What is Chainsaw?
Chainsaw is a fast, powerful log file viewer that helps developers debug applications and analyze log files. Originally created by Jason Vas Dias and now maintained by an open-source community, Chainsaw aims to provide an intuitive user interface and robust feature set for working with log data.
Some key features of Chainsaw include:
- Real-time log tailing - New log entries are automatically streamed in as they are written.
- Advanced filtering - Log entries can be included or excluded based on textual content, log levels, dates, etc.
- Regex search - Custom regex patterns can be defined to highlight matching entries.
- Log coloring - Log levels have definable color codings for quick visual inspection.
- External tool integrations - Chainsaw can launch other applications based on log content.
- Portable mode - Chainsaw can run in portable mode without needing installation.
- Plugin extensions - The open architecture allows developers to extend functionality.
With its responsive UI, small footprint, and powerful capabilities, Chainsaw aims to be an indispensable tool for any developer working with log files. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms and supports log files from all common logging frameworks. The open-source codebase and active community enable Chainsaw to continuously evolve with new features and integrations.