LEGO/woof

---

LEGO/woof.json

{
  "createdAt": "2021-10-11T06:53:34Z",
  "defaultBranch": "main",
  "description": "A pure Scala 3 logging library with no reflection",
  "fullName": "LEGO/woof",
  "homepage": "",
  "language": "Scala",
  "name": "woof",
  "pushedAt": "2025-10-24T08:35:44Z",
  "stargazersCount": 434,
  "topics": [
    "logger",
    "logging",
    "scala"
  ],
  "updatedAt": "2025-10-24T08:35:49Z",
  "url": "https://github.com/LEGO/woof"
}

Woof

A pure (in both senses of the word!) Scala 3 logging library with no runtime reflection.

![logo]!(dog-svgrepo-com.svg)

Table of Contents

• Highlights
  • Cross platform
• Installation
• Example
• Can I use SLF4J?
  • Limitations of SLF4J bindings
• Can I use http4s?
• Structured Logging

Highlights

• Pure Scala 3 library
• Made with Cats Effect
• Macro based (no runtime reflection)
• Configured with plain Scala code

Cross platform

Module	JVM	scala.js	native
core	✅	✅	✅
http4s	✅	✅	✅
slf4j	✅	🚫	🚫
slf4j-2	✅	🚫	🚫

Installation

build.sbt

libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
  "org.legogroup" %% "woof-core"    % "$VERSION",
  "org.legogroup" %% "woof-slf4j"   % "$VERSION", // only if you need to use Woof via slf4j 1.x.x
  "org.legogroup" %% "woof-slf4j-2" % "$VERSION", // only if you need to use Woof via slf4j 2.x.x
  "org.legogroup" %% "woof-http4s"  % "$VERSION", // only if you need to add correlation IDs in http4s
)

You can see a bunch of self-contained examples in the [examples]!(modules/examples) sub-project. To run them, open sbt and run the command examples/run:

sbt:root> examples/run

Multiple main classes detected. Select one to run:
 [1] examples.AtLeastLevel
 [2] examples.CustomPrinter
 [3] examples.CustomTheme
 [4] examples.ExactLevel
 [5] examples.FileOutput
 [6] examples.HelloWorld
 [7] examples.LogLevelFromEnv
 [8] examples.RegexFilter
 [9] examples.TaglessFinal

Enter number:

it will ask you for a number corresponding to the example you wish to run. For a self-contained Scala.Js example, look at [modules/examples-scalajs/src/main/scala/examples/HelloScalaJs.scala]!(modules/examples-scalajs/src/main/scala/examples/HelloScalaJs.scala)

Example

import cats.effect.IO
import org.legogroup.woof.{given, *}

val consoleOutput: Output[IO] = new Output[IO] !:
  def output(str: String)      = IO.delay(println(str))
  def outputError(str: String) = output(str) // MDOC ignores stderr

given Filter = Filter.everything
given Printer = NoColorPrinter()

def program(using Logger[IO]): IO[Unit] =
  for
    _ <- Logger[IO].debug("This is some debug")
    _ <- Logger[IO].info("HEY!")
    _ <- Logger[IO].warn("I'm warning you")
    _ <- Logger[IO].error("I give up")
  yield ()

val main: IO[Unit] =
  for
    given Logger[IO]  <- DefaultLogger.makeIo(consoleOutput)
    _                 <- program
  yield ()

and running it yields:

import cats.effect.unsafe.implicits.global
main.unsafeRunSync()
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [DEBUG] repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: This is some debug (README.md:27)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [INFO ] repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: HEY! (README.md:28)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [WARN ] repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: I'm warning you (README.md:29)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [ERROR] repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: I give up (README.md:30)

We can also re-use the program and add context to our logger:

import Logger.*
val mainWithContext: IO[Unit] =
  for
    given Logger[IO]  <- DefaultLogger.makeIo(consoleOutput)
    _                 <- program.withLogContext("trace-id", "4d334544-6462-43fa-b0b1-12846f871573")
    _                 <- Logger[IO].info("Now the context is gone")
  yield ()

And running with context yields:

mainWithContext.unsafeRunSync()
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [DEBUG] trace-id=4d334544-6462-43fa-b0b1-12846f871573 repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: This is some debug (README.md:27)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [INFO ] trace-id=4d334544-6462-43fa-b0b1-12846f871573 repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: HEY! (README.md:28)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [WARN ] trace-id=4d334544-6462-43fa-b0b1-12846f871573 repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: I'm warning you (README.md:29)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [ERROR] trace-id=4d334544-6462-43fa-b0b1-12846f871573 repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: I give up (README.md:30)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:42 [INFO ] repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: Now the context is gone (README.md:61)

Can I use SLF4J?

Yes, you can. I don’t think you should (for new projects), but you can use it for interop with existing SLF4J programs! Note, however, that not everything can be implemented perfectly against the SLF4J API, e.g. the filtering functionality in woof is much more flexible and thus does not map directly to, e.g., isDebugEnabled.

