Log Search Specification
Logs are broken down into two discrete concepts: messages and attributes. Given the following log:
logger.info('Queried table', { table: 'users', query: 'hello', }),
The log message is Queried table and the attributes are table:users and query:hello.
Searching for logs
Messages search
To search for a log message, simply type the text of the message. Given the following log:
log.info("excluding session due to no user interaction events")
We can find this log by typing excluding session due to no user interaction events

Attributes search
To search on a log attribute, add a : between search terms. Given the following log:
log.info({ user_id: 42, })
We can search for it via:
user_id:42matches every log whereuser_idis42
level:infomatches every log wherelevelisinfo
AND vs OR
When multiple attributes are included, they work as an AND operator:
user_id:42 level:info- matches every log whereuser_idis42andlevelisinfo
When the same attribute is included twice in a search, it works as an OR operator:
user_id:42 level:info level:warn- matches every log whereuser_idis42and (levelisinfoorleveliswarn)
Wildcard search
To perform a wildcard search, use the * symbol:
service:frontend*matches every log that has a service starting withfrontend
frontend*matches all log messages starting with the wordfrontend
*frontendmatches all log messages ending with the wordfrontend
Autoinjected attributes
By default, Highlight's SDKs will autoinject attributes to provide additional context as well as assisting in linking sessions and errors to their respective logs.
| Attribute | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
code.filepath | File path emitting the log. | /build/backend/worker/worker.go |
code.function | Function emitting the log. | github.com/highlight-run/highlight/backend/worker.(*Worker).Start.func3 |
code.lineno | Line number of the file where the log was emitted. | 20 |
host.name | Hostname | ip-172-31-5-211.us-east-2.compute.internal |
os.description | Description of the operating system | Alpine Linux 3.17.2 (Linux ip-172-31-5-211.us-east-2.compute.internal 5.10.167-147.601.amzn2.aarch64 #1 SMP Tue Feb 14 21:50:23 UTC 2023 aarch64) |
os.type | Type of operating system | linux |
level | The log level | info |
message | The log message | public-graph graphql request failed |
span.id | Span id that contains this log | 528a54addf6f91cc |