Logs View¶

The Logs View provides real-time streaming and viewing of Torrentarr's log files. Monitor application activity, debug issues, and track system events through an intuitive interface with auto-refresh and log file selection capabilities.

Overview¶

Torrentarr generates structured logs for all major components:

• Main.log: Core application events, initialization, shutdown
• WebUI / API logs: ASP.NET Core and API request logs
• .log: Per-instance logs (e.g., Radarr-Movies.log, Sonarr-TV.log) if emitted
• Rotated logs: Timestamped backups (e.g., Main.log.2025-11-27)

The Logs view provides:

• Real-time streaming: Auto-refresh every 2 seconds when active
• Full log display: Tail of log files with ANSI color support
• Log file selection: Dropdown to switch between available logs
• Download capability: Export logs for offline analysis or bug reports
• Auto-scroll control: Toggle automatic scrolling to bottom

UI Components¶

Log File Selector¶

Location: Top toolbar → Dropdown menu

Select which log file to view from all available .log files in the logs directory.

Available Logs:

Default Selection: Main.log (falls back to first available log if Main.log doesn't exist)

Log Viewer¶

Location: Main content area

Displays the full content of the selected log file with:

• ANSI Color Support: Preserves terminal colors (red errors, green success, blue info)
• Monospace Font: Cascadia Code, Fira Code, Consolas, Monaco
• Dark Background: #0a0e14 for readability
• Line Wrapping: Pre-wrap style for long log lines
• Scroll Container: Full-height with independent scrolling

Example Display:

2025-11-27 10:30:15 | INFO     | Torrentarr.Main | Starting Torrentarr 5.0.3
2025-11-27 10:30:15 | INFO     | Torrentarr.Main | Loading config from /config/config.toml
2025-11-27 10:30:16 | NOTICE   | Torrentarr.Main | Connected to qBittorrent v5.0.2
2025-11-27 10:30:17 | SUCCESS  | Torrentarr.Main | Radarr-Movies: API connection successful
2025-11-27 10:30:18 | ERROR    | Torrentarr.Main | Sonarr-TV: Connection refused (Host: http://sonarr:8989)

Action Buttons¶

Reload List¶

Location: Top toolbar → Reload List button

Function: Refresh the list of available log files without reloading the current log content.

Use Cases: - After log rotation (new .log.<date> files appear) - When new Arr instances are added (new per-instance logs) - After logs are manually cleared

Endpoint: GET /api/logs

Download¶

Location: Top toolbar → Download button

Function: Download the currently selected log file for offline analysis.

Use Cases: - Attach to GitHub issues or bug reports - Archive logs before rotation - Share with support team

Endpoint: GET /api/logs/<name>/download

Filename: Uses original log filename (e.g., Main.log, Radarr-Movies.log.2025-11-27)

Auto-scroll Toggle¶

Location: Top toolbar → Checkbox with live icon

Function: Enable/disable automatic scrolling to bottom when new log entries appear.

Behavior: - Enabled (default): Scroll to bottom every 2 seconds when new content loads - Disabled: Scroll position locked, allows manual navigation of historical logs - Auto-disable: Automatically disables when user scrolls up manually

Use Cases: - Enable: Monitor real-time activity (search loops, torrent processing) - Disable: Review historical errors, search for specific log entries

Refresh Behavior¶

Auto-Refresh Intervals¶

Manual Refresh: Click Reload List or switch log files to force immediate update.

Scroll Position Management¶

Auto-scroll Enabled: 1. Log content loads via /api/logs/<name> 2. DOM updated with new content 3. scrollTop set to scrollHeight (scroll to bottom) 4. Process repeats every 2 seconds

Auto-scroll Disabled: - Scroll position frozen at current location - User can manually scroll through historical logs - Re-enabling auto-scroll immediately jumps to bottom

User Scroll Detection: - Scroll event listener monitors scroll position - If user scrolls away from bottom (>10px threshold), auto-scroll disables - Prevents scroll fighting during manual navigation

Log Format¶

Structured Logging¶

Torrentarr uses Serilog (or the host's structured logging) for application logs. Log format and levels are configured in the Host (e.g. Torrentarr.Host / Program.cs). Check the codebase for the exact format pattern and level names.

