devlogs 2.4.4

Developer-focused logging library for Python with OpenSearch integration.

devlogs

A developer-focused logging library for Python based on OpenSearch.

Step 1: Get OpenSearch running

If you don't have OpenSearch running and you want to stand one up:

1. Install Docker (and Docker Compose) for your OS.
2. Copy docker-compose.example.yaml to docker-compose.yaml.
3. Change the OpenSearch password in the copied file.
4. Start OpenSearch:

   docker compose up -d
   

Step 2: Copy/paste these instructions into your coding agent

Pick the block for your language and paste it into your coding agent. The agent will install devlogs as a dev dependency, create a connection config file, initialize the index, and add a small logging hook to your app entrypoint — guarded by an environment check so it only runs in development. No existing code is modified.

For language-specific details and quirks, see AGENT_HOWTO_PYTHON.md or AGENT_HOWTO_JAVASCRIPT.md.

Python

Please do the following in this project:

1. Install devlogs as a dev dependency (pip install devlogs or add it to requirements-dev.txt/pyproject.toml optional dependencies).
2. Create a .env.devlogs file in the project root with a single DEVLOGS_URL variable (devlogs auto-discovers this file). Use the opensearchs:// scheme for TLS or opensearch:// for non-TLS:

   DEVLOGS_URL=opensearchs://admin:YourPasswordHere@localhost:9200/devlogs-<projectname>
   

3. Run devlogs init (inside the virtualenv if one is set up) and verify the index is healthy.
4. Add devlogs hooks at the beginning of the application (main entrypoint/startup module), wrapped in an environment check so it only runs in development:

   import os
   import logging
   if os.getenv("ENVIRONMENT") != "production":
       from devlogs.handler import DevlogsHandler
       from devlogs.opensearch.client import get_opensearch_client
       from devlogs.build_info import resolve_build_info
   
       build_info = resolve_build_info(write_if_missing=True)
       handler = DevlogsHandler(
           application="my-app",  # Required: your app name
           component="api",       # Required: component name
           level=logging.INFO,
           opensearch_client=get_opensearch_client(),
           version=build_info.build_id,
       )
       logging.getLogger().addHandler(handler)
       logging.getLogger().setLevel(logging.INFO)
       logging.info("App started")
   

5. Ask the user if they want MCP set up; if yes, state which agent you are (copilot, claude, or codex) and run devlogs initmcp <agent>.

JavaScript / TypeScript (browser)

Please do the following in this project:

1. Install the browser package as a dev dependency: npm install --save-dev devlogs-browser.
2. Initialize devlogs early in the application entrypoint, wrapped in an environment check so it only runs in development:

   import * as devlogs from 'devlogs-browser';
   
   if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
     devlogs.init({
       url: 'https://admin:YourPasswordHere@localhost:9200',
       index: 'devlogs-<projectname>',
       application: 'my-app',   // Required: your app name
       component: 'frontend',   // Required: component name
     });
     devlogs.installGlobalHandlers();
   }
   

3. Use devlogs.setArea('dashboard') and devlogs.setOperationId('op-123') to add context to logs. Pass a plain object as the last argument to attach custom fields:

   console.log('User action', { userId: 123, action: 'clicked' });
   

Step 3: Use devlogs

1. Run devlogs initmcp <agent> to set up the MCP server.
2. Then run devlogs tail to see the last logs, or devlogs tail -f to follow along
3. Finally, ask your agent to query devlogs for errors. Watch it solve problems on its own!

If you want to install it by hand

1. Install devlogs:

   pip install devlogs
   

2. Start OpenSearch:

   docker-compose up -d opensearch
   

   Or point DEVLOGS_URL at an existing cluster.

3. Configure connection (choose one):

   Option A — .env.devlogs file (auto-discovered):

   DEVLOGS_URL=opensearchs://admin:YourPasswordHere@localhost:9200/devlogs-myproject
   

   Option B — --url flag (no config file needed):

   devlogs --url 'opensearchs://admin:pass@localhost:9200/devlogs-myproject' init
   

   Use devlogs mkurl to interactively build a properly URL-encoded connection string (handy for passwords with special characters).

