zerolog

name	zerolog
description	Generates, explains, and debugs structured logging code using zerolog (github.com/rs/zerolog) for Go. Use when writing zero-allocation JSON loggers, configuring log levels, adding structured fields, setting up console/file/multi writers, implementing hooks, using context-based logging, sampling high-volume logs, or logging errors with stack traces.
allowed-tools	Read, Grep, Bash(go doc *)

Zerolog - Zero Allocation JSON Logger

Zerolog provides high-performance structured logging with zero allocations for most operations. Use this skill when implementing logging in Go applications that require speed, structured output, or JSON compatibility.

Quick Start

import (
    "github.com/rs/zerolog"
    "github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
)

func main() {
    zerolog.TimeFieldFormat = zerolog.TimeFormatUnix
    log.Info().Str("key", "value").Msg("hello world")
}

Log Levels

From highest to lowest: panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace

zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.InfoLevel)

if e := log.Debug(); e.Enabled() {
    e.Str("computed", expensiveValue()).Msg("debug info")
}

Structured Fields

Standard Types

log.Info().
    Str("string", "value").
    Int("count", 42).
    Float64("ratio", 3.14).
    Bool("enabled", true).
    Msg("message")

Advanced Fields

log.Error().
    Err(err).
    Stack().
    Dur("duration", time.Since(start)).
    Time("timestamp", time.Now()).
    Msg("operation failed")

log.Info().
    Dict("user", log.Info().CreateDict().
        Str("name", "John").
        Int("id", 123)).
    Msg("user action")

Logger Configuration

Basic Logger

logger := zerolog.New(os.Stderr).With().Timestamp().Logger()

Sub-loggers with Context

sublogger := log.With().Str("component", "api").Logger()
sublogger.Info().Msg("request handled")

Custom Field Names

zerolog.TimestampFieldName = "t"
zerolog.LevelFieldName = "l"
zerolog.MessageFieldName = "m"
zerolog.ErrorFieldName = "err"

Output Writers

ConsoleWriter (Human-Readable)

log.Logger = log.Output(zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stderr})
log.Info().Str("foo", "bar").Msg("Hello World")

MultiLevelWriter

console := zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stdout}
multi := zerolog.MultiLevelWriter(console, os.Stdout)
logger := zerolog.New(multi).With().Timestamp().Logger()

File Output

file, _ := os.OpenFile("app.log", os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY|os.O_APPEND, 0644)
logger := zerolog.New(file).With().Timestamp().Logger()

Non-Blocking Diode Writer

wr := diode.NewWriter(os.Stdout, 1000, 10*time.Millisecond, func(missed int) {
    fmt.Printf("Dropped %d messages\n", missed)
})
logger := zerolog.New(wr)

Context Integration

Attach Logger to Context

ctx := logger.WithContext(ctx)
logger := zerolog.Ctx(ctx)
logger.Info().Msg("from context")

Pass Context to Events (for hooks)

type TracingHook struct{}

func (h TracingHook) Run(e *zerolog.Event, level zerolog.Level, msg string) {
    ctx := e.GetCtx()
    spanID := getSpanID(ctx)
    e.Str("span_id", spanID)
}

logger.Hook(TracingHook{}).Info().Ctx(ctx).Msg("traced")

Error Logging with Stack Traces

import "github.com/rs/zerolog/pkgerrors"

zerolog.ErrorStackMarshaler = pkgerrors.MarshalStack

err := errors.New("something failed")
log.Error().Stack().Err(err).Msg("")

Hooks

type SeverityHook struct{}

func (h SeverityHook) Run(e *zerolog.Event, level zerolog.Level, msg string) {
    if level != zerolog.NoLevel {
        e.Str("severity", level.String())
    }
}

hooked := log.Hook(SeverityHook{})
hooked.Warn().Msg("alert")

Log Sampling

Basic Sampling

sampled := log.Sample(&zerolog.BasicSampler{N: 10})
sampled.Info().Msg("logs every 10th message")

Burst Sampling

sampled := log.Sample(zerolog.LevelSampler{
    DebugSampler: &zerolog.BurstSampler{
        Burst: 5,
        Period: 1*time.Second,
        NextSampler: &zerolog.BasicSampler{N: 100},
    },
})

Predefined Samplers

log.Sample(zerolog.Often)    // ~1 in 10
log.Sample(zerolog.Sometimes) // ~1 in 100
log.Sample(zerolog.Rarely)    // ~1 in 1000

HTTP Integration (hlog)

import "github.com/rs/zerolog/hlog"

log := zerolog.New(os.Stdout).With().Timestamp().Logger()

handler := hlog.NewHandler(log)(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    hlog.FromRequest(r).Info().Str("path", r.URL.Path).Msg("request")
}))

handler = hlog.AccessHandler(func(r *http.Request, status, size int, duration time.Duration) {
    hlog.FromRequest(r).Info().
        Int("status", status).
        Dur("duration", duration).
        Msg("access")
})(handler)

Custom Object Marshaling

type User struct {
    Name string
    ID   int
}

func (u User) MarshalZerologObject(e *zerolog.Event) {
    e.Str("name", u.Name).Int("id", u.ID)
}

log.Info().Object("user", User{Name: "Alice", ID: 1}).Msg("action")

Important Patterns

Always Call Msg or Send

log.Info().Str("key", "val").Msg("done")
log.Info().Str("key", "val").Send()

Conditional Logging

if e := log.Debug(); e.Enabled() {
    e.Str("expensive", compute()).Msg("debug")
}

Concurrency Safety

func handler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    logger := log.Logger.With().Logger()
    logger.UpdateContext(func(c zerolog.Context) zerolog.Context {
        return c.Str("request_id", id)
    })
}

References

See references/_examples/ for complete working examples demonstrating all features.