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Server Log

The Server Log node is your ultimate debugging companion. It securely prints payload data to the backend system without interrupting the workflow, allowing you to trace complex logic and trigger server-side alerts effortlessly.

Server Log
Core / Action
⚠️

What can you do with Server Log?

Zero-Footprint Debugging

Outputs vital execution text natively without flooding your database with heavy UI execution histories.

Smart Anti-Spam Limits

Built-in controls automatically group logs or truncate massive JSON payloads to prevent accidental memory spikes.

Enterprise Alert Integration

Switch your log level to 'Error' to instantly notify standard dev-ops tools like Datadog or CloudWatch.

Detailed Usage & Configuration

1. The Art of Workflow Debugging

Building massive automation flows often feels like a black box. The Server Log node solves this by acting as a transparent window into your data stream. Instead of waiting for a crash or manually digging through endless UI histories, you can surgically inject this node to print exact values directly to your server terminal.

This node acts as a perfect companion to data-heavy transformers like the Sort Node or the Remove Duplicates Node. You can seamlessly place a Server Log right after them to verify their output arrays in real-time.

Core Setup Options

  • Log Source: Choose exactly what you want to see. Dump the Entire Item (JSON), peek into a Specific Field (like user.id), or write a completely Custom Message mixing text and variables.
  • Log Level: Dictate the severity of the output. Select Info for tracking, Debug for noisy developer traces, and Error to hook into your DevOps alerting tools.

2. Advanced Anti-Spam Architecture

🛡️ Security: The 'Once Per Node' Safeguard

By default, nLink enforces a Log Once Per Node policy. If your workflow processes an array of 50,000 emails, this node will intelligently aggregate the data into a single, safely truncated server log. This completely eliminates the risk of crashing your server storage or maxing out your CPU with log-spam.

  • Once Per Item: Only activate this if you strictly need individual line-by-line tracking for a small dataset. It effectively acts as a console.log() inside an iteration loop.
  • Auto-Truncation: Any string that exceeds native capacity is aggressively truncated, guaranteeing that huge Base64 images or massive XML trees never freeze your console.

3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Will this node modify my data for the next step?

Absolutely not. The Server Log node features a true Pass-Through architecture. It peeks at your JSON payload, sends the text to the operating system, and transparently passes 100% of the original data to downstream nodes unharmed.

Where do I actually see these logs?

Unlike visual nodes, the output is routed exclusively to your backend server's standard output (stdout/stderr). If you run the system via Docker, simply check your Docker logs. This is specifically built for tech-savvy developers and infrastructure monitoring.

How to prevent Out of Memory when logging large JSON?

To avoid server crashes, keep the default Log Once Per Node mode active. The node will automatically aggregate your items and aggressively truncate any JSON string that exceeds 10,000 bytes, ensuring your execution runs seamlessly without maxing out RAM.