Nerdlog: Fast, multi-host TUI log viewer with timeline histogram

a year ago

Nerdlog is a fast, multi-host TUI log viewer with a timeline histogram, inspired by Graylog/Kibana but without the bloat.
It was developed as a lightweight alternative to centralized logging systems like Graylog and Splunk, which were either slow or required significant maintenance.
Nerdlog connects to remote nodes via SSH, analyzes log files directly on the hosts, and only downloads necessary data (logs and histogram info), making it efficient.
Key features include simultaneous log querying from multiple hosts, time range filtering, and a histogram for visualizing log distribution.
The tool uses standard Unix utilities (bash, awk, tail, head) and supports logstreams, which can be configured via SSH or a YAML config file.
Nerdlog is designed for small teams or personal projects where SSH access to production hosts is feasible, though it has limitations like CPU/IO usage on hosts and dependency on log rotation policies.
It is not a replacement for tools like lnav, which focus on local log files, but excels at efficiently handling remote logs from multiple nodes.

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