DevLogBus

Configuration Conventions

DevLogBus should be easy to wire into public tools without hidden magic. The preferred order is explicit configuration first, then persisted local settings, with environment variables used only as visible convenience wrappers.

Endpoint Conventions

Public code should accept an explicit endpoint option:

logger := slog.New(sloghandler.New(sloghandler.Options{
    Source:   "checkout_svc",
    Endpoint: "127.0.0.1:7422",
}))

Supported endpoint forms:

/tmp/devlogbus/devlogbus.sock
unix:/tmp/devlogbus/devlogbus.sock
127.0.0.1:7422
tcp://127.0.0.1:7422

Platform defaults:

• macOS/Linux: /tmp/devlogbus/devlogbus.sock
• Windows: 127.0.0.1:7422

Application Settings

DevLogBus binaries persist workstation settings:

devlogbus settings set endpoint /tmp/devlogbus/devlogbus.sock
devlogbusd settings set http_listen_address 127.0.0.1:7423

This is useful for a developer’s own machine. Libraries should not assume DevLogBus settings files exist.

Environment Variables

Environment variables are acceptable as a thin wrapper at an application’s boundary, but should not be the only configuration path.

Good:

DEVLOGBUS_ENDPOINT=127.0.0.1:7422 ./my-local-service

Then the application passes that value into pkg/runtime, pkg/sloghandler, or pkg/client.

For C, .NET/C#, Rust, Java/Kotlin, Node/TypeScript, and Python, pass the HTTP endpoint into the SDK client:

http://127.0.0.1:7423

Avoid hidden package-level environment reads in reusable libraries. Public users should be able to see where the endpoint comes from.

Source Names

Use stable, human-readable source names:

checkout_svc
billing_svc
tenant_ui
chrome:localhost:5173
journald

Guidelines:

• Prefer service or app names over machine-specific paths.
• Keep source names stable across restarts.
• Include host or port when it helps separate multiple local apps.
• Avoid secrets, usernames, tokens, and customer identifiers in source names.

Source Groups

Publishers can set attrs.sourceGroup when multiple child sources belong to one workflow:

{
  "source": "chrome:api.localhost:8080",
  "attrs": {
    "sourceGroup": "chrome:localhost:5173"
  }
}

Browser Tap uses this to group all records for one tab while preserving child network targets.

Runtime Controls

Applications that need user-facing enable/disable controls should use pkg/runtime:

devlog := runtime.New(runtime.Options{
    Enabled:  false,
    Source:   "checkout_svc",
    Endpoint: "127.0.0.1:7422",
})

devlog.Enable()
_ = devlog.SetEndpoint("127.0.0.1:7422")
devlog.Disable()

Store Enabled and Endpoint however the application normally stores user preferences. DevLogBus does not require a specific settings package.

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