LokiLoggerHandler

An Elixir Logger handler for Grafana Loki with configurable buffering.

Features

• Erlang :logger handler - Native integration with Elixir/Erlang logging
• Flexible storage - Choose disk (CubDB) for persistence or memory (ETS) for speed
• Batch sending - Configurable time and size thresholds for efficient delivery
• Exponential backoff - Graceful handling when Loki is unavailable
• Buffer overflow protection - Drops oldest logs when buffer is full
• Multiple handlers - Support different Loki endpoints with different configurations
• Label extraction - Flexible mapping from log metadata to Loki labels
• Structured metadata - Support for Loki 2.9+ non-indexed metadata
• Test support - Includes FakeLoki server for testing without a real Loki instance

Installation

Add loki_logger_handler to your list of dependencies in mix.exs:

def deps do
  [
    {:loki_logger_handler, "~> 0.1.0"}
  ]
end

Quick Start

# Attach a handler
LokiLoggerHandler.attach(:my_handler,
  loki_url: "http://localhost:3100",
  labels: %{
    app: {:static, "myapp"},
    env: {:metadata, :env},
    level: :level
  }
)

# Use Logger as usual
require Logger
Logger.info("User logged in", user_id: "123", request_id: "abc")

# Before shutdown, flush pending logs
LokiLoggerHandler.flush(:my_handler)

Configuration

Handler Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
:loki_url	string	required	Loki push API base URL
:storage	atom	:disk	Storage strategy: :disk (CubDB) or :memory (ETS)
:labels	map	%{level: :level}	Label extraction configuration
:structured_metadata	list	[]	Metadata keys for Loki structured metadata
:data_dir	string	"priv/loki_buffer/<id>"	CubDB storage directory (disk only)
:batch_size	integer	100	Max entries per batch
:batch_interval_ms	integer	5000	Max milliseconds between batches
:max_buffer_size	integer	10000	Max buffered entries before dropping oldest
:backoff_base_ms	integer	1000	Base backoff time on failure
:backoff_max_ms	integer	60000	Maximum backoff time

Label Configuration

Labels determine how logs are indexed in Loki. Configure them as a map where keys are label names and values specify extraction rules:

labels: %{
  # Use the log level
  level: :level,

  # Extract from log metadata
  application: {:metadata, :application},
  node: {:metadata, :node},

  # Use a static value
  env: {:static, "production"},
  service: {:static, "api"}
}

Important: Labels should have low cardinality. Don't use high-cardinality values like user IDs or request IDs as labels.

Structured Metadata (Loki 2.9+)

Structured metadata allows attaching key-value pairs that aren't indexed but can still be queried. Use this for high-cardinality data:

LokiLoggerHandler.attach(:my_handler,
  loki_url: "http://localhost:3100",
  labels: %{level: :level},
  structured_metadata: [:request_id, :user_id, :trace_id, :span_id]
)

# These will be attached as structured metadata, not labels
Logger.info("Request handled", request_id: "req-123", user_id: "user-456")

Multiple Handlers

You can attach multiple handlers with different configurations:

# Application logs to one Loki instance
LokiLoggerHandler.attach(:app_logs,
  loki_url: "http://loki-app:3100",
  labels: %{app: {:static, "myapp"}, level: :level}
)

# Audit logs to another Loki instance
LokiLoggerHandler.attach(:audit_logs,
  loki_url: "http://loki-audit:3100",
  labels: %{type: {:static, "audit"}, level: :level}
)

API Reference

Attaching and Detaching

# Attach a handler
:ok = LokiLoggerHandler.attach(:my_handler, opts)

# Detach a handler
:ok = LokiLoggerHandler.detach(:my_handler)

# List all attached handlers
[:my_handler] = LokiLoggerHandler.list_handlers()

Flushing Logs

# Force immediate send of pending logs
:ok = LokiLoggerHandler.flush(:my_handler)

Configuration Management

# Get current configuration
{:ok, config} = LokiLoggerHandler.get_config(:my_handler)

# Update configuration
:ok = LokiLoggerHandler.update_config(:my_handler, batch_size: 200)

Testing

The library includes LokiLoggerHandler.FakeLoki, a Plug-based fake Loki server for testing:

defmodule MyApp.LoggingTest do
  use ExUnit.Case

  alias LokiLoggerHandler.FakeLoki

  setup do
    # Start with an ephemeral port (OS-assigned)
    {:ok, fake} = FakeLoki.start_link()

    LokiLoggerHandler.attach(:test_handler,
      loki_url: FakeLoki.url(fake),
      batch_interval_ms: 100
    )

    on_exit(fn ->
      LokiLoggerHandler.detach(:test_handler)
      FakeLoki.stop(fake)
    end)

    {:ok, fake: fake}
  end

  test "logs are sent to Loki", %{fake: fake} do
    require Logger
    Logger.info("Test message", request_id: "123")

    # Wait for batch to be sent
    Process.sleep(200)

    # Assert on received logs
    entries = FakeLoki.get_entries(fake)
    assert length(entries) >= 1

    # Get flattened log values
    values = FakeLoki.get_log_values(fake)
    assert Enum.any?(values, fn {_ts, msg, _meta} ->
      String.contains?(msg, "Test message")
    end)
  end
end

FakeLoki API

# Start the fake server (uses OS-assigned ephemeral port)
{:ok, fake} = FakeLoki.start_link()

# Or specify a port explicitly
{:ok, fake} = FakeLoki.start_link(port: 4100)

# Get the URL for handler configuration
url = FakeLoki.url(fake)  # "http://localhost:<port>"

# Get all received push requests
entries = FakeLoki.get_entries(fake)

# Get flattened log values as {timestamp, message, metadata} tuples
values = FakeLoki.get_log_values(fake)

# Clear received entries
FakeLoki.clear(fake)

# Stop the server
FakeLoki.stop(fake)

Architecture

┌──────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌────────────┐     ┌──────────┐
│   Logger     │────▶│   Handler   │────▶│  Storage   │────▶│  Sender  │────▶ Loki
│  (events)    │     │  (format)   │     │ (buffer)   │     │ (batch)  │
└──────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └────────────┘     └──────────┘

1. Handler - Receives log events from Erlang's :logger, formats them, and stores in the buffer
2. Storage - Pluggable buffer with monotonic keys for ordering:
   • :disk - CubDB-backed persistent storage (survives restarts)
   • :memory - ETS-backed in-memory storage (faster, no persistence)
3. Sender - GenServer that periodically reads batches and sends to Loki via HTTP
4. LokiClient - Formats and sends log batches using the Loki push API (JSON format)

Failure Handling

When Loki is unavailable:

1. Logs continue to be buffered in storage
2. Sender applies exponential backoff (1s → 2s → 4s → ... up to max)
3. When buffer reaches max_buffer_size, oldest logs are dropped
4. On successful send, backoff resets to normal interval

Note: With :disk storage, buffered logs survive application restarts. With :memory storage, logs are lost on restart but throughput is higher.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.