ALog – A Modern, Modular, Cross-Platform Logger for .NET 8+

ALog is a powerful and extensible logging framework built for .NET 8+.
It is designed to be simple to use, highly configurable, and ready for modern development across platforms including Windows, Linux, and iOS.

✨ Features

• ✅ Intuitive API: Log.Write(...), Log.WriteAsync(...)
• ✅ Fully async- and sync-capable
• ✅ Structured logging with scoped contextual data (BeginScope(...))
• ✅ Exception logging included
• ✅ Formatter support (PlainText, JSON, or custom)
• ✅ Console and file writers (with optional color + rolling)
• ✅ Log level filtering
• ✅ Cross-platform compatible
• ✅ Fluent, builder-style configuration
• ✅ Minimal setup: using ALog; gives access to everything

🔧 Installation

ALog is currently under development. You can use it via project reference:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ALog.git

Reference ALog.csproj in your .NET 8+ project.

🚀 Quick Start

Step 1: Configure ALog

using ALog;

var config = new LoggerConfig()
    .AddWriter(new ConsoleLogWriter(useColors: true, formatter: new PlainTextFormatter("HH:mm:ss")))
    .AddWriter(new FileLogWriter("logs/app.log", new JsonFormatter(pretty: true), maxFileSizeInBytes: 1_048_576)) // 1 MB
    .SetMinimumLevel(LogLevel.Debug);

Log.Init(config);

Step 2: Start Logging

Log.Write("Application started");

using (Log.BeginScope("userId", 42))
{
    using (Log.BeginScope("feature", "Login"))
    {
        Log.Write("User successfully authenticated");
        Log.Write(new Exception("Test failure"), "Something went wrong", LogLevel.Error);
    }
}

await Log.WriteAsync("Async log message");

🌐 Platform-Specific Paths (Optional)

You can use built-in IPlatformHelper implementations to resolve safe, writeable log paths:

Windows

using ALog.Platform.Windows;

var logPath = new WindowsPlatformHelper().ResolveLogFilePath("logs/app.log");

Linux

using ALog.Platform.Linux;

var logPath = new LinuxPlatformHelper().ResolveLogFilePath("logs/app.log");

iOS (MAUI / Xamarin)

using ALog.Platform.iOS;

var logPath = new IOSPlatformHelper().ResolveLogFilePath("logs/app.log");

You control the log location – ALog does not enforce platform helpers. They are optional and recommended for mobile or portable environments.

📦 Writers

🎨 Formatters

🧠 Contextual Logging

Scoped logging adds temporary key-value pairs that are automatically removed when their scope ends:

using (Log.BeginScope("sessionId", "abc123"))
{
    Log.Write("User clicked 'Buy'");
}
// sessionId is no longer attached here

Works automatically with supported formatters like JSON or plain text.

⚙️ Roadmap

• Scope-based logging (using Log.BeginScope(...))
• Channel-based async background log queue
• Additional writers (e.g., HTTP, SQL, cloud-based)
• External config via JSON or environment
• NuGet package & logo
• Full unit test coverage

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Fork the repository and submit a PR.

For ideas like new formatters or writers, feel free to open a discussion first.

📄 License

MIT © Artur Zubert / Chookees

👤 Maintainer

Built and maintained by Artur Zubert / Chookees