logging.md

Writing your own logging module

By default, your bot will log to the standard JavaScript console object available in Node.js. This will synchronously print logging messages to stdout of the running process.

There may be some cases, such as remote debugging or rotating of large logs, where you may want a more sophisticated logging solution. You can write your own logging module that uses a third-party tool, like winston or Bristol. Just create an object with a log method. That method should take a severity level (such as 'error' or 'debug') as its first argument, and then any number of other arguments that will be logged as messages. (Both Winston and Bristol create objects of this description; it's a common interface.)

Then, use it when you create your bot:

var controller = Botkit.slackbot({
  logger: new winston.Logger({
    levels: winston.config.syslog.levels
    transports: [
      new (winston.transports.Console)(),
      new (winston.transports.File)({ filename: './bot.log' })
    ]
  })
});

Note: with Winston, we must use the syslog.levels over the default or else some botkit log messages (like 'notice') will not be logged properly.

Botkit Documentation Index

• Get Started
• Botkit Studio API
• Function index
• Extending Botkit with Plugins and Middleware
  • Message Pipeline
  • List of current plugins
• Storing Information
• Logging
• Platforms
  • Slack
  • Cisco Spark
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Facebook Messenger
  • Twilio SMS
  • Twilio IPM
  • Microsoft Bot Framework
• Contributing to Botkit
  • Contributing to Botkit Core
  • Building Middleware/plugins
  • Building platform connectors