4. Initialize indices/templates:

   devlogs init
   

5. Use in Python code (development only):

   import os
   import logging
   
   # Only enable devlogs in development
   if os.getenv("ENVIRONMENT") != "production":
       from devlogs.handler import DevlogsHandler
       from devlogs.opensearch.client import get_opensearch_client
       from devlogs.build_info import resolve_build_info
   
       build_info = resolve_build_info(write_if_missing=True)
       handler = DevlogsHandler(
           application="my-app",
           component="default",
           level=logging.DEBUG,
           opensearch_client=get_opensearch_client(),
           version=build_info.build_id,
       )
       logging.getLogger().addHandler(handler)
       logging.getLogger().setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
   
       logging.info("Hello from devlogs!")
   

6. Use in JavaScript/TypeScript (browser, development only):

   import * as devlogs from 'devlogs-browser';
   
   if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
     devlogs.init({
       url: 'https://admin:YourPasswordHere@localhost:9200',
       index: 'devlogs-myproject',
       application: 'my-app',
       component: 'frontend',
     });
   }
   
   // All console methods are now forwarded to OpenSearch
   console.log('Hello from devlogs!');
   
   // Add context
   devlogs.setArea('dashboard');
   console.log('User action', { userId: 123, action: 'clicked' });
   

7. Tail logs from CLI:

   devlogs tail --area web --follow
   

8. Search logs from CLI:

   devlogs search --q "error" --area web
   

9. Run the web UI:

   uvicorn devlogs.web.server:app --port 8088
   # Then open http://localhost:8088/ui/
   

MCP Agent Setup

If you want MCP set up, identify your agent type and run the matching command from your project root:

devlogs initmcp copilot
devlogs initmcp claude
devlogs initmcp codex
devlogs initmcp all

This writes MCP config files in the standard locations:

• Claude: .mcp.json
• Copilot (VS Code): .vscode/mcp.json
• Codex: ~/.codex/config.toml

Features

• DevlogsHandler - Standard logging.Handler for OpenSearch with v2.0 schema
• HTTP Collector Service for centralized log ingestion
• Devlogs Record Format v2.0 - Standardized schema with application, component, top-level message/level/area
• Context manager for operation_id/area
• Structured custom fields on log entries (extra={"features": {...}} stored as fields)
• CLI and Linux shell wrapper
• Minimal embeddable web UI
• Robust tests (pytest)

Note: Version 2.0.0 introduces breaking changes. See MIGRATION-V2.md for upgrade instructions.

HTTP Collector

The devlogs collector is a standalone HTTP service for centralized log ingestion. It supports two modes:

• Forward mode: Proxy requests to an upstream collector
• Ingest mode: Write directly to OpenSearch

Quick Start

# Start collector in ingest mode
DEVLOGS_OPENSEARCH_HOST=localhost DEVLOGS_INDEX=devlogs-myapp devlogs-collector serve

# Start collector in forward mode
DEVLOGS_FORWARD_URL=https://central-collector.example.com devlogs-collector serve

Using the Python Client

from devlogs.devlogs_client import create_client

client = create_client(
    collector_url="http://localhost:8080",
    application="my-app",
    component="api-server",
)

client.emit(
    message="Request processed",
    level="info",
    fields={"user_id": "123", "duration_ms": 45}
)

Docker

docker build -f Dockerfile.collector -t devlogs-collector .
docker run -p 8080:8080 -e DEVLOGS_URL=opensearchs://admin:pass@opensearch:9200/devlogs devlogs-collector

See HOWTO-COLLECTOR.md for complete collector documentation.

Jenkins Integration

Option 1: Jenkins Plugin (Recommended)

Install the Devlogs Jenkins plugin for native integration:

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                devlogs(url: credentials('devlogs-url')) {
                    sh 'make build'
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

See jenkins-plugin/README.md for installation and usage details.

Option 2: Standalone Binary

Stream Jenkins build logs to OpenSearch using a standalone binary:

pipeline {
    agent any
    environment {
        DEVLOGS_URL = credentials('devlogs-url')
        DEVLOGS_BINARY_URL = credentials('devlogs-binary-url')
    }
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                sh 'curl -sL $DEVLOGS_BINARY_URL -o /tmp/devlogs && chmod +x /tmp/devlogs'
                sh '/tmp/devlogs jenkins attach --background'
                sh 'make build'
            }
        }
    }
    post {
        always { sh '/tmp/devlogs jenkins stop || true' }
    }
}

Build the binary with ./build-standalone.sh and host it somewhere accessible. See HOWTO-JENKINS.md for setup details.

