Configuration

WARNING

If you are authoring a library, you should not set up LogTape in the library itself. It is up to the application to set up LogTape.

See also Using in libraries.

Setting up LogTape for your application is a crucial step in implementing effective logging. The configure() function is your main tool for this task. Let's explore how to use it to tailor LogTape to your specific needs.

At its core, configuring LogTape involves three main components:

• Sinks: Where your logs will be sent
• Filters: Rules for which logs should be processed
• Loggers: The logging instances for different parts of your application

Here's a simple configuration to get you started:

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

await configure({
  sinks: {
    console: getConsoleSink(),
  },
  loggers: [
    {
      category: "my-app",
      level: "info",
      sinks: ["console"],
    },
  ],
});

This setup will log all "info" level and above messages from the ["my-app"]  category to the console.

Crafting your configuration

NOTE

The configure() is an asynchronous function. Always use await or handle the returned Promise appropriately.

Setting up sinks

Sinks determine where your logs end up. You can have multiple sinks for different purposes:

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

await configure({
  sinks: {
    console: getConsoleSink(),
    file: getFileSink("app.log"),
    errorFile: getFileSink("error.log"),
  },
  // ... rest of configuration
});

Defining Filters

Filters allow you to fine-tune which logs are processed. They can be based on log levels, content, or custom logic:

await configure({
  // ... sinks configuration
  filters: {
    noDebug(record) {
      return record.level !== "debug";
    },
    onlyErrors(record) {
      return record.level === "error" || record.level === "fatal";
    },
    containsUserData(record) {
      return record.message.some(
        part => typeof part === "string" && part.includes("user")
      );
    },
  },
  // ... loggers configuration
});

Configuring Loggers

Loggers are where you bring everything together. You can set up different loggers for different parts of your application:

await configure({
  // ... sinks and filters configuration
  loggers: [
    {
      category: "my-app",
      level: "info",
      sinks: ["console", "file"],
    },
    {
      category: ["my-app", "database"],
      level: "debug",
      sinks: ["file"],
      filters: ["noDebug"],
    },
    {
      category: ["my-app", "user-service"],
      level: "info",
      sinks: ["console", "file"],
      filters: ["containsUserData"],
    },
  ],
});

For severity levels, see Configuring severity levels.

Disposal of resources

If sinks or filters implement the Disposal or AsyncDisposal interface, they will be properly disposed when resetting the configuration or when the application exits.

Advanced configuration techniques

Using environment variables

It's often useful to change your logging configuration based on the environment. Here's how you might do that:

Deno

const isDevelopment = Deno.env.get("DENO_DEPLOYMENT_ID") == null;

await configure({
  sinks: {
    console: getConsoleSink(),
    file: getFileSink(isDevelopment ? "dev.log" : "prod.log"),
  },
  loggers: [
    {
      category: "my-app",
      level: isDevelopment ? "debug" : "info",
      sinks: isDevelopment ? ["console", "file"] : ["file"],
    },
  ],
});

Node.js

const isDevelopment = process.env.NODE_ENV === "development";

await configure({
  sinks: {
    console: getConsoleSink(),
    file: getFileSink(isDevelopment ? "dev.log" : "prod.log"),
  },
  loggers: [
    {
      category: "my-app",
      level: isDevelopment ? "debug" : "info",
      sinks: isDevelopment ? ["console", "file"] : ["file"],
    },
  ],
});

Reconfiguration

Remember that calling configure() with reset: true option will reset any existing configuration. If you need to change the configuration at runtime, you can call configure() again with reset: true and the new settings:

// Initial configuration
await configure(initialConfig);

// Later in your application...
await configure({
  reset: true,
  ...initialConfig,
  loggers: [
    ...initialConfig.loggers,
    {
      category: "new-feature",
      level: "debug",
      sinks: ["console"],
    },
  ],
});

Or you can explicitly call reset() to clear the existing configuration:

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

await configure(initialConfig);

// Later in your application...

reset();

Best practices

1. Configure early: Set up your LogTape configuration early in your application's lifecycle, ideally before any logging calls are made.
2. Use categories wisely: Create a logical hierarchy with your categories to make filtering and management easier.
3. Configure for different environments: Have different configurations for development, testing, and production.
4. Don't overuse filters: While powerful, too many filters can make your logging system complex and hard to maintain.
5. Monitor performance: Be mindful of the performance impact of your logging, especially in production environments.