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atelier/domains/observability/logging.md
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Jon Chery 496303471d docs(milestone): complete v0.1 — initial framework
---ci---
project: atelier
phase: 7
milestone: v0.1
status: complete
phase_role: final
milestone_complete: true
requirements:
  covered: [ATELIER-01, ATELIER-02, ATELIER-03, ATELIER-04, ATELIER-05, ATELIER-06, ATELIER-07, ATELIER-08, ATELIER-09, ATELIER-10, ATELIER-11, ATELIER-12, ATELIER-13, ATELIER-14, ATELIER-15, ATELIER-16, ATELIER-17, ATELIER-18, ATELIER-19, ATELIER-20, ATELIER-21, ATELIER-22, ATELIER-23, ATELIER-24, ATELIER-25, ATELIER-26, ATELIER-27, ATELIER-28, ATELIER-29, ATELIER-30, ATELIER-31, ATELIER-32, ATELIER-33, ATELIER-34, ATELIER-35]
  partial: []
ship:
  milestone: v0.1
  type: NFR
  tag: v0.0.7
  merge: milestone/v0.1-atelier -> main
  release: https://git.cloudinit.dev/cloudinit-bot/atelier/releases/tag/v0.0.7
---/ci---

Milestone v0.1 — Initial Framework (NFR, complete).
8 core principles (C1-C8), 11 domains, 110 domain principles, 27 derived docs, 4 good + 3 bad examples, 4 language docs, full matrix, 3 review docs.
All 35 requirements covered. 7 patches (v0.0.0 pre-execution through v0.0.7 final). v0.0.7 IS the v0.1.0 milestone release.
2026-08-05 00:36:55 +00:00

2.1 KiB

Logging — Derived Rules

Derives from domains/observability/first-principles.md P1 (Structured by Default), P3 (Sufficient Context), P6 (No Secrets in Observability).

Structured by Default (P1)

  • Logs are JSON (or structured key-value). Free-form text is for humans; machines need fields.
  • Every log entry has: timestamp, level, message, request_id, plus domain-specific fields.
  • A log you cannot query is a log you cannot use. Structure is the query API.

Levels (P3 Sufficient Context)

Level When
ERROR Something failed; an operator must look
WARN Something unexpected; not a failure but notable
INFO Significant application events (start, stop, deploy, user signup)
DEBUG Diagnostic detail; off in production by default
  • ERROR is not for "this branch ran." ERROR is for "this failed and someone should know."
  • Logging everything at ERROR means nothing is an error. Alert fatigue is a defect (observability P7).

Context (P3)

  • Every log in a request includes request_id (correlation ID). Trace the request across services.
  • Include the user ID, the action, the resource. "What was the user doing?" is answerable.
  • A log that says "failed" with no context is worse than no log. It is noise.

No Secrets (P6, domains/security P9)

  • Never log tokens, passwords, API keys, session IDs, PII.
  • Redact: replace the secret with [REDACTED] or a hash. Log the hash, not the value.
  • Never log the full request body. It may contain a token, a password, or PII.

Volume (P4 Cardinality Discipline, core C8 Economy)

  • Don't log every request at INFO. Log significant events.
  • A million logs a minute is not "good observability"; it is a storage bill and a signal-to-noise problem.
  • Sample high-volume logs (P5 Sampling with Intent). Sample deliberately, not randomly.

What Violates Logging Discipline

Violation Principle
console.log("here") P1 (not structured)
logger.error("done") P3 (wrong level)
logger.info(req.body) P6 (secrets), volume
A log with no request_id P3 (no correlation)
10M logs/day at INFO P4, C8