Handle REST API errors thrown from Controller or Exception

Handler.php

<?php

namespace Attend\Exceptions;

use Exception;
use Attend\Traits\RestTrait;
use Attend\Traits\RestExceptionHandlerTrait;
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\HttpException;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Exceptions\Handler as ExceptionHandler;

class Handler extends ExceptionHandler
{
    use RestTrait, RestExceptionHandlerTrait;

    /**
     * A list of the exception types that should not be reported.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $dontReport = [
        AuthorizationException::class,
        HttpException::class,
        ModelNotFoundException::class,
        ValidationException::class,
    ];

    /**
     * Report or log an exception.
     *
     * This is a great spot to send exceptions to Sentry, Bugsnag, etc.
     *
     * @param  \Exception  $exception
     * @return void
     */
    public function report(Exception $exception)
    {
        parent::report($exception);
    }

    /**
     * Render an exception into an HTTP response.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Http\Request  $request
     * @param  \Exception  $exception
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\Response
     */
    public function render($request, Exception $exception)
    {
        $retval = parent::render($request, $exception);

        if ($exception instanceof NotFoundHttpException || $this->isApiCall($request)) {
            $retval = $this->getJsonResponseForException($request, $exception);
        }

        return $retval;
    }
}

RestExceptionHandlerTrait.php

<?php

namespace App\Traits;

use Exception;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\ModelNotFoundException;

trait RestExceptionHandlerTrait
{

    /**
     * Creates a new JSON response based on exception type.
     *
     * @param Request $request
     * @param Exception $e
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse
     */
    protected function getJsonResponseForException(Request $request, Exception $e)
    {
        switch(true) {
            case $this->isModelNotFoundException($e):
                $retval = $this->modelNotFound();
                break;
            default:
                $retval = $this->badRequest();
        }

        return $retval;
    }

    /**
     * Returns json response for generic bad request.
     *
     * @param string $message
     * @param int $statusCode
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse
     */
    protected function badRequest($message='Bad request', $statusCode=400)
    {
        return $this->jsonResponse(['error' => $message], $statusCode);
    }

    /**
     * Returns json response for Eloquent model not found exception.
     *
     * @param string $message
     * @param int $statusCode
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse
     */
    protected function modelNotFound($message='Record not found', $statusCode=404)
    {
        return $this->jsonResponse(['error' => $message], $statusCode);
    }

    /**
     * Returns json response.
     *
     * @param array|null $payload
     * @param int $statusCode
     * @return \Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse
     */
    protected function jsonResponse(array $payload=null, $statusCode=404)
    {
        $payload = $payload ?: [];

        return response()->json($payload, $statusCode);
    }

    /**
     * Determines if the given exception is an Eloquent model not found.
     *
     * @param Exception $e
     * @return bool
     */
    protected function isModelNotFoundException(Exception $e)
    {
        return $e instanceof ModelNotFoundException;
    }

}

RestTrait.php

<?php

namespace App\Traits;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

trait RestTrait
{

    /**
     * Determines if request is an api call.
     *
     * If the request URI contains '/api/v'.
     *
     * @param Request $request
     * @return bool
     */
    protected function isApiCall(Request $request)
    {
        return strpos($request->getUri(), '/api/v') !== false;
    }

}