Outwrite

Keep your logs readable and your progress visible.

outwrite combines Python's standard logging with a live status line that updates in place while logs stay readable, including messages from multiple processes or threads. The status is plain text you control, so it fits naturally into existing CLI workflows.

[10/30/26 12:00:00] INFO     Starting                        app.py:10
[10/30/26 12:00:02] INFO     Configuration check passed      app.py:14
Running connection check

Status is text you provide, not an automatically calculated progress bar.

Built on Rich. Python 3.11+.

Install

pip install outwrite

Quick start

import logging
import time

import outwrite

logger = logging.getLogger("my_app")

with outwrite.configure_console(logger=logger):
    logger.info("Starting")

    for check in ("Configuration", "Connection", "Permissions"):
        outwrite.status.update(f"Running {check.lower()} check")
        time.sleep(0.5)  # Simulate each check.
        logger.info("%s check passed", check)

    logger.info("Done")

When the with block ends, outwrite finishes printing pending messages and removes the status line. Existing file handlers still receive logs, but not status.

Multiple processes

Pass the connection returned by the main process to each child process and call outwrite.configure_console(console_connection) there before logging or updating status.

The multiprocessing demo shows the complete setup, including cleanup when interrupted with Ctrl+C.

After installing outwrite, run it from a repository checkout:

python examples/multiprocessing_demo.py

• Use the same logger name and multiprocessing context in the main process and workers.
• Join workers before leaving the with block so their final messages arrive.
• Workers share one status line; the last update received is shown.

Threads need no extra setup.

Options

Pass these options to outwrite.configure_console(...):

In workers, pass only console_connection. The other options configure the main process; they are ignored when a connection is supplied.

By default, output goes to stderr. When that stream is redirected to a file or pipe, logs are still written, but the live status line is hidden.

Change how it looks

This example hides the time and source filename in logs and makes status green:

import logging
import time

import outwrite
from rich.console import Console
from rich.logging import RichHandler
from rich.text import Text

logger = logging.getLogger("my_app")
handler = RichHandler(show_time=False, show_path=False, level=logging.INFO)


def render_status(text: str, console: Console) -> Text:
    status_text = Text(text, style="green", no_wrap=True)
    status_text.truncate(max(1, console.width - 2), overflow="ellipsis")
    return status_text


with outwrite.configure_console(
    logger=logger, console_handler=handler, render_status=render_status
):
    logger.info("Starting")
    outwrite.status.update("Simulation: step 1 of 100")
    time.sleep(1)
    # Do your work here.

A supplied handler controls the console and log level; console_level does not override it. Status uses the same console. outwrite reuses your handler without adding it twice or closing it afterward.

License

MIT.