Logs before `configure` finishes are lost

[kernelwhisperer]

Similar to #12, I cannot use top level await (running in electron), but I do have a file sink.

One workaround that I'm using right now is saving logs in an buffer array and once configure finishes flush those too and replace the buffered logger, but I would love a cleaner solution.

Any thoughts?

Perhaps logtape can work the same way, if you call the logs before it's configured it saves those into memory.

[dahlia]

You could use configureSync() with a file sink unless you're turning on nonBlocking: true.

[kernelwhisperer]

I'm using nonBlocking: true...

[dahlia]

I understand your situation, and I'm sorry that there isn't a more straightforward solution for this specific case. Unfortunately, the nonBlocking: true option and configureSync() are fundamentally incompatible by design. When nonBlocking: true is enabled for file sinks, they implement AsyncDisposable which requires asynchronous cleanup, making them incompatible with synchronous configuration. This is why the earlier suggestion of using configureSync() won't work in your case.

Given the technical constraints, your current buffering approach is actually the most reasonable solution for combining Electron's limitations with non-blocking file I/O. However, if the complexity of maintaining that buffer becomes burdensome, you might consider switching to nonBlocking: false and using configureSync(). For most Electron applications, the performance impact of synchronous file logging is typically negligible and might be worth the simplicity. I apologize that we can't offer a more elegant solution at the moment, but I hope this helps clarify the trade-offs you're working with.

[kernelwhisperer]

Yup, that makes sense. Thank you for your response and for this great library!

The reason I'm using nonBlocking: true is because read & writes happen through multiple threads.
Here is the workaround that I'm using, in case someone else in interested:

// logger-memory.ts
import { configureSync, LogRecord } from "@logtape/logtape"

const inMemoryRecords: LogRecord[] = []

export function configureMemoryLogger() {
  configureSync({
    loggers: [
      {
        category: [],
        lowestLevel: "debug",
        sinks: ["inMemory"],
      },
      {
        category: ["logtape", "meta"],
        lowestLevel: "warning",
        sinks: ["inMemory"],
      },
    ],
    reset: true,
    sinks: {
      inMemory: (record: LogRecord) => {
        inMemoryRecords.push(record)
      },
    },
  })
}

export function getInMemoryRecords() {
  return inMemoryRecords
}

// logger-cjs.ts
import { getLogger } from "@logtape/logtape"
import { configureLogger, getLatestLogFilename } from "@privatefolio/node-commons/build/cjs/logger"
import {
  configureMemoryLogger,
  getInMemoryRecords,
} from "@privatefolio/node-commons/build/cjs/logger-memory"

import { SERVER_LOGS_LOCATION } from "./settings"

configureMemoryLogger()

export const logger = getLogger(["electron"])

configureLogger(SERVER_LOGS_LOCATION, getLatestLogFilename()).then(() => {
  // flush memory logger to file
  for (const record of getInMemoryRecords()) {
    logger[record.level](record.rawMessage as string, record.properties)
  }
})

Note: configureLogger comes from another file where I configure the logger with async sinks.