Structured logging

Structured logging is an approach to logging that treats log entries as structured data rather than plain text. This method makes logs more easily searchable, filterable, and analyzable, especially when dealing with large volumes of log data.

Benefits of structured logging include:

• Improved searchability: Easily search for specific log entries based on structured fields.
• Better analysis: Perform more sophisticated analysis on your logs using the structured data.
• Consistency: Enforce a consistent format for your log data across your application.
• Machine-Readable: Structured logs are easier for log management systems to process and analyze.

LogTape provides built-in support for structured logging, allowing you to include additional context and metadata with your log messages.

Including structured data in log messages

You can pass an object as the second argument to any log method. The properties of this object will be included as structured data in the log record.

import { getLogger } from "@logtape/logtape";

const logger = getLogger(["my-app"]);

logger.info("User logged in", {
  userId: 123456,
  username: "johndoe",
  loginTime: new Date(),
});

This will create a log entry with the message "User logged in" and include the userId, username, and loginTime as structured fields.

You can use placeholders in your log messages. The values for these placeholders will be included as structured data.

logger.info("User {username} (ID: {userId}) logged in at {loginTime}", {
  userId: 123456,
  username: "johndoe",
  loginTime: new Date(),
});

This method allows you to include the structured data directly in your log message while still maintaining it as separate fields in the log record.

TIP

The way to log single curly braces { is to double the brace:

logger.debug("This logs {{single}} curly braces.");

NOTE

Currently, template literals do not support structured data. You must use method calls with an object argument to include structured data in your log messages.

Lazy evaluation of structured data

If computing the structured data is expensive and you want to avoid unnecessary computation when the log level is not enabled, you can use a function to provide the structured data:

logger.debug("Expensive operation completed", () => ({
  result: expensiveComputation(),
  duration: performance.now() - startTime
}));

The function will only be called if the debug log level is enabled.

Configuring sinks for structured logging

To make the most of structured logging, you'll want to use sinks that can handle structured data. For example, you can output logs in JSON Lines format by providing a text formatter to a file sink:

import { configure, getFileSink } from "@logtape/logtape";

await configure({
  sinks: {
    jsonl: getFileSink("log.jsonl", {
      formatter: (record) => JSON.stringify(record) + "\n"
    }),
  },
  // ... rest of configuration
});

This will output each log record as a JSON object on a separate line, preserving the structure of your log data.

TIP

If you want to monitor log messages formatted in JSON Lines in real-time readably, you can utilize the tail and jq commands:

tail -f log.jsonl | jq .

Filtering based on structured data

You can create filters that use the structured data in your log records:

import { configure, getConsoleSink } from "@logtape/logtape";

await configure({
  sinks: {
    console: getConsoleSink()
  },
  filters: {
    highPriorityOnly: (record) => 
      record.properties.priority === "high" || record.level === "error"
  },
  loggers: [
    {
      category: ["my-app"],
      sinks: ["console"],
      filters: ["highPriorityOnly"]
    }
  ]
});

This filter will only allow logs with a "high" priority or error level to pass through.

Best practices

1. Be consistent: Use consistent field names across your application for similar types of data.

2. Use appropriate data types: Ensure that the values in your structured data are of appropriate types (e.g., numbers for numeric values, booleans for true/false values).

3. Don't overload: While it's tempting to include lots of data, be mindful of the volume of data you're logging. Include what's necessary for debugging and analysis, but avoid logging sensitive or redundant information.

4. Use nested structures when appropriate: For complex data, consider using nested objects to maintain a logical structure.

5. Consider performance: If you're logging high-volume data, be aware of the performance impact of generating and processing structured logs.