Log Levels¶

Torrentarr supports standard log levels (e.g. Serilog: Verbose, Debug, Information, Warning, Error, Fatal). Check config for ConsoleLevel or equivalent. Colors in the viewer map level to ANSI/HTML as in the table below.

ANSI Color Codes¶

The Logs view preserves ANSI color codes from terminal output:

Foreground Colors:

\033[31m  → Red (errors)
\033[32m  → Green (success)
\033[33m  → Yellow (warnings)
\033[34m  → Blue (info)
\033[36m  → Cyan (notice)
\033[90m  → Dim gray (debug)

Background Colors:

\033[41m  → Red background
\033[42m  → Green background

Styles:

\033[1m   → Bold
\033[3m   → Italic
\033[4m   → Underline
\033[0m   → Reset all styles

Rendering: - ANSI codes converted to inline HTML <span style="..."> tags - Colors mapped to hex values (e.g., \033[31m → color:#cd3131) - Newlines converted to <br> tags - Final HTML rendered with dangerouslySetInnerHTML (safe, server-controlled content)

API Endpoints¶

GET /api/logs¶

Description: List all available log files in the logs directory.

Authentication: Requires Authorization: Bearer header (if WebUI.Token is set)

Response:

{
  "files": [
    "Main.log",
    "WebUI.log",
    "Radarr-Movies.log",
    "Sonarr-TV.log",
    "Main.log.2025-11-27",
    "Radarr-Movies.log.2025-11-26"
  ]
}

Sorting: Files sorted alphabetically (.log files appear before .log.<date>)

GET /api/logs/:name¶

Description: Stream the full content of a specific log file.

Authentication: Requires Authorization: Bearer header (if WebUI.Token is set)

Path Parameters: - name: Log filename (e.g., Main.log, Radarr-Movies.log.2025-11-27)

Response: - Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 - Body: Full log file content (raw text)

Example:

GET /api/logs/Main.log HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer <token>

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Cache-Control: no-cache

2025-11-27 10:30:15 | INFO     | Torrentarr.Main | Starting Torrentarr 5.0.3
2025-11-27 10:30:15 | INFO     | Torrentarr.Main | Loading config from /config/config.toml
...

Error Handling: - 404 Not Found: Log file does not exist - 401 Unauthorized: Invalid or missing token

Performance: - Reads entire file into memory (use cautiously with large logs) - Encoding errors ignored (errors="ignore") - No partial reads or byte-range support

GET /api/logs/:name/download¶

Description: Download a log file as an attachment.

Authentication: Requires Authorization: Bearer header (if WebUI.Token is set)

Path Parameters: - name: Log filename

Response: - Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="<name>" - Body: Full log file content

Example:

GET /api/logs/Main.log/download HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer <token>

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Main.log"
Content-Type: application/octet-stream

<log file contents>

Use Cases: - Attach to bug reports - Archive before log rotation - Share with support team

Log Rotation¶

Torrentarr uses rolling file sinks (e.g. Serilog rolling file) for automatic log rotation. Check Host configuration for max file size and retained file count.

Configuration¶

Log Level¶

Path: Settings.ConsoleLevel Type: string Default: INFO Valid Values: CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, NOTICE, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE

Controls the minimum log level written to console and log files.

Example (config.toml):

[Settings]
ConsoleLevel = "DEBUG"  # Show all DEBUG and higher messages

Runtime Change (via WebUI): 1. Navigate to Config tab 2. Open Settings section 3. Change Console Level dropdown 4. Click Save + Live Reload

Or via API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:6969/api/loglevel \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"level": "DEBUG"}'

Log Directory¶

Native Install:

~/logs/
├── Main.log
├── WebUI.log
├── Radarr-Movies.log
└── ...

Docker Install:

/config/logs/
├── Main.log
├── WebUI.log
├── Radarr-Movies.log
└── ...

Custom Path: Not configurable (hardcoded to HOME_PATH / "logs")

Logging Toggle¶

Path: Settings.Logging Type: bool Default: true

Enable/disable file logging entirely (console output continues).

Example (config.toml):

[Settings]
Logging = false  # Disable file logging

⚠️ Warning: Disabling logging removes all audit trail and makes debugging impossible.

Troubleshooting¶

"Select a log file to view its tail..."¶

Cause: No log file selected or selected file is empty.

