What is Logly.zig?

Logly.zig is a high-performance, structured logging library for Zig, designed to deliver a comprehensive feature set while maximizing native Zig performance and safety guarantees.

Key Features

🚀 Performance

• Zero-Copy Architecture: Minimized allocations for maximum throughput.
• Asynchronous I/O: Non-blocking write operations to keep your application responsive.
• Thread-Safety: Fully optimized for concurrent execution environments.
• Efficient Buffering: Configurable buffer strategies to balance latency and throughput.

🛠️ Flexibility

• Comprehensive Log Levels: 10 distinct levels (TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, NOTICE, SUCCESS, WARNING, ERROR, FAIL, CRITICAL, FATAL) for granular control.
• Multi-Sink Support: Simultaneously output to console, files, and custom destinations.
• Custom Formatting: Flexible template strings and full printf-style formatting support.
• Rich Context: Structured logging with JSON support and context binding.
• Network Logging: Send logs via TCP or UDP to remote servers or aggregators.
• Custom Themes: Define custom color themes for log levels.
• Advanced Redaction: Custom patterns and callbacks for sensitive data.
• Persistent Context: Scoped loggers with persistent fields.
• Whole-Line Coloring: ANSI colors wrap the entire log line (timestamp, level, message) for better visual scanning.
• Custom Levels: Define your own log levels with custom names, priorities, and colors.
• Cross-Platform Colors: Works on Linux, macOS, Windows 10+, and popular terminals.

🛡️ Reliability

• Concurrency Safe: Robust locking mechanisms ensure data integrity across threads.
• Resilient Error Handling: Comprehensive error types and recovery strategies.
• Automated Rotation: Sophisticated time-based and size-based file rotation.
• Retention Management: Automatic cleanup policies to manage disk usage.

Design Philosophy

Logly.Zig is built upon the following core principles:

1. Developer Experience: An intuitive, ergonomic API that reduces cognitive load.
2. Uncompromised Performance: Optimized for high-throughput, low-latency applications.
3. Type Safety: Leveraging Zig's powerful compile-time checks to prevent runtime errors.
4. Zero-Cost Abstractions: Features that incur no runtime overhead when unused.
5. Modularity: A composable architecture allowing you to include only what you need.

Enterprise Features

Logly.zig v0.0.6+ includes enterprise-grade features:

🔍 Filtering

Rule-based log filtering by level, message patterns, or modules.

📊 Sampling

Probability-based sampling, rate limiting, and every-Nth message sampling for high-volume scenarios.

🔒 Redaction

Automatic masking of sensitive data (passwords, API keys, PII) in log messages.

📈 Metrics

Built-in metrics collection for logging performance monitoring.

🔗 Distributed Tracing

OpenTelemetry-compatible trace context propagation with automatic span ID generation.

🎨 Cross-Platform Colors

Enhanced ANSI color support for Windows, Linux, macOS, and bare metal/freestanding targets.

📝 Method Aliases

Short aliases for common methods: warn/crit for levels, add/remove/clear/count for sink management.

When to Use Logly.Zig

Logly.Zig is perfect for:

• Production applications requiring robust logging
• High-performance systems with strict latency requirements
• Cross-platform projects targeting multiple operating systems
• Projects that need structured logging for analysis
• Teams looking for a structured logging solution
• Microservices requiring distributed tracing support
• Compliance-sensitive applications needing data redaction
• Embedded/bare metal systems needing efficient logging

Next Steps

• Getting Started - Install and set up Logly.Zig
• Quick Start - Your first logging program
• Configuration - Configure your logger