Introduction

Logdesk is a macOS app for reading, searching, and filtering local log files. It is built for developers who spend time digging through logs and want a tool that stays out of the way.

What it does

Open any log file and Logdesk starts reading it immediately. It detects the format automatically and extracts structured fields so you can filter by level, search by keyword, or write precise queries without touching the raw text.

If you are wondering if this docs are LLM written slop, they are not :)

Key features

Automatic format detection — Logdesk recognises common formats out of the box, including JSON, logfmt, Nginx, Apache, syslog, Docker, Pino, ECS, Java, and Rust env_logger. See Supported Formats for the full list.

Query language — Filter logs using a simple but expressive syntax: text search, field conditions (level=error, status>=400), regular expressions, and boolean logic. See Query Language for the full reference.

Streaming — Tail a file as it grows and watch new entries appear in real time.

Performance — Powered by a Rust backend via Tauri. Handles large log files without slowing down.

CLI — A built-in command-line interface lets scripts and AI agents query logs from a running Logdesk instance. List sources, search entries, and stream results as NDJSON. See CLI for the full reference.

Getting started

Download Logdesk  and open it. Then drag a log file onto the window, or use File → Open to browse for one. Logdesk will detect the format and display the entries straight away.

To start filtering, click the search bar at the top and type a query. A plain word like error matches any line containing that text. For more targeted queries, see the Query Language page.