log-retrieval

name	log-retrieval
description	Retrieves and displays Buildkite job logs. For debugging failures, use build-debugging instead.

Log Retrieval

Retrieve and display job logs from Buildkite builds.

When to use

• "Show me the logs"
• "What did the build output?"
• "Get the logs from job X"
• "Search the logs for Y"
• "What happened in the test step?"
• /buildkite:logs

Available MCP Tools

Tool	Purpose
get_build	Get build details to find job IDs
read_logs	Get full log output for a job
search_logs	Search for patterns within logs
tail_logs	Show last N log entries

Input Parsing

Parse from $ARGUMENTS or user's message:

Input Format	Example
Job URL	https://buildkite.com/org/pipe/builds/123#job-uuid
Build + job name	build 123, test step
Build number	123 (then ask which job)
Description	"the failed job" or "the deploy step"

Approach

1. Identify the job

   • If just build given, fetch build and list jobs
   • Match job by name/label if specified
   • Default to failed jobs if user asks about errors

2. Fetch logs with buildkite_read_logs

   • Get full output for the identified job

3. Present logs appropriately

   • For short logs: show entirely
   • For long logs: show relevant section (usually end)
   • Always use code blocks

4. Search if needed with buildkite_search_logs

   • When user is looking for specific content
   • Return matching lines with context

Output Format

## Logs: "Run Tests" (job abc-123)

​```
[timestamp] Installing dependencies...
[timestamp] Running test suite...
[timestamp] Error: Connection refused
[timestamp] Test failed: api.test.js
​```

Showing last 50 lines. Full log is 2,847 lines.

Search Output

When searching:

## Search: "error" in build 456

Found 3 matches:

**Line 234** (test step):
> Error: Cannot connect to database

**Line 567** (deploy step):
> Error: Permission denied

**Line 890** (cleanup step):
> Error: File not found (non-fatal)

When to Use This vs build-debugging

Scenario	Skill
"Why did build fail?"	build-debugging
"Show me the test logs"	log-retrieval
"Debug this error"	build-debugging
"Search for 'timeout' in logs"	log-retrieval
"What went wrong?"	build-debugging
"What did the deploy output?"	log-retrieval

Example Interaction

User: Show me the logs from the failed test

1. Get build (from context or ask)
2. Find job with "test" in name that failed
3. Fetch logs with buildkite_read_logs
4. Display relevant portion in code block