Universal Log Reader

Universal Log Reader is a VS Code extension that opens logs in a structured, searchable view so you can scan issues faster.

What it does

• Opens log files in a custom reader with collapsible entries
• Detects timestamps and displays them in your local time
• Detects log levels (for example: error, warn, info, debug)
• Expands complex entry details when lines contain additional context
• Classifies common embedded content such as JSON, XML, SQL, stack traces, and plain text
• Lets you copy SQL snippets from parsed details

How to use

1. Open a log file in VS Code
2. Choose Open with Universal Log Reader
3. Expand entries to inspect full details and context

You can launch it from the command palette or directly from the editor title actions on supported files.

File and format support

Curated formats

These formats currently have dedicated parsers:

• Apache Combined access logs
• Nginx Access logs
• Nginx Error logs
• Laravel/Monolog canonical line logs

Additional curated log formats are planned and will continue to roll out in future updates.

Best-effort formats

Universal Log Reader also supports many other formats through automatic pattern detection, including:

• Plain text logs
• JSON log lines and blocks
• XML blocks
• PHP print_r/var_dump style output
• SQL snippets
• Syslog-like and Apache-style timestamps

Important note on format prediction

This extension uses format prediction and heuristics to parse unknown or mixed logs. In most cases, results are useful and readable, but parsing may not be perfect for every file or edge case.