How do I change my node winston JSON output to be single line

Question

When I create a nodejs winston console logger and set json:true, it always output JSON logs in multiline format. If I pipe these to a file and try to grep that file, my grep hits only include part of the log line. I want winston to output my log lines in JSON format, but not to pretty print the JSON

Here is my config (coffeescript, apologies):

winston = require 'winston'
logger = new (winston.Logger)(
  transports: [
    new winston.transports.Console({
     json: true
    })
  ]
)

And some sample output:

{
  "name": "User4",
  "level": "info",
  "message": "multi line whyyyyy"
}

jmarceli · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-03T11:09:53.093

winston 3.x (current version)

Default formatter

const winston = require('winston');
const logger = winston.createLogger({
  format: winston.format.json(),
  transports: [
    new winston.transports.Console()
  ]
});

Example

const test = { t: 'test', array: [1, 2, 3] };
logger.info('your message', test);
// logger output:
// {"t":"test","array":[1,2,3],"level":"info","message":"your message"}

Custom formatter

const winston = require('winston');

const { splat, combine, timestamp, printf } = winston.format;

// meta param is ensured by splat()
const myFormat = printf(({ timestamp, level, message, meta }) => {
  return `${timestamp};${level};${message};${meta? JSON.stringify(meta) : ''}`;
});

const logger = winston.createLogger({
  format: combine(
    timestamp(),
    splat(),
    myFormat
  ),
  transports: [
    new winston.transports.Console()
  ]
});

Example:

const test = { t: 'test', array: [1, 2, 3] };
// NOTE: wrapping object name in `{...}` ensures that JSON.stringify will never 
// return an empty string e.g. if `test = 0` you won't get any info if 
// you pass `test` instead of `{ test }` to the logger.info(...)
logger.info('your message', { test });
// logger output:
// 2018-09-18T20:21:10.899Z;info;your message;{"test": {"t":"test","array":[1,2,3]}}

winston 2.x (legacy version)

It seems that the accepted answer is outdated. Here is how to do this for current winston version (2.3.1):

var winston = require('winston');
var logger = new (winston.Logger)({
  transports: [
    new (winston.transports.Console)({
     json: true,
     stringify: (obj) => JSON.stringify(obj),
    })
  ]
})

Note the parenthesis around winston.transports.Console.

I've made this the accepted answer but have not had a chance to test. If anyone finds that this does not work with the versions indicated please let me know — zayquan, Jul 26 '17 at 05:10
I get an error pointing to the open bracket after Console: `TypeError: (intermediate value) is not a function` with `"winston": "^3.0.0-rc1"` — krivar, Apr 13 '18 at 09:44
For folks having issue with `meta`, showing up try splitting the meta parameter like so: `const myFormat = printf(({ timestamp, level, message, ...meta }) => { ... });` — Ka Mok, Jul 11 '22 at 17:54

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 02 '16 at 00:40

3

The winston transports provide a way to override the stringify method, so by modifying the config above I got single line JSON output.

New config:

winston = require('winston')
logger = new (winston.Logger)({
  transports: [
    new winston.transports.Console({
     json: true,
     stringify: (obj) => JSON.stringify(obj)
    })
  ]
})

edited Nov 02 '16 at 00:40

Dana Woodman

4,148
1
38
35

answered Aug 21 '15 at 02:08

zayquan

7,544
2
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39

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 11 '18 at 13:15

"winston": "^3.0.0"

function createAppLogger() {
  const { combine, timestamp, printf, colorize } = format;

  return createLogger({
    level: 'info',
    format: combine(
      colorize(),
      timestamp(),
      printf(info => {
        return `${info.timestamp} [${info.level}] : ${JSON.stringify(info.message)}`;
      })
    ),
    transports: [new transports.Console()]
  });
}

Output:

2018-08-11T13:13:37.554Z [info] : {"data":{"hello":"Hello, World"}}

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 28 '19 at 13:33

On "winston": "^3.2.1"

This is works great for me

const {createLogger, format} = require('winston');

// instantiate a new Winston Logger with the settings defined above
var logger = createLogger({

    format: format.combine(
      format.timestamp(),
      // format.timestamp({format:'MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss.SSS'}),
      format.json(),
      format.printf(info => {
        return `${info.timestamp} [${info.level}] : ${info.message}`;
      })
  ),
  transports: [
    new winston.transports.File(options.file),
    new winston.transports.Console(options.console)
  ],
  exitOnError: false, // do not exit on handled exceptions
});

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 23 '18 at 12:23

0

winston.format.printf(
    info => `${info.timestamp} ${info.level}: ${JSON.stringify(info.message, null, 2)}`))

will pretty print the json object

edited Nov 23 '18 at 12:23

m0tive

2,796
1
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36

answered Nov 23 '18 at 11:53

sohel

1

How do I change my node winston JSON output to be single line

5 Answers5

winston 3.x (current version)

Default formatter

Custom formatter

winston 2.x (legacy version)

Linked