[FIXED] How to display the symfony profiler for API request made in the browser?

Issue

I'm developing a REST api with Symfony2 + FOSRest bundle.

I would like to know if there is any way for a call to the api in dev mode (app_dev.php) from the browser (corresponding to a Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml header) to display the response in the "specified format", wrapped in html with the profiler provided by symfony.

It would allow to debug calls to the api directly in the browser.

---

Edit: I don't want to debug the HTTP request but the whole process (route matching, DB queries involved, etc). That's why I want to have access to the symfony profiler.

Solution

Since Symfony 2.4, the profiler sets two additional settings in the HTTP header: X-Debug-Token and X-Debug-Token-Link. (see http://symfony.com/blog/new-in-symfony-2-4-quicker-access-to-the-profiler-when-working-on-an-api)

These headers contain the token and the direct link to the profiler for the current request. They are always sent if the profiler is enabled.

Not surprisingly, there is already an extension available for Chrome, that checks for the existence of these headers and provide extra information: Symfony2 Profiler shortcut

In my opinion, this is better than any custom html-wrapper, but this only works for GET and maybe POST requests - PUT and DELETE requests are a bit trickier. There you can use a http client, like the chrome-extension POSTMAN and open the profiler manually by opening the link provided in the http-header X-Debug-Token-Link or keep your profiler-page (f.e. http://example.org/_profiler/) opened.

Answered By - SimonSimCity

Answer Checked By - Katrina (PHPFixing Volunteer)