Go logging

Go Logging

Compatibility: log/slog requires Go 1.21+; testing/slogtest requires Go 1.22+.

Resource Routing

• references/LEVELS-AND-CONTEXT.md - Read when choosing log levels, deciding logger-in-context versus explicit parameters, or excluding sensitive fields.
• references/LOGGING-PATTERNS.md - Read when configuring slog handlers, logging HTTP requests, testing handlers, or migrating from log.Printf.

Core Principle

Logs are for operators, not developers. Every log line should help someone diagnose a production issue. If it doesn't serve that purpose, it's noise.

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Choosing a Logger

Normative: Use log/slog for new Go code.

slog is structured, leveled, and in the standard library (Go 1.21+). It covers the vast majority of production logging needs.

Which logger?
├─ New production code      → log/slog
├─ Trivial CLI / one-off    → log (standard)
└─ Measured perf bottleneck → zerolog or zap (benchmark first)

Do not introduce a third-party logging library unless profiling shows slog is a bottleneck in your hot path. When you do, keep the same structured key-value style.

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Structured Logging

Normative: Always use key-value pairs. Never interpolate values into the message string.

The message is a static description of what happened. Dynamic data goes in key-value attributes:

// Good: static message, structured fields
slog.Info("order placed", "order_id", orderID, "total", total)

// Bad: dynamic data baked into the message string
slog.Info(fmt.Sprintf("order %d placed for $%.2f", orderID, total))

Key Naming

Advisory: Use snake_case for log attribute keys.

Keys should be lowercase, underscore-separated, and consistent across the codebase: user_id, request_id, elapsed_ms.

Typed Attributes

For performance-critical paths, use typed constructors to avoid allocations:

slog.LogAttrs(ctx, slog.LevelInfo, "request handled",
    slog.String("method", r.Method),
    slog.Int("status", code),
    slog.Duration("elapsed", elapsed),
)

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Log Levels

Advisory: Follow these level semantics consistently.

Level	When to use	Production default
Debug	Developer-only diagnostics, tracing internal state	Disabled
Info	Notable lifecycle events: startup, shutdown, config loaded	Enabled
Warn	Unexpected but recoverable: deprecated feature used, retry succeeded	Enabled
Error	Operation failed, requires operator attention	Enabled

Rules of thumb:

• If nobody should act on it, it's not Error — use Warn or Info
• If it's only useful with a debugger attached, it's Debug
• slog.Error should always include an "err" attribute

slog.Error("payment failed", "err", err, "order_id", id)
slog.Warn("retry succeeded", "attempt", n, "endpoint", url)
slog.Info("server started", "addr", addr)
slog.Debug("cache lookup", "key", key, "hit", hit)

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Request-Scoped Logging

Advisory: Derive loggers from context to carry request-scoped fields.

Use middleware to enrich a logger with request ID, user ID, or trace ID, then pass the enriched logger downstream via context or as an explicit parameter. Keep the full context-key and middleware implementation in the logging patterns reference so request-scoped logging has one owner.

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Log or Return, Not Both

The handle-once rule belongs to go-error-handling. In logging work, apply it by choosing either a local log-and-recover path or a return path with context, not both for the same error.

Exception: HTTP handlers and other top-of-stack boundaries may log detailed errors server-side while returning a sanitized message to the client:

if err != nil {
    slog.Error("checkout failed", "err", err, "user_id", uid)
    http.Error(w, "internal error", http.StatusInternalServerError)
    return
}

See go-error-handling for the full handle-once pattern and error wrapping guidance.

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What NOT to Log

Normative: Never log secrets, credentials, PII, or high-cardinality unbounded data.

• Passwords, API keys, tokens, session IDs
• Full credit card numbers, SSNs
• Request/response bodies that may contain user data
• Entire slices or maps of unbounded size

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Quick Reference

Do	Don't
slog.Info("msg", "key", val)	log.Printf("msg %v", val)
Static message + structured fields	fmt.Sprintf in message
snake_case keys	camelCase or inconsistent keys
Log OR return errors	Log AND return the same error
Derive logger from context	Create a new logger per call
Use slog.Error with "err" attr	slog.Info for errors
Pre-check Enabled() on hot paths	Always allocate log args

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Related Skills

• Error handling: See go-error-handling when deciding whether to log or return an error, or for the handle-once pattern
• Context propagation: See go-context when passing request-scoped values (including loggers) through context
• Performance: See go-performance when optimizing hot-path logging or reducing allocations in log calls
• Code review: See go-code-review when reviewing logging practices in Go PRs