User Agent#

AuditChain automatically captures the user agent string from the current HTTP request and stores it on every audit log entry. This helps identify which browser, API client, or device triggered a change.

Automatic Capture#

No configuration needed. When an auditable model changes during an HTTP request, the user_agent column is populated from the request headers:

$order->update(['status' => 'shipped']);

// Audit log includes:
// user_agent: "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) ..."

Console and Queue Context#

When changes happen outside an HTTP request — in Artisan commands, queue jobs, or scheduled tasks — the user agent is set to null:

// In an Artisan command or queued job
$order->update(['status' => 'processed']);

// Audit log: user_agent = null

This makes it easy to distinguish between user-initiated changes and system-initiated changes.

What Gets Captured#

The full User-Agent header value is stored as-is. Common examples:

Querying by User Agent#

Find changes made from a specific client:

$order->auditLogs()
    ->where('user_agent', 'like', '%iPhone%')
    ->get();

// Or find all system-initiated changes
$order->auditLogs()
    ->whereNull('user_agent')
    ->get();

IP Address#

User agent capture works alongside automatic IP address capture. Both are resolved from the current request and both are null in console context. Together they provide a clear picture of where and how a change originated.