GenericLogger.AspNetCore 1.2.0

GenericLogger

GenericLogger is a drop-in ASP.NET Core logging provider with durable structured logs and an embedded, live web dashboard. The package targets net8.0, so it can be installed in ASP.NET Core 8, 9, and 10 applications.

Features

• Standard Microsoft.Extensions.Logging integration—existing ILogger<T> calls work unchanged
• Structured values, scopes, exception stacks, event IDs, and W3C trace/span correlation
• Asynchronous bounded ingestion so request threads do not perform file I/O
• Daily newline-delimited JSON files with size-based rotation and automatic retention
• Responsive embedded UI at a configurable URL; no separate frontend deployment
• Full-text/category/level/trace filtering, event detail inspection, aggregate cards, and CSV export
• Protected storage management UI with file inventory, downloads, age-based cleanup, and confirmed deletion
• Server-Sent Events live monitoring with automatic reconnect
• Configurable category levels, secret redaction, query caps, and API-key protection
• No third-party runtime dependencies or database server

Install and use

When published to your feed, install the package:

dotnet add package GenericLogger.AspNetCore

Register it in Program.cs:

using GenericLogger;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Logging.AddGenericLogger(options =>
{
    options.DashboardPath = "/logui";
    options.LogDirectory = Path.Combine(builder.Environment.ContentRootPath, "logs");
    options.MinimumLevel = LogLevel.Information;
    options.RetentionDays = 30;
    options.MaxFileSizeBytes = 25 * 1024 * 1024;
    options.CategoryMinimumLevels["Microsoft.AspNetCore"] = LogLevel.Warning;
    options.DashboardUsername = builder.Configuration["LogUI:Username"] ?? "developer";
    options.DashboardPassword = builder.Configuration["LogUI:Password"];
    options.ApiKey = builder.Configuration["LogUI:ApiKey"]; // Optional automation access
});

var app = builder.Build();
app.MapGenericLoggerDashboard();
app.Run();

Open /logui and sign in. Store LogUI:Password in environment variables, .NET user-secrets, a vault, or your deployment platform—not in source control. If neither DashboardPassword nor ApiKey is configured, the dashboard is unprotected.

Your existing structured logging automatically appears:

logger.LogInformation("Order {OrderId} shipped to {Country}", order.Id, order.Country);
logger.LogError(exception, "Payment failed for {CustomerId}", customer.Id);

Configuration

Endpoints

All endpoints are beneath DashboardPath: / dashboard, /api/logs search, /api/summary aggregates, /api/export CSV, /api/stream live SSE, and protected /api/storage, /api/files, and /api/cleanup storage-management endpoints. Query parameters include from, to, level, category, search, traceId, and limit.

Use Manage in the dashboard to inspect disk usage, download individual NDJSON files, delete a selected file, clean up files older than a chosen number of days, or delete all logs. Destructive operations require explicit confirmation and an authenticated dashboard session.

Run this repository

dotnet build GenericLogger.slnx
dotnet run --project samples/GenericLogger.SampleApi

Then browse to the URL printed by ASP.NET Core and append /logui. Generate sample events with /demo/Ada and /demo/error.

Production notes

Mount LogDirectory on persistent storage in containers. Use a random API key and HTTPS, or place /logui behind your existing authentication proxy. NDJSON is ideal for a single application instance and moderate traffic; for high-volume distributed search, use the provider as a foundation for a centralized storage adapter.