Laravel Global Middleware Detected but Not Altering Model Records - laravel

Question

I have the following middleware (LastSeen):
<?php
namespace App\Http\Middleware;
use Closure;
use Carbon\Carbon;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Factory as Auth;
class LastSeen
{
/**
* The authentication factory instance.
*
* #var \Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Factory
*/
protected $auth;
/**
* Create a new middleware instance.
*
* #param \Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Factory $auth
* #return void
*/
public function __construct(Auth $auth)
{
$this->auth = $auth;
}
/**
* Handle an incoming request.
*
* #param \Illuminate\Http\Request $request
* #param \Closure $next
* #return mixed
*/
public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
if ($this->auth->check()) {
$user = $this->auth->user();
$user->last_activity = Carbon::now();
$user->save();
}
return $next($request);
}
}
This was mostly taken from this answer ( Check if user online laravel ) as a stop-gap solution to a project I am working on.
I do have a TIMESTAMP column in my users table labeled last_activity and this is my Kernel file global middleware:
/**
* The application's global HTTP middleware stack.
*
* These middleware are run during every request to your application.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $middleware = [
\Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\CheckForMaintenanceMode::class,
\Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\ValidatePostSize::class,
\App\Http\Middleware\TrimStrings::class,
\App\Http\Middleware\LastSeen::class,
\Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\ConvertEmptyStringsToNull::class,
\App\Http\Middleware\TrustProxies::class,
\App\Http\Middleware\ModifyHeadersMiddleware::class,
];
I'm not sure where to go next, I am just beginning on middleware and am still learning but not sure what I'm doing wrong...
Thanks!

Answer 1

The problem is that info about authorized user is stored in session and LastSeen's auth check is running before session was started so it allways return false.
You need to move LastSeen middleware after StartSession middleware:
/**
* The application's route middleware groups.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $middlewareGroups = [
'web' => [
\App\Http\Middleware\EncryptCookies::class,
\Illuminate\Cookie\Middleware\AddQueuedCookiesToResponse::class,
\Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession::class,
\App\Http\Middleware\LastSeen::class,
\Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession::class,
\App\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken::class,
\Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings::class,
],
'api' => [
'throttle:60,1',
'bindings',
],
];

Answer 2

There are some issues, but the main mistake is you are calling the wrong Auth. You have to call the facade, you are calling the Auth factory. Another thing is, avoid the constructor. Keep it simple. Especially for MiddleWare. One last thing, you are updating the user status, not saving a new entry.
namespace App\Http\Middleware;
use Closure;
use Carbon\Carbon;
use Auth;
class LastSeen
{
/**
* Handle an incoming request.
*
* #param \Illuminate\Http\Request $request
* #param \Closure $next
* #return mixed
*/
public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
if (Auth::check()) {
$user = Auth::user();
$user->last_activity = Carbon::now();
$user->update();
}
return $next($request);
}
}