debugging-output-and-previewing-html-using-ray

Ray Skill

Overview

Ray is Spatie's desktop debugging application for developers. Send data directly to Ray by making HTTP requests to its local server.

This can be useful for debugging applications, or to preview design, logos, or other visual content.

This is what the ray() PHP function does under the hood.

Connection Details

Setting	Default	Environment Variable
Host	localhost	RAY_HOST
Port	23517	RAY_PORT
URL	http://localhost:23517/	-

Request Format

Method: POST Content-Type: application/json User-Agent: Ray 1.0

Basic Request Structure

{
  "uuid": "unique-identifier-for-this-ray-instance",
  "payloads": [
    {
      "type": "log",
      "content": { },
      "origin": {
        "file": "/path/to/file.php",
        "line_number": 42,
        "hostname": "my-machine"
      }
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "ray_package_version": "1.0.0"
  }
}

Fields

Field	Type	Description
uuid	string	Unique identifier for this Ray instance. Reuse the same UUID to update an existing entry.
payloads	array	Array of payload objects to send
meta	object	Optional metadata (ray_package_version, project_name, php_version)

Origin Object

Every payload includes origin information:

{
  "file": "/Users/dev/project/app/Controller.php",
  "line_number": 42,
  "hostname": "dev-machine"
}

Payload Types

Log (Send Values)

{
  "type": "log",
  "content": {
    "values": ["Hello World", 42, {"key": "value"}]
  },
  "origin": { "file": "test.php", "line_number": 1, "hostname": "localhost" }
}

Custom (HTML/Text Content)

{
  "type": "custom",
  "content": {
    "content": "<h1>HTML Content</h1><p>With formatting</p>",
    "label": "My Label"
  },
  "origin": { "file": "test.php", "line_number": 1, "hostname": "localhost" }
}

Table

{
  "type": "table",
  "content": {
    "values": {"name": "John", "email": "[email protected]", "age": 30},
    "label": "User Data"
  },
  "origin": { "file": "test.php", "line_number": 1, "hostname": "localhost" }
}