logdown

What is logdown?

Logdown is a JavaScript logging library that provides a simple and colorful way to log messages in the browser console. It supports different log levels, custom prefixes, and styles to make debugging easier and more visually appealing.

What are logdown's main functionalities?

Basic Logging

Logdown allows you to create a logger instance with a custom prefix and log messages to the console.

const logger = require('logdown')('myLogger');
logger.log('This is a log message');

Log Levels

Logdown supports different log levels such as info, warn, and error to categorize the importance of messages.

const logger = require('logdown')('myLogger');
logger.info('This is an info message');
logger.warn('This is a warning message');
logger.error('This is an error message');

Custom Styles

You can customize the appearance of log messages by setting styles such as prefix color and markdown support.

const logger = require('logdown')('myLogger');
logger.state = { prefixColor: 'blue', markdown: false };
logger.log('This is a styled log message');

Grouping Logs

Logdown allows you to group related log messages together, making it easier to organize and read logs.

const logger = require('logdown')('myLogger');
logger.group('Group 1');
logger.log('Message inside group 1');
logger.groupEnd('Group 1');

Other packages similar to logdown

winston

Winston is a versatile logging library for Node.js that supports multiple transports, log levels, and formats. Unlike Logdown, Winston is more suitable for server-side logging and offers advanced features like log rotation and custom transports.

bunyan

Bunyan is another powerful logging library for Node.js that focuses on JSON logging. It provides a simple API, log levels, and supports streams for log output. Bunyan is more geared towards server-side applications and structured logging compared to Logdown's browser-focused approach.

pino

Pino is a fast and lightweight logging library for Node.js that emphasizes performance. It supports log levels, custom serializers, and transports. Pino is designed for high-performance server-side logging, whereas Logdown is more focused on providing a colorful and user-friendly logging experience in the browser.

README

logdown.js

logdown is a debug utility for the browser and the server with Markdown support, providing a single interface and a similar behavior between the browser and the server.

It doesn't have any dependencies for the browser version and it's only 2K gzipped.

You can see it in action in the example page or in the preview below.

Installation

$ npm install --save logdown

Preview

Out-of-the box colors work well on both light and dark themes.

Browser DevTools dark

Browser DevTools light

Node

Usage

logdown exports a function. For the simplest use case, pass the name of your module and it will return a decorated console.

const logdown = require('logdown')
const logger = logdown('foo')

Or in a more idiomatic way:

const logger = require('logdown')('foo')

Just like debug.js and node core's debuglog, the enviroment variable NODE_DEBUG is used to decide which module will print debug information.

$ NODE_DEBUG=foo node example/node.js

Logging

After creating your object, you can use the regular log, warn, info and error methods as we have on console, but now with Markdown support. If a method is not provided by logdown, it will just delegate to the original console object or opts.logger if passed.

logger.log('lorem *ipsum*')
logger.info('dolor _sit_ amet')
logger.warn('consectetur `adipiscing` elit')

As the native APIs, multiple arguments are supported.

logger.log('lorem', '*ipsum*')
logger.info('dolor _sit_', 'amet')
logger.warn('consectetur', '`adipiscing` elit')

Options

The following options can be used for configuration.

prefix

• Type: String

const logger = logdown('foo')
logger.log('Lorem ipsum')

var fooBarLogger = logdown('foo:bar')
fooBarLogger.log('Lorem ipsum')

var fooQuzLogger = logdown('foo:quz')
fooQuzLogger.log('Lorem Ipsum')

markdown

• Type: Boolean
• Default: true

If setted to false, markdown will not be parsed.

var logger = logdown({ markdown: false })
logger.log('Lorem *ipsum*') // Will not parse the markdown

For Markdown, the following mark-up is supported:

// Bold with "*"" between words
logger.log('lorem *ipsum*')

// Italic with "_" between words
logger.log('lorem _ipsum_')

// Code with ` (backtick) between words
logger.log('lorem `ipsum`')

prefixColor

• type: String
• default: next value after last used on the logdown.prefixColors array.

Hex value for a custom color.

const logger1 = logdown('foo', { prefixColor: '#FF0000' }) // red prefix
const logger2 = logdown('bar', { prefixColor: '#00FF00' }) // green prefix
const logger3 = logdown('quz', { prefixColor: '#0000FF' }) // blue prefix

logger

• type: 'Object'
• default: console

Custom logger. On Node it's possible to instantiate a new console setting it's output to a different stream other than stdout and stderr.

const output = fs.createWriteStream('./stdout.log');
const errorOutput = fs.createWriteStream('./stderr.log');
const fileLogger =  new Console(output, errorOutput)

const logger = logdown('foo', {
  logger: fileLogger
})

State

isEnabled

• type: 'Boolean'
• default: default value is derived from localStorage.debug on browser and from env var NODE_DEBUG on node.

Used to enable/disable a given instance at runtime.

// Prevents `logger` to output debug info
logger.state.isEnabled = false

Enabling/disabling instances

logdown is compatible with Node.js util.debuglog and debug.js as it uses the NODE_DEBUG enviroment variable to control which instances are enabled to output debug info.

For the browser use localStorage.debug.

NODE_DEBUG=foo node foo.js # will disable the instance with *foo* prefix

localStorage.debug = 'foo'

Multiple instances should be separated by comma

NODE_DEBUG=foo,bar node foo.js # will disable the instance with *foo* prefix

localStorage.debug = 'foo,bar'

Wildcards

Wildcard * is supported.

NODE_DEBUG=* node foo.js # enables all instances
NODE_DEBUG=foo* node foo.js # enables all instances with a prefix starting with *foo*

Use - to do a negation.

# enables all instances but the one with *foo* prefix
NODE_DEBUG=*,-foo node foo.js

# disables all intances with foo in the prefix, but don't disable *foobar*
NODE_DEBUG=*foo*,-foobar node foo.js

Conventions

If you're using this in one or more of your libraries, you should use the name of your library so that developers may toggle debugging as desired without guessing names. If you have more than one debuggers you should prefix them with your library name and use ":" to separate features. For example "bodyParser" from Connect would then be "connect:bodyParser".

FAQ

Link

Sponsor

If you found this library useful and are willing to donate, transfer some bitcoins to 1BqqKiZA8Tq43CdukdBEwCdDD42jxuX9UY.

Credits

• debug.js for some pieces of copied documentation
• Node core's debuglog

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