DB::whenQueryingForLongerThan()

Overview

This method fires a callback when the total time spent querying the database in a single request exceeds a given threshold. Unlike slow query logs that flag individual queries, this catches death by a thousand cuts — many fast queries adding up.

Usage

Register this in your AppServiceProvider:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
use Illuminate\Database\Connection;

public function boot(): void
{
    DB::whenQueryingForLongerThan(500, function (Connection $connection) {
        logger()->warning(
            "Database queries exceeded 500ms on [{$connection->getName()}]."
        );
    });
}

The threshold is in milliseconds. The callback receives the connection instance that exceeded the threshold.

When to Use

• Detecting request-level performance regressions in production
• Alerting when a page accumulates too many queries (even if each one is fast)
• Pairing with Model::preventLazyLoading() for comprehensive query monitoring