Solution: 1. Check Log File dropdown has a selection 2. Click Reload List to refresh available logs 3. Verify logs directory exists (~/logs or /config/logs) 4. Check Settings.Logging = true in config

Log viewer shows "Loading logs..." indefinitely¶

Cause: API request to /api/logs/<name> is failing.

Solutions: 1. Check browser console for HTTP errors (F12 → Console) 2. Verify log file exists in logs directory 3. Check file permissions (Torrentarr must have read access) 4. Test endpoint manually:

curl http://localhost:6969/api/logs/Main.log

ANSI colors not displaying¶

Cause: Log file missing ANSI escape codes (plain text).

Solutions: - Increase Settings.ConsoleLevel to DEBUG or TRACE (more colorful output) - Check logger configuration (e.g. Serilog in Torrentarr.Host) — color/detail may be configurable - Verify terminal emulator supports ANSI colors (if running Torrentarr manually)

Auto-scroll not working¶

Cause: User scrolled away from bottom, disabling auto-scroll.

Solution: 1. Re-enable Auto-scroll checkbox in toolbar 2. Scroll manually to bottom (auto-scroll re-enables automatically) 3. Refresh page to reset scroll state

Log file too large (slow loading)¶

Cause: Log file exceeds 10 MB before rotation.

Solutions: 1. Wait for automatic rotation (happens at 10 MB) 2. Download log and clear:

mv ~/logs/Main.log ~/logs/Main.log.backup
# Torrentarr creates new Main.log automatically

Missing per-instance logs (e.g., Radarr-Movies.log)¶

Cause: Instance not managed (Managed = false) or not yet started.

Solutions: 1. Verify Managed = true in config for the Arr instance 2. Check Processes tab shows instance is running 3. Wait 30-60 seconds after instance starts (log file created on first write) 4. Restart Torrentarr to reinitialize loggers

Performance Considerations¶

Large Log Files¶

Problem: Reading 100+ MB logs causes high memory usage and slow response times.

Solutions: 1. Enable Log Rotation: Logs automatically rotate at 10 MB (hardcoded) 2. Manually Archive: Move old logs out of logs directory 3. Reduce Log Level: Change Settings.ConsoleLevel to INFO or WARNING 4. Download and Clear: Download log, then delete original file

Future Enhancement: Implement server-side tail (last N lines only) to avoid full-file reads.

Auto-Refresh Overhead¶

Problem: Fetching full log every 2 seconds with large logs.

Current Behavior: - Full file read on every refresh (no delta/diff) - 2-second interval when auto-scroll enabled - Pauses when tab inactive (Page Visibility API)

Optimization Tips: 1. Disable auto-scroll when not actively monitoring 2. Close Logs tab when not in use (pauses refresh) 3. Use tail -f directly on server for long-term monitoring:

tail -f ~/logs/Main.log

Best Practices¶

Debugging Arr Connections¶

1. Navigate to Logs tab
2. Select <ArrName>.log (e.g., Radarr-Movies.log)
3. Enable Auto-scroll
4. Watch for:
5. Connection refused → Check URI and port
6. 401 Unauthorized → Check API key
7. 404 Not Found → Verify Arr is running

Monitoring Search Activity¶

1. Navigate to Logs tab
2. Select instance log (e.g., Sonarr-TV.log)
3. Enable Auto-scroll
4. Watch for:
5. [NOTICE] Searching for: <Title> → Search initiated
6. [SUCCESS] Found X results → Search completed
7. [ERROR] No results found → Missing indexers or releases

Capturing Crash Logs¶

1. Before Crash:
2. Set Settings.ConsoleLevel = "DEBUG"
3. Enable Settings.Logging = true
4. After Crash:
5. Navigate to Logs → Select Main.log
6. Scroll to bottom (crash traceback)
7. Click Download → Attach to GitHub issue

Reducing Log Noise¶

1. Set Settings.ConsoleLevel = "INFO" (default)
2. Avoid DEBUG or TRACE in production (generates 10x more logs)
3. Enable log rotation (automatic at 10 MB)
4. Archive old logs monthly:

   tar -czf logs-$(date +%Y-%m).tar.gz ~/logs/*.log.*
   rm ~/logs/*.log.*
   

See Also¶

• Processes View – Monitor process status and restart instances
• WebUI Configuration – WebUI settings and authentication
• Troubleshooting Common Issues – Debugging guide
• API Documentation – Full API endpoint reference