Activity Scope: Laravel Audit Trail Package

Looking for a powerful activity logging system for your Laravel applications? Meet Activity Scope - a comprehensive audit trail package that combines performance, privacy, and developer experience.

Why Activity Scope?

In modern Laravel development, tracking user actions and maintaining audit trails is essential. Most existing solutions either:

• Are overly complex with steep learning curves
• Sacrifice performance for features
• Ignore privacy concerns in modern applications
• Force rigid logging patterns

Activity Scope changes this with a thoughtful approach that prioritizes what developers actually need.

Key Features

Fluent Builder API

activity()
    ->on($post)
    ->did('published')
    ->with(['scheduled_at' => now()])
    ->success()
    ->log();

Clean, readable, and chainable API that makes sense.

Smart Actor Resolution

// Automatically uses auth()->user()
activity()->created($post)->log();

// Override when needed
activity()->by($admin)->on($user)->did('suspended')->log();

Works the way you expect, with sensible defaults.

Privacy-First Design

activity()
    ->sensitive()
    ->with(['api_key' => 'sk_live_123456']) // Auto-redacted
    ->log();

Built-in IP anonymization, sensitive data scrubbing, and privacy controls.

Modular Traits

// Automatic logging
class Post extends Model {
    use LogsActivity;
}

// Manual control
class User extends Model {
    use HasActivities;
    
    function login() {
        $this->newActivity()->did('logged_in')->log();
    }
}

Use what you need, ignore what you don't.

Getting Started

Installation

composer require dibakar/activity-scope
php artisan activityscope:install
php artisan migrate

Your First Activity Log

// That's it. You're ready.
activity()
    ->on($user)
    ->did('registered')
    ->log();

Real-World Use Cases

E-commerce Order Tracking

class OrderService {
    public function processOrder(Order $order, User $user) {
        activity()
            ->by($user)
            ->created($order)
            ->with(['total' => $order->total, 'items' => $order->items->count()])
            ->tags(['order', 'ecommerce'])
            ->log();
            
        if ($payment->successful) {
            activity()
                ->by($user)
                ->on($order)
                ->did('payment_confirmed')
                ->success()
                ->log();
        }
    }
}

Security Event Logging

// Failed login attempts
activity()
    ->byGuest()
    ->on($user)
    ->failed('Invalid credentials')
    ->severity('warning')
    ->tags(['auth', 'security'])
    ->log();

// Admin actions
activity()
    ->by($admin)
    ->on($user)
    ->did('account_suspended')
    ->severity('critical')
    ->tags(['admin', 'security'])
    ->log();

Analytics Integration

// Track user engagement
activity()
    ->by($user)
    ->on($article)
    ->did('viewed')
    ->with(['duration' => $readingTime, 'source' => 'search'])
    ->tags(['analytics', 'engagement'])
    ->log();

Advanced Features

Human-Readable Messages

$activity = Activity::first();
echo $activity->message(); 
// "John Doe published Post 'Getting Started with Laravel' 2 minutes ago"

Powerful Query Scopes

// Find all admin actions in last week
$adminActions = Activity::by($admin)
    ->where('created_at', '>=', now()->subDays(7))
    ->where('severity', 'critical')
    ->get();

// Security events
$securityEvents = Activity::withTag('security')
    ->failed()
    ->get();

Performance Optimized

• Efficient Queries: Optimized database interactions
• Queue Support: Async logging when you need it
• Smart Pruning: Automatic cleanup of old logs
• Minimal Overhead: Won't slow down your application

Security & Compliance

GDPR Compliant

// Automatic privacy controls
'privacy' => [
    'sanitize_data' => true,
    'anonymize_ip' => true,
    'sensitive_fields' => [
        'password', 'token', 'api_key', 'credit_card', 'ssn'
    ],
],

Audit Trail Standards

• Immutable logs (once written, never changed)
• Complete context (who, what, when, where)
• Tamper-evident (cryptographic hashes available)
• Searchable and filterable

Developer Experience

Clean Configuration

// Simple, sensible defaults
return [
    'enabled' => env('ACTIVITY_LOGGER_ENABLED', true),
    'auto_log' => env('ACTIVITY_LOGGER_AUTO_LOG', false),
    'privacy' => [
        'sanitize_data' => true,
        'track_ip_address' => true,
        'anonymize_ip' => false,
    ],
];

Comprehensive Testing

// Built-in test helpers
$this->assertActivityLogged('created', $post);
$this->assertDatabaseHas('activities', [
    'action' => 'published',
    'subject_id' => $post->id
]);

Why Choose Activity Scope?

1. Purpose-Built: Designed specifically for Laravel's ecosystem
2. Privacy-First: Security and compliance built-in
3. Performance: Won't slow down your application
4. Flexible: Use what you need, ignore what you don't
5. Intuitive: API that just makes sense
6. Production-Ready: Battle-tested in real applications

Resources

• Documentation: Complete API Reference
• GitHub: Repository & Issues
• Packagist: Install via Composer
• Examples: Real-world code samples

Get Started Today

Stop fighting with complex logging solutions. Activity Scope gives you the power, flexibility, and privacy features you need.

composer require dibakar/activity-scope

Your future self will thank you for choosing a logging solution that actually respects your time and your users' privacy.

Hot Tip: Check out the examples directory for ready-to-use implementations for common scenarios like e-commerce, user management, and security monitoring.

#Laravel #PHP #AuditTrail #ActivityLogging #OpenSource #DeveloperTools