# Help
* [Log rotation](#rotate)
* [Reopening log files](#reopening)
* [Saving to multiple files](#multiple)
* [Log filtering](#filter-logs)
* [Transports and systemd](#transport-systemd)
* [Log to different streams](#multi-stream)
* [Duplicate keys](#dupe-keys)
* [Log levels as labels instead of numbers](#level-string)
* [Pino with `debug`](#debug)
* [Unicode and Windows terminal](#windows)
* [Mapping Pino Log Levels to Google Cloud Logging (Stackdriver) Serverity Levels](#stackdriver)
* [Avoid Message Conflict](#avoid-message-conflict)
* [Exit logging](#exit-logging)
## Log rotation
Use a separate tool for log rotation:
We recommend [logrotate](https://github.com/logrotate/logrotate).
Consider we output our logs to `/var/log/myapp.log` like so:
```
$ node server.js > /var/log/myapp.log
```
We would rotate our log files with logrotate, by adding the following to `/etc/logrotate.d/myapp`:
```
/var/log/myapp.log {
su root
daily
rotate 7
delaycompress
compress
notifempty
missingok
copytruncate
}
```
The `copytruncate` configuration has a very slight possibility of lost log lines due
to a gap between copying and truncating - the truncate may occur after additional lines
have been written. To perform log rotation without `copytruncate`, see the [Reopening log files](#reopening)
help.
## Reopening log files
In cases where a log rotation tool doesn't offer a copy-truncate capabilities,
or where using them is deemed inappropriate, `pino.destination`
is able to reopen file paths after a file has been moved away.
One way to use this is to set up a `SIGUSR2` or `SIGHUP` signal handler that
reopens the log file destination, making sure to write the process PID out
somewhere so the log rotation tool knows where to send the signal.
```js
// write the process pid to a well known location for later
const fs = require('fs')
fs.writeFileSync('/var/run/myapp.pid', process.pid)
const dest = pino.destination('/log/file')
const logger = require('pino')(dest)
process.on('SIGHUP', () => dest.reopen())
```
The log rotation tool can then be configured to send this signal to the process
after a log rotation event has occurred.
Given a similar scenario as in the [Log rotation](#rotate) section a basic
`logrotate` config that aligns with this strategy would look similar to the following:
```
/var/log/myapp.log {
su root
daily
rotate 7
delaycompress
compress
notifempty
missingok
postrotate
kill -HUP `cat /var/run/myapp.pid`
endscript
}
```
## Saving to multiple files
See [`pino.multistream`](/docs/api.md#pino-multistream).
## Log Filtering
The Pino philosophy advocates common, pre-existing, system utilities.
Some recommendations in line with this philosophy are:
1. Use [`grep`](https://linux.die.net/man/1/grep):
```sh
$ # View all "INFO" level logs
$ node app.js | grep '"level":30'
```
1. Use [`jq`](https://stedolan.github.io/jq/):
```sh
$ # View all "ERROR" level logs
$ node app.js | jq 'select(.level == 50)'
```
## Transports and systemd
`systemd` makes it complicated to use pipes in services. One method for overcoming
this challenge is to use a subshell:
```
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '/path/to/node app.js | pino-transport'
```
## Log to different streams
Pino's default log destination is the singular destination of `stdout`. While
not recommended for performance reasons, multiple destinations can be targeted
by using [`pino.multistream`](/doc/api.md#pino-multistream).
In this example we use `stderr` for `error` level logs and `stdout` as default
for all other levels (e.g. `debug`, `info`, and `warn`).
```js
const pino = require('pino')
var streams = [
{level: 'debug', stream: process.stdout},
{level: 'error', stream: process.stderr},
{level: 'fatal', stream: process.stderr}
]
const logger = pino({
name: 'my-app',
level: 'debug', // must be the lowest level of all streams
}, pino.multistream(streams))
```
## How Pino handles duplicate keys
Duplicate keys are possibly when a child logger logs an object with a key that
collides with a key in the child loggers bindings.
See the [child logger duplicate keys caveat](/docs/child-loggers.md#duplicate-keys-caveat)
for information on this is handled.
## Log levels as labels instead of numbers
Pino log lines are meant to be parseable. Thus, Pino's default mode of operation
is to print the level value instead of the string name. However, while it is
possible to set the `useLevelLabels` option, we recommend using one of these
options instead if you are able:
1. If the only change desired is the name then a transport can be used. One such
transport is [`pino-text-level-transport`](https://npm.im/pino-text-level-transport).
1. Use a prettifier like [`pino-pretty`](https://npm.im/pino-pretty) to make
the logs human friendly.
## Pino with `debug`
The popular [`debug`](https://npm.im/debug) is used in many modules across the ecosystem.
