| name | vrl-authoring |
| description | Use when creating, editing, debugging, or reviewing Vector Remap Language files or their fixtures; changing log parsing under `kubernetes/apps/observability/victoria-logs-single/vrl/`; or running `scripts/test-vrl.py`. Do NOT use for Vector deployment changes unrelated to VRL parsing. |
VRL authoring
Keep VRL programs in separate .vrl files. Do not inline them in vector.yaml or Helm values.
Contract
- Preserve standard Vector fields such as
message, timestamp, level, severity, host, and
source_type; do not create custom equivalents.
- Prefer non-greedy
.*? when a greedy expression could consume a later delimiter.
- Handle malformed, partial, and already-structured input without losing the original message.
- Keep parser-specific fields narrow; avoid duplicating generic fields under another name.
Fixtures
Every parser has a matching fixture:
vrl/parse-name.vrl
vrl/tests/parse-name.json
The fixture is a JSON array. Each case contains name, input, and expect; expect is a subset
of the emitted event. Add cases for successful parsing and the relevant malformed or unmatched
boundary.
Verification
Run the focused parser first, then the full suite:
./scripts/test-vrl.py name
./scripts/test-vrl.py
Treat Vector compilation errors, output-count mismatches, and fixture mismatches as failures. Do
not weaken an expected result merely to make a changed parser pass.
