dsh-logger-channels

dsh-logger-channels gives a DSH profile a visible log sink: named channels that receive every ctx.logger record from the framework and all plugins, so runtime log output reaches the operator instead of ending only in the host's in-memory buffers.

• Named channels: stderr, stdout, and size-rotated files, each with its own level threshold
• One line per record in a fixed shape
• No tool surface and no config files of its own; channels are declared in the process env and/or a cordis config layer

Installation

dsh-logger-channels is an out-of-tree plugin for a dsh profile. Install it with the dsh plugin command:

dsh plugin --profile <name> add dsh-logger-channels

Configuration is layered: built-in defaults, the LOGGER_CHANNELS_* process-env block, and a cordis config layer (see below).

Configuration

One variable per channel declares it (TYPE); the rest attach to the declared channel and are optional:

Variable	Required	Meaning
LOGGER_CHANNELS_<NAME>_TYPE	yes	declares channel <name> = the lowercased <NAME>; the value is stderr, stdout, or file
LOGGER_CHANNELS_<NAME>_PATH	file only	output file path (parent directories are created)
LOGGER_CHANNELS_<NAME>_MINLEVEL	no	numeric level threshold: 0 = error only, 1 = +info, 2 = +warn, 3 = +debug (default 2)
LOGGER_CHANNELS_<NAME>_COLORS	no	ANSI color level: false or 1-3 (default false)
LOGGER_CHANNELS_<NAME>_MAXLENGTH	no	per-line truncation in characters (default 10240)
LOGGER_CHANNELS_<NAME>_MAXBYTES	no (file)	size that triggers rotation, in bytes (default 10485760)
LOGGER_CHANNELS_<NAME>_KEEP	no (file)	number of rotated generations to keep (default 5)

Example:

LOGGER_CHANNELS_APP_TYPE=file
LOGGER_CHANNELS_APP_PATH=/<path>
LOGGER_CHANNELS_APP_MINLEVEL=3

The <NAME> segment of the variable name is uppercase letters and digits only, and the channel name is its lowercased form; the channel name must match ^[a-z][a-z0-9-]{0,31}$, so e.g. LOGGER_CHANNELS_1APP_TYPE declares no channel, and a lowercase segment such as LOGGER_CHANNELS_app_TYPE matches nothing at all. A key other than TYPE on a name that no TYPE variable declares is ignored, as are unknown keys in the namespace.

The level numbers follow cordis's verbosity ladder, not a severity ladder: ERROR=0, INFO=1, WARN=2, DEBUG=3. Note that INFO sorts numerically before WARN, the opposite of the log4j/Python severity convention. The config layer's minLevel uses the same numbering.

Config layer (cordis patch)

An optional config layer sits on top of the env block: a patch entry targeting the plugin id dsh-logger-channels (the profile's cordis.patch.yml, the user-global ~/.dsh/cordis.patch.yml, or a --patch overlay) carries a config object with one key, channels (a map of channel name to channel, minLevel, colors, maxLength, path, maxBytes, keep). Every key is optional.

- id: dsh-logger-channels
  config:
    channels:
      app:
        channel: file
        path: /<path>
        minLevel: 3

• One precedence chain: config value > env value > built-in default; keys the layer omits resolve as the env block, so config: {} (or no entry) is exactly the env-only behavior.
• A patch targets a row by id and replaces its whole config - no deep merge, so a layer that overrides one field restates the fields it keeps (layer order: the plugin's own default entry, the profile patch, the user-global patch, any --patch overlay).
• Channels are the union of both layers; per key, the config layer wins.
• Config errors (unknown channel type, a file channel without path, an out-of-range value) fail the plugin entry at apply time with a labeled error, and the profile does not start.

Line format

[2026-10-11T08:01:02.123Z] #42 INFO app Processing: scope=c2c peerId=1

Fields, in order: wall-clock timestamp (UTC), #sn (per-boot sequence number; resets on restart), level, logger name, body. In the body, an Error as the first argument renders its stack; the body is subject to the channel's maxLength.

Limits

• File channels rotate on size: when a write would push the file past maxBytes, the live file is renamed to .1 (the newest generation), older generations shift to .2 ... .keep, and the oldest generation is dropped. Files are appended to, and the size counter is seeded from the existing file on open, so rotation continues across restarts.
• Runtime write failures never propagate to the host: a channel that cannot write (missing permissions, a full disk, a failed rotation) goes quiet and drops its own subsequent writes while the other channels keep working. A full disk is therefore silent on the affected channel - watch file modification times, not the log stream.
• stdout is a shared stream: in profiles where stdout carries a structured protocol, do not configure a stdout channel; stream ownership is the operator's to coordinate.
• When at least one channel is declared, the plugin logs one status line (level INFO) on start naming each channel and its threshold.