The [`pino-debug`](https://github.com/pinojs/pino-debug) module
can capture calls to `debug` loggers and run them
through `pino` instead. This results in a 10x (20x in asynchronous mode)
performance improvement - even though `pino-debug` is logging additional
data and wrapping it in JSON.
To quickly enable this install [`pino-debug`](https://github.com/pinojs/pino-debug)
and preload it with the `-r` flag, enabling any `debug` logs with the
`DEBUG` environment variable:
```sh
$ npm i pino-debug
$ DEBUG=* node -r pino-debug app.js
```
[`pino-debug`](https://github.com/pinojs/pino-debug) also offers fine grain control to map specific `debug`
namespaces to `pino` log levels. See [`pino-debug`](https://github.com/pinojs/pino-debug)
for more.
## Unicode and Windows terminal
Pino uses [sonic-boom](https://github.com/mcollina/sonic-boom) to speed
up logging. Internally, it uses [`fs.write`](https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v10.x/docs/api/fs.html#fs_fs_write_fd_string_position_encoding_callback) to write log lines directly to a file
descriptor. On Windows, unicode output is not handled properly in the
terminal (both `cmd.exe` and powershell), and as such the output could
be visualized incorrectly if the log lines include utf8 characters. It
is possible to configure the terminal to visualize those characters
correctly with the use of [`chcp`](https://ss64.com/nt/chcp.html) by
executing in the terminal `chcp 65001`. This is a known limitation of
Node.js.
## Mapping Pino Log Levels to Google Cloud Logging (Stackdriver) Serverity Levels
Google Cloud Logging uses `severity` levels instead log levels. As a result, all logs may show as INFO
level logs while completely ignoring the level set in the pino log. Google Cloud Logging also prefers that
log data is present inside a `message` key instead of the default `msg` key that Pino uses. Use a technique
similar to the one below to retain log levels in Google Clould Logging
```js
const pino = require('pino')
// https://cloud.google.com/logging/docs/reference/v2/rest/v2/LogEntry#logseverity
const PinoLevelToSeverityLookup = {
trace: 'DEBUG',
debug: 'DEBUG',
info: 'INFO',
warn: 'WARNING',
error: 'ERROR',
fatal: 'CRITICAL',
};
const defaultPinoConf = {
messageKey: 'message',
formatters: {
level(label, number) {
return {
severity: PinoLevelToSeverityLookup[label] || PinoLevelToSeverityLookup['info'],
level: number,
}
},
log(message) {
return { message }
}
},
}
module.exports = function createLogger(options) {
return pino(Object.assign({}, options, defaultPinoConf))
}
```
## Avoid Message Conflict
As described in the [`message` documentation](/docs/api.md#message), when a log
is written like `log.info({ msg: 'a message' }, 'another message')` then the
final output JSON will have `"msg":"another message"` and the `'a message'`
string will be lost. To overcome this, the [`logMethod` hook](/docs/api.md#logmethod)
can be used:
```js
'use strict'
const log = require('pino')({
level: 'debug',
hooks: {
logMethod (inputArgs, method) {
if (inputArgs.length === 2 && inputArgs[0].msg) {
inputArgs[0].originalMsg = inputArgs[0].msg
}
return method.apply(this, inputArgs)
}
}
})
log.info('no original message')
log.info({ msg: 'mapped to originalMsg' }, 'a message')
// {"level":30,"time":1596313323106,"pid":63739,"hostname":"foo","msg":"no original message"}
// {"level":30,"time":1596313323107,"pid":63739,"hostname":"foo","msg":"a message","originalMsg":"mapped to originalMsg"}
```
## Exit logging (deprecated for Node v14+)
__In pino v7, The following piece of documentation is not needed in Node v14+ and it will
emit a deprecation notice.__
When a Node process crashes from uncaught exception, exits due to a signal,
or exits of it's own accord we may want to write some final logs – particularly
in cases of error.
Writing to a Node.js stream on exit is not necessarily guaranteed, and naively writing
to an asynchronous logger on exit will definitely lead to lost logs.
To write logs in an exit handler, create the handler with [`pino.final`](/docs/api.md#pino-final):
```js
process.on('uncaughtException', pino.final(logger, (err, finalLogger) => {
finalLogger.error(err, 'uncaughtException')
process.exit(1)
}))
process.on('unhandledRejection', pino.final(logger, (err, finalLogger) => {
finalLogger.error(err, 'unhandledRejection')
process.exit(1)
}))
```
The `finalLogger` is a special logger instance that will synchronously and reliably
flush every log line. This is important in exit handlers, since no more asynchronous
activity may be scheduled.