# Debugging

While building API integrations, sometimes you will send a request and the API will return an error. This could be due to sending the request badly or incorrect data. Sometimes debugging the request can be difficult - so Saloon has some helpers to resolve this.

### Prerequisites

Saloon's default debugging driver uses [Symfony's Var Dumper](https://github.com/symfony/var-dumper) library. If you're not using Laravel and do not have it installed, you can install it below.

```
composer require symfony/var-dumper
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Laravel already includes this library.
{% endhint %}

### Debugging Request & Response

The simplest way to debug a request and response is to use the `debug()` method on your connector before sending a request. This will output an easy-to-understand array of the request and the response.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Connector" %}

```php
$connector = new ForgeConnector;

$connector->debug()->send($request);
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Request" %}

```php
$connector = new ForgeConnector;

$connector->send($request->debug());
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

You can provide the `die` argument if you would like to terminate the application after receiving the response.

```php
$connector->debug(die: true)->send($request);
```

This will provide an output in your terminal/browser like this:

```
Saloon Request (UserRequest) -> array:6 [
  "connector" => "Saloon\Tests\Fixtures\Connectors\TestConnector"
  "request" => "Saloon\Tests\Fixtures\Requests\UserRequest"
  "method" => "GET"
  "uri" => "https://tests.saloon.dev/api/user"
  "headers" => array:2 [
    "Host" => "tests.saloon.dev"
    "Accept" => "application/json"
  ]
  "body" => ""
]

Saloon Response (UserRequest) -> array:3 [
  "status" => 200
  "headers" => []
  "body" => "{"name":"Sam"}"
]
```

{% hint style="warning" %}
This output will show the request just before it is sent to the sender. If the sender (like Guzzle) adds any additional headers or changes the request, these changes will not be displayed.
{% endhint %}

### Separate Debuggers

You may also use `debugRequest` and `debugResponse` independently if you would like to debug just the request or response respectively.

```php
<?php

$connector->debugRequest(); // $connector->debugRequest(die: true);

$connector->debugResponse(); // $connector->debugResponse(die: true);
```

### Custom Debugger Handlers

You may also provide a closure to the `debugRequest` and `debugResponse` methods if you would like to write your own debugging implementations.

```php
<?php

use Saloon\Http\Response;
use Saloon\Http\PendingRequest;
use Psr\Http\Message\RequestInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;

// ...

$connector->debugRequest(function (PendingRequest $pendingRequest, RequestInterface $psrRequest) {
    ray($psrRequest);
});

$connector->debugResponse(function (Response $response, ResponseInterface $psrResponse) {
    ray($psrResponse);
});
```


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.saloon.dev/the-basics/debugging.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.