Compact Log Format Viewer 🔍 📈

A cross platform tool to read & query JSON aka CLEF log files created by Serilog

Download

Releases are available on this GitHub Repository along on the Windows Store

Windows

MacOS

The metrics for the MacOS usage was too little & I don't currently build/release any other Apple apps, so my Apple Developer subscription lapsed. I assumed the application would still be available to download but that I would not be able to push any new updates. However it seems Apple just removes the listing :(

For now I recommend you build it manually. In future I may do auto-updates via GitHub releases instead of app stores.

Building

You will need the following installed:

• node/npm
• .NET Core SDK 2.2+

For OSX & Windows you can download the SDK here or install Visual Studio for Mac/Windows which includes the dotnet CLI tool
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/

Build Steps 🔨📐

• Clone Repo
• Open terminal in root of project
• dotnet publish LogViewer.Server --runtime osx-x64 --output LogViewer.Server/bin/dist/osx --configuration release -p:PublishSingleFile=true generates a self contained application for our WebAPI
• dotnet publish LogViewer.Server --runtime win-x64 --output LogViewer.Server/bin/dist/win --configuration release -p:PublishSingleFile=true same but creates the Windows version
• Change terminal directory to LogViewer.Client folder
• Install TypeScript if missing npm install -g typescript
• npm install
• tsc --watch This will compile the TypeScript files & continue to watch them
• Open a new terminal in LogViewer.Client
• npm run start Will run the Electron app for development with Chrome DevTools open/launched

Note: If you npm run start before you have compiled the TypeScript files then Electron will complain about not finding the entry point file. Additionally if you have also not run dotnet publish then the underlying WebAPI which we communicate with will not be running.

3rd Party Libraries 💖💖

This package uses the following libraries:

• Serilog.Formatting.Compact.Reader
• Serilog.Expressions
• Serilog.Sinks.File

Trimark Customizations 🛠️

Changes made on the feature/Trimark_Tweaks branch for the Trimark edition of the viewer.

Platform & build

• .NET 10 - LogViewer.Server and LogViewer.Server.Tests now target net10.0 (was net7.0), with Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.NewtonsoftJson updated to 10.0.12. GitHub workflows install the .NET 10 SDK and the Azure pipeline uses the win-x64 runtime identifier.
• Generic host - Program.cs uses HostBuilder + ConfigureWebHost in place of the deprecated WebHostBuilder.
• Trimmed publish fix - PublishTrimmed on .NET 8+ disables a feature switch MVC needs and trims more aggressively, which crashed the server at startup. The project now sets TrimMode=partial and MvcEnhancedModelMetadataSupport=true.

Branding & packaging

• Product name is Trimark Compact Log Viewer and the version is 1.5.0 (client and server).
• The installer is Trimark.Compact.Log.Viewer.Setup.<version>.exe, with matching shortcut, Add/Remove Programs, Microsoft Store and About box names. The window title is Compact Log Viewer (Trimark Edition).
• Publishing and auto-update are disabled - electron-builder no longer publishes to GitHub releases, the Check for Updates menu item, electron-updater package and dev-app-update.yml are removed, and CI no longer runs a publish step.

Searching

• Property name suggestions - while typing in the search box, property names found in the open log file (plus built-ins such as @Level and @Message) are suggested for the word at the caret. Use ↑/↓ to choose, Enter or Tab to insert and Escape to close. The server collects the names while parsing (GET api/viewer/properties).
• Double-quoted strings - Serilog expressions only accept 'single quoted' strings, so an expression such as RequestMethod="POST" that fails to compile is retried with its double-quoted strings converted before falling back to a text search.
• Enter runs the search, and the Search button now sits before Clear.
• Clickable properties - every property value in an expanded log entry (including @MessageTemplate, nested object values and array items) is a link styled as plain text. Clicking it searches for that property and value, quoting the value according to its type.

Auto refresh

• A Refresh dropdown next to the sort order (Disabled, 3, 5, 10 or 30 seconds). At the chosen interval the app asks the server whether the file has changed (GET api/viewer/haschanged, comparing file size and last write time) and, only if it has, reloads it while keeping the current search, sort order and page.
• The File has updates banner has been removed.
• Fixed the file watcher handler being added again on every reload.

Display

• Rendered messages no longer wrap string property values in double quotes (HTTP POST /api rather than HTTP "POST" "/api").
• Log Levels lists Fatal down to Verbose, adds a Percent column (rounded to whole numbers) and shows the chart below the table.
• Properties of an expanded log entry are listed alphabetically after Timestamp and @MessageTemplate, with tighter row spacing.
• The sort order dropdown moved into the search card with Sort: labels, the pager is smaller and the error count panel is removed.

Building notes

• The server must be published to LogViewer.Server/bin/dist/win for Electron to start it - re-run dotnet publish LogViewer.Server --runtime win-x64 --output LogViewer.Server/bin/dist/win --configuration Release after any server change.
• Packaging on Windows (npm run win) needs Developer Mode turned on (or an administrator prompt) so electron-builder can extract its code signing tools; without it the exe keeps the default Electron icon and version details.
• Electron 30 can fail to unpack its binary when installed under very new Node versions (e.g. Node 26), giving Electron failed to install correctly. Use Node 20 or 22 LTS for npm install.