How Do I Get the Query Builder to Output Its Raw SQL Query as a String?

Use the toSql() method on a QueryBuilder instance.

DB::table('users')->toSql() would return:

select * from `users`

This is easier than wiring up an event listener, and also lets you check what the query will actually look like at any point while you're building it.

Note: This method works for query builder or Eloquent, however toSql() is used instead of first() or get(). You cannot run the query and also get the SQL at the same time using this method.

To output to the screen the last queries ran you can use this:

\DB::enableQueryLog(); // Enable query log

// Your Eloquent query executed by using get()

dd(\DB::getQueryLog()); // Show results of log

I believe the most recent queries will be at the bottom of the array.

You will have something like that:

array(1) {
  [0]=>
  array(3) {
    ["query"]=>
    string(21) "select * from "users""
    ["bindings"]=>
    array(0) {
    }
    ["time"]=>
    string(4) "0.92"
  }
}

(Thanks to Joshua's comment below.)

DB::QueryLog() works only after you execute the query using $builder->get().

If you want to get the raw query before or without executing the query, you can use the $builder->toSql() method.

Example to get the raw SQL and to replace '?' with actual binding values:

$query = str_replace(array('?'), array('\'%s\''), $builder->toSql());
$query = vsprintf($query, $builder->getBindings());
dump($query);

$result = $builder->get();

Or you can deliberately trigger an error, for example, by using a non-existent table or column. Then you can see the generated query in the exception message.