NOTE: This is about implementing the SLF4J API for woof, not about sending woof logs INTO existing SLF4J implementations

Consider this program which logs using the SLF4J API

import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory
def programWithSlf4j: IO[Unit] =
  for
    slf4jLogger <- IO.delay(LoggerFactory.getLogger(this.getClass))
    _           <- IO.delay(slf4jLogger.info("Hello from SLF4j!"))
    _           <- IO.delay(slf4jLogger.warn("This is not the pure woof."))
  yield ()

To use this program with woof

1. add woof-slf4j as a dependency to our program
2. instantiate a woof.Logger[F[_]] as per usual
3. register the woof logger to the static log binder to allow the slf4j LoggerFactory to find it.

Note that any logs that happen before registration are lost!

import org.legogroup.woof.slf4j.*
import cats.effect.std.Dispatcher
val mainSlf4j: IO[Unit] =
  Dispatcher.sequential[IO].use{ implicit dispatcher =>
    for
      woofLogger  <- DefaultLogger.makeIo(consoleOutput)
      _           <- woofLogger.registerSlf4j
      _           <- programWithSlf4j
    yield ()
  }

and running it:

mainSlf4j.unsafeRunSync()

Limitations of SLF4J bindings

Currently, markers do nothing. You can get the same behaviour easily with context when using the direct woof api with filters and printers.

Can I use http4s?

Yes you can. If you want to see internal logs from http4s, use the SLF4J module from above. If you want to use the context capabilities in woof, there’s a module for adding correlation IDs to each request with a simple middleware.

NOTE: The correlation ID is also added to the response header when using this middleware

Consider the following http4s route:

import org.http4s.{HttpRoutes, Response}
import cats.data.{Kleisli, OptionT}
import cats.syntax.functor.given

def routes(using Logger[IO]): HttpRoutes[IO] =
  Kleisli(request =>
    OptionT
      .liftF(Logger[IO].info("I got a request with trace id! :D"))
      .as(Response[IO]!()),
  )

We create a tracing middleware from the above routes and call the resulting route with an empty request.

import org.http4s.Request
import org.legogroup.woof.http4s.CorrelationIdMiddleware
import cats.syntax.option.given

val mainHttp4s: IO[Unit] =
  for
    given Logger[IO]  <- DefaultLogger.makeIo(consoleOutput)
    maybeResponse     <- CorrelationIdMiddleware.middleware[IO]!()(routes).run(Request[IO]!()).value
    responseHeaders   =  maybeResponse.map(_.headers).orEmpty
    _                 <- Logger[IO].info(s"Got response headers: $responseHeaders")
  yield ()

Finally, running it, we see that the correlation ID is added to the log message inside the routes (transparently), and that the correlation ID is also returned in the header of the response.

NOTE: The correlation ID is not present outside the routes, i.e. we have scoped it only to the service part of our code.

mainHttp4s.unsafeRunSync()
// 2023-03-13 09:00:43 [INFO ] X-Trace-Id=33a38390-647a-4876-9a05-7898a8f4db44 repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: I got a request with trace id! :D (README.md:126)
// 2023-03-13 09:00:43 [INFO ] repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp: Got response headers: Headers(X-Trace-Id: 33a38390-647a-4876-9a05-7898a8f4db44) (README.md:147)

Structured Logging

Structured logging is useful when your logs are collected and inspected by a monitoring system. Having a well structured log output can save you hours of reg-ex’ing your way towards the root cause of a burning issue.

Woof supports printing as Json:

import Logger.*
val contextAsJson: IO[Unit] =
  given Printer = JsonPrinter()
  for
    given Logger[IO]  <- DefaultLogger.makeIo(consoleOutput)
    _                 <- program.withLogContext("foo", "42").withLogContext("bar", "1337")
    _                 <- Logger[IO].info("Now the context is gone")
  yield ()

And running with context yields:

contextAsJson.unsafeRunSync()
// {"level":"Debug","epochMillis":1678694443157,"timeStamp":"2023-03-13T08:00:43Z","enclosingClass":"repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp","lineNumber":26,"message":"This is some debug","context":{"bar":"1337","foo":"42"}}
// {"level":"Info","epochMillis":1678694443159,"timeStamp":"2023-03-13T08:00:43Z","enclosingClass":"repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp","lineNumber":27,"message":"HEY!","context":{"bar":"1337","foo":"42"}}
// {"level":"Warn","epochMillis":1678694443159,"timeStamp":"2023-03-13T08:00:43Z","enclosingClass":"repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp","lineNumber":28,"message":"I'm warning you","context":{"bar":"1337","foo":"42"}}
// {"level":"Error","epochMillis":1678694443159,"timeStamp":"2023-03-13T08:00:43Z","enclosingClass":"repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp","lineNumber":29,"message":"I give up","context":{"bar":"1337","foo":"42"}}
// {"level":"Info","epochMillis":1678694443159,"timeStamp":"2023-03-13T08:00:43Z","enclosingClass":"repl.MdocSession$.MdocApp","lineNumber":168,"message":"Now the context is gone","context":{}}

We are considering if we should support matching different printers with different outputs: Maybe you want human readable logs for standard out and structured logging for your monitoring tools. However, this will be a breaking change.