Laravel 4.2 Example of how to log errors and exceptions

global.php

<?php

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Register The Laravel Class Loader
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| In addition to using Composer, you may use the Laravel class loader to
| load your controllers and models. This is useful for keeping all of
| your classes in the "global" namespace without Composer updating.
|
*/

ClassLoader::addDirectories(array(

	app_path().'/commands',
	app_path().'/controllers',
	app_path().'/models',
	app_path().'/database/seeds',
    app_path().'/library',


));

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Application Error Handler
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Here you may handle any errors that occur in your application, including
| logging them or displaying custom views for specific errors. You may
| even register several error handlers to handle different types of
| exceptions. If nothing is returned, the default error view is
| shown, which includes a detailed stack trace during debug.
|
*/

App::error(function(Exception $exception, $code)
{
	Log::error($exception);

	$message = $exception->getMessage();

    // switch statements provided in case you need to add
    // additional logic for specific error code.
    switch ($code) {
        case 401:
            $message            = (!$message ? $message = 'you are unauthorized to view this' : $message);
            return Response::json(array(
                    'code'      =>  401,
                    'message'   =>  $message
                ), 401);
        case 404:
            $message            = (!$message ? $message = 'the requested resource was not found' : $message);
            return Response::json(array(
                    'code'      =>  404,
                    'message'   =>  $message
                ), 404);  
        case 405:
            $message            = (!$message ? $message = 'the method is not allowed' : $message);
            return Response::json(array(
                    'code'      =>  405,
                    'message'   =>  $message
                ), 405); 
        case 500:
            $message            = (!$message ? $message = 'internal server error' : $message);
            return Response::json(array(
                    'code'      =>  500,
                    'message'   =>  $message
                ), 500);           
    }

});

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Maintenance Mode Handler
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| The "down" Artisan command gives you the ability to put an application
| into maintenance mode. Here, you will define what is displayed back
| to the user if maintenance mode is in effect for the application.
|
*/

App::down(function()
{
	return Response::make("Be right back!", 503);
});

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Require The Filters File
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Next we will load the filters file for the application. This gives us
| a nice separate location to store our route and application filter
| definitions instead of putting them all in the main routes file.
|
*/

require app_path().'/filters.php';