Laravel Installation Guide

Last researched 2026-08-26

This is the canonical Virent installation guide for Laravel applications.

Research Notes#

Laravel 13.x configures middleware in bootstrap/app.php.
Middleware can run before and after $next($request), which makes final response status available.
The HTTP facade is the recommended built-in client for outbound server requests.

Primary references:

https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/middleware
https://laravel.com/docs/13.x/http-client

Human Analytics#

Add the script to the shared Blade layout.

TXT

<!-- resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php --><head>  <meta charset="utf-8">  <script    defer    data-write-key="vha_pk_..."    src="https://app.virent.app/js/script.js"  ></script>  @vite(['resources/css/app.css', 'resources/js/app.js'])</head>

Best practices:

Install in the layout used by public web routes.
Use only the publishable browser key in Blade output.
Add nonce attributes if the app's CSP requires them.
Clear compiled views if the deployed page does not update.

Verification:

php artisan view:clear

Open a public page and inspect the head.
Check Network for the Virent script and pageview request.
Refresh Human Analytics status.

Troubleshooting:

If some pages are not tracked, find additional Blade layouts.
If CSP blocks Virent, update Laravel or proxy headers.
If cached views hide the change, run php artisan view:clear.

AI Analytics#

Set server values:

ENV

VIRENT_SITE_ID=site_...VIRENT_INGEST_SECRET=vha_sk_...VIRENT_INGEST_ENDPOINT=https://app.virent.app/v1/ingest/bot

Create middleware:

TXT

<?phpnamespace App\Http\Middleware;use Closure;use Illuminate\Http\Request;use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;class TrackVirentCrawler{	public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next): Response	{		return $next($request);	}	public function terminate(Request $request, Response $response): void	{		$userAgent = $request->userAgent() ?? '';        if (            preg_match('/\.(?:png|jpg|jpeg|gif|svg|ico|webp|css|js|map|txt|xml)$/i', $request->path()) ||            ! preg_match('/GPTBot|OAI-SearchBot|ChatGPT-User|ClaudeBot|claudebot|Claude-Web|Claude-User|Claude-SearchBot|PerplexityBot|PerplexityBot\/|Perplexity-User|Perplexity-User\/|Google-CloudVertexBot|DeepSeekBot|DeepSeekSpider|CCBot|Applebot|Bytespider|meta-externalagent|meta-webindexer|meta-externalfetcher|Amazonbot|DuckAssistBot|PetalBot|YouBot/i', $userAgent)        ) {			return;		}		try {			Http::withHeaders([				'x-api-key' => env('VIRENT_INGEST_SECRET'),			])->timeout(2)->post(env('VIRENT_INGEST_ENDPOINT'), [				'siteId' => env('VIRENT_SITE_ID'),				'url' => $request->fullUrl(),				'host' => $request->getHost(),				'path' => '/' . ltrim($request->path(), '/'),				'method' => $request->method(),				'referer' => $request->headers->get('referer'),				'userAgent' => $userAgent,				'statusCode' => $response->getStatusCode(),				'requestId' => (string) str()->uuid(),				'timestamp' => now()->toIso8601String(),			]);		} catch (\Throwable) {			// Analytics must never change the application response.		}    }}

TXT

// bootstrap/app.phpuse App\Http\Middleware\TrackVirentCrawler;use Illuminate\Foundation\Configuration\Middleware;->withMiddleware(function (Middleware $middleware): void {    $middleware->web(append: [        TrackVirentCrawler::class,    ]);})

Best practices:

Append to Laravel's web middleware group for public page routes.
Do not include API routes unless AI crawler traffic to APIs should be tracked.
Use terminable middleware so telemetry is sent after the application response with its final status.
Clear config cache after env changes.

Verification:

php artisan optimize:clearcurl -A "GPTBot" https://your-domain.com/

Confirm Laravel sends an outbound request to Virent.
Refresh AI Analytics status.

Troubleshooting:

If middleware does not run, confirm it is appended in bootstrap/app.php.
If env values are missing, clear config cache.
If high-traffic pages slow down, lower timeout values or queue telemetry.