electron-log
A simple, dependency-free logging module for Electron, Node.js, and NW.js applications.
What is electron-log?
electron-log is a logging module built for Electron, Node.js, and NW.js applications. It provides a simple, unified API for logging across different processes and environments, automatically writing logs to platform-specific directories by default. It solves the problem of fragmented or complex logging setups in desktop and hybrid applications.
Developers building Electron-based desktop applications, Node.js services, or NW.js apps who need a lightweight, consistent logging solution without external dependencies.
Developers choose electron-log for its zero-dependency design, ease of configuration, and seamless multi-process support, offering reliable logging with minimal setup overhead compared to more complex logging libraries.
Overview
Simple logging module Electron/Node.js/NW.js application. No dependencies. No complicated configuration.
Use Cases
Best For
- Adding structured logging to Electron desktop applications
- Unifying log output across main and renderer processes
- Logging errors and events in NW.js or Node.js projects
- Creating custom log transports for remote monitoring
- Implementing transactional or buffered logging for debugging
- Replacing console.log with a persistent, file-based logging system
Not Ideal For
- Projects requiring integrated log management dashboards or real-time analytics out of the box
- Applications that need built-in log rotation or archival policies to prevent disk overflow
- Teams already using comprehensive logging frameworks like Winston or Pino with extensive plugin ecosystems
Pros & Cons
Pros
The library is self-contained with no external packages, avoiding bloat and reducing security risks, as highlighted in the README's 'No dependencies' claim and key features.
Provides a unified logging API across main, renderer, and preload processes in Electron, with separate entrypoints and IPC transport, simplifying cross-process debugging.
Automatically catches unhandled errors and logs critical Electron events like crashes or load failures via built-in handlers, reducing manual setup for monitoring.
Offers console, file, IPC, and remote transports with customizable formats and levels, plus hooks for extensions, as detailed in the transports section.
Cons
Only one third-party transport (Datadog) is mentioned, indicating a small community or lack of pre-built integrations for popular logging services.
Requires different imports (e.g., electron-log/main, electron-log/renderer) for various processes, which can lead to confusion or errors in setup, especially without bundlers.
The file transport lacks automatic log rotation or size limits, forcing developers to implement custom solutions to manage disk space, as not addressed in options.
Frequently Asked Questions
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