [
    'inputs' => ['/pass|token|secret|authorization/i', SessionLens::class => '/impersonate/i'],
    'using' => PartialMask::class,
],

Requirements and limits

• No package is needed.
• Only HTTP requests with a session are recorded. API routes without the session middleware, jobs and commands have no session section.
• The session is read once the request was handled. Changes made later, in terminate or by terminating middleware, are not included.
• changes needs the session to be started by Laravel's StartSession middleware. A session started another way still shows its contents, but no changes.