[HN Gopher] Show HN: Logchef - Schema-agnostic log viewer for Cl...
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Show HN: Logchef - Schema-agnostic log viewer for ClickHouse
Hey HN! I'm Karan, creator of Logchef (https://logchef.app), an
open-source log viewer built specifically for exploring logs stored
in ClickHouse. This tool grew directly out of my $day job managing
massive log volumes. Like many orgs, we migrated our log workloads
to ClickHouse for its performance, but found the ecosystem lacked
dedicated UI tooling for actually browsing and analyzing those logs
effectively. We were using Metabase, and while great for general
BI, it wasn't designed for log exploration workflows. Common pain
points included: - Clunky Ad-hoc Querying: Writing/modifying raw
ClickHouse SQL for quick checks was slow and error-prone,
especially during incidents. - Disconnect Between Viz & Raw Logs:
Visualizing trends (like error counts) then drilling down to the
specific raw logs often required separate, complex queries and
wrestling with row limits. The intuitive "slice-and-dice" was
missing. - UI Friction: Simple things like selecting precise time
ranges ("last 90 minutes"), easily viewing surrounding log context,
or dealing with truncated columns added unnecessary friction.
Debugging sessions were taking longer than they should. So, over
the last 3-4 months, I built Logchef to scratch this itch.
Logchef's Core Ideas: - Purpose-Built for ClickHouse Logs:
Designed from the ground up for the specific task of log
exploration on top of ClickHouse, focusing on speed and intuitive
workflows. - Schema-Agnostic: Logchef doesn't force OTEL or any
other schema. Connect it directly to your existing ClickHouse log
tables (it just needs a timestamp column). Bring your own schema! -
Focus on Viewing/Querying: Logchef intentionally doesn't handle log
collection/ingestion. It complements great tools like Vector,
Fluentbit, etc., by focusing purely on the exploration layer once
data is in ClickHouse. - Simple Search Syntax: Includes a simple
query syntax (e.g., `status=200 and path~"/api/"`) that translates
to efficient ClickHouse SQL behind the scenes, integrated with the
Monaco editor. Tech Stack: Go backend, SQLite for metadata, