# Better Stack Go logging

## Start logging in 2 steps

Collect logs from your Go application.

### 1. Install

Add [slog-betterstack](https://github.com/samber/slog-betterstack) to your project dependencies using `go get`.

```bash
[label Install the samber/slog-betterstack package]
go get github.com/samber/slog-betterstack
```

### 2. Set up handler and start logging 🎉

Configure `slog-betterstack` as a handler in a new `slog` logger.  
Your log events will be sent to Better Stack automatically.

```go
[label Logging using samber/slog-betterstack]
import (
    slogbetterstack "github.com/samber/slog-betterstack"
    "log/slog"
)

func main() {
    logger := slog.New(
        slogbetterstack.Option{
            Token: "$SOURCE_TOKEN",
            Endpoint: "https://$INGESTING_HOST/",
        }.NewBetterstackHandler(),
    )

    // Logger is ready to be used
    logger.Info("Hello from Better Stack!")
}
```

You should see your logs in [Better Stack → Live tail](https://telemetry.betterstack.com/team/0/tail ";_blank").

[note]
#### Asynchronous logging in short-lived applications

The `slog-betterstack` library sends log events asynchronously to minimize impact on your application's performance. For short-lived applications (like CLI tools or one-off scripts), the program might exit before all logs are successfully dispatched.

To ensure all logs are sent before your application exits, consider adding a small delay (e.g., `time.Sleep(time.Second * 5)`) after your last log message. For long-running services (like web servers), this is generally not an issue as the process remains active.
[/note]

---

Huge thanks to [Samuel Berthe](https://github.com/samber) who maintains the [slog-betterstack](https://github.com/samber/slog-betterstack) library as an MIT-licensed open-source! ❤️

## Context and structured data

You can use structured data in slog and send context along with your logs.  
For more details check out the [slog official documentation](https://pkg.go.dev/log/slog).

```go
[label Logging with context in slog]
import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "time"

    slogbetterstack "github.com/samber/slog-betterstack"

    "log/slog"
)

func main() {
    logger := slog.New(
        slogbetterstack.Option{
            Level: slog.LevelDebug,
            Token: "$SOURCE_TOKEN",
            Endpoint: "https://$INGESTING_HOST/",
        }.NewBetterstackHandler(),
    )
    
    // You can add common context
    logger = logger.With("release", "v1.0.0")

    // Log a debug message
    logger.Debug("Debugging user service.", "service", "UserService")

    // You can add the context using With
    logger.With("userID", 123).Error("Unable to fetch user data.")

    // Or use structured data
    logger.
        With(
            slog.Group("user",
                slog.String("id", "user-123"),
                slog.Time("created_at", time.Now()),
            ),
        ).
        With("error", fmt.Errorf("an error")).
        Error("a message", slog.Int("count", 1))
}
```

## Need help?

Please reach out to us at [hello@betterstack.com](mailto:hello@betterstack.com).  
We're happy to help! 🙏