Configuration

Environment Variables

Connection (choose one):

• DEVLOGS_URL - Standard connection URL with auto-detection. OpenSearch URLs (opensearchs://, opensearch://) connect directly; collector URLs (http://, https://) use the collector endpoint.
• DEVLOGS_FORWARD_URL - Forward mode: proxy to this upstream URL

OpenSearch (individual variables, alternative to DEVLOGS_URL):

• DEVLOGS_OPENSEARCH_HOST, DEVLOGS_OPENSEARCH_PORT, DEVLOGS_OPENSEARCH_USER, DEVLOGS_OPENSEARCH_PASS
• DEVLOGS_OPENSEARCH_VERIFY_CERTS, DEVLOGS_OPENSEARCH_CA_CERT - SSL/TLS settings

Index & Retention:

• DEVLOGS_INDEX - Target index name
• DEVLOGS_RETENTION_DEBUG, DEVLOGS_RETENTION_INFO, DEVLOGS_RETENTION_WARNING - Retention policy (e.g., 24h, 7d)

Collector Limits (Future Provisions):

• DEVLOGS_COLLECTOR_RATE_LIMIT - Max requests/second (0 = unlimited)
• DEVLOGS_COLLECTOR_MAX_PAYLOAD_SIZE - Max payload bytes (0 = unlimited)

See .env.example for a complete configuration template.

CLI Options

Use --url to specify connection details without a .env file:

devlogs --url 'opensearchs://admin:pass@host:9200/myindex' tail

Use --env to load from a specific .env file:

devlogs --env /path/to/.env diagnose

URL Builder

Use devlogs mkurl to interactively create a properly URL-encoded connection string:

devlogs mkurl
# Outputs the URL in three formats:
# 1. Bare URL (for --url flag)
# 2. Single DEVLOGS_URL variable
# 3. Individual .env variables

This is especially useful for passwords containing special characters like !, @, #, which must be URL-encoded.

See HOWTO-CLI.md for complete CLI reference.

Production Deployment

Devlogs is a development tool. The examples above show how to conditionally enable it using an environment check. You can also make it an optional dependency:

# pyproject.toml
[project.optional-dependencies]
dev = ["devlogs>=2.0.0"]

Install with pip install ".[dev]" in development, pip install . in production.

Project Structure

• src/devlogs/ - Python library, CLI, MCP server, and web UI
• browser/ - Browser/npm package for frontend logging
• jenkins-plugin/ - Native Jenkins plugin for log streaming
• devlogs - Shell wrapper for local development
• tests/ - Pytest-based tests
• dist/ - Built packages and standalone binary

Publishing

# Release to all platforms (PyPI, npm, GitHub)
./publish/release.sh

# Bump version and release
./publish/release.sh --bump-patch

# Preview release
./publish/release.sh --dry-run

See publish/RELEASING.md for detailed publishing instructions.

Build Info Helper

Tag every log entry with a stable build identifier without requiring git at runtime:

from devlogs.build_info import resolve_build_info

bi = resolve_build_info(write_if_missing=True)
# bi.build_id = "main-20260124T153045Z"
# bi.branch = "main"
# bi.source = "file" | "env" | "generated"

# Use with DevlogsHandler
handler = DevlogsHandler(
    application="my-app",
    component="api",
    version=bi.build_id,  # Include build info in handler
)
logging.info("Started")

The build info is resolved from (in priority order):

1. Environment variables (DEVLOGS_BUILD_ID, DEVLOGS_BRANCH)
2. Build info file (.build.json)
3. Generated values (branch-timestamp format)

See docs/build-info.md for CI integration examples and full API reference.

See Also

• AGENT_HOWTO_PYTHON.md - Agent setup instructions for Python
• AGENT_HOWTO_JAVASCRIPT.md - Agent setup instructions for browser JS/TS
• MIGRATION-V2.md - Migration guide from v1.x to v2.0
• HOWTO-COLLECTOR.md - HTTP collector setup and deployment
• HOWTO-DEVLOGS-FORMAT.md - Devlogs record format reference
• docs/build-info.md - Build info helper guide
• HOWTO-CLI.md - Complete CLI reference
• HOWTO.md - Integration guide
• HOWTO-JENKINS.md - Jenkins setup
• jenkins-plugin/README.md - Jenkins plugin documentation
• HOWTO-MCP.md - MCP agent setup
• HOWTO-UI.md - Web UI guide
• publish/RELEASING.md - Publishing guide
• PROMPT.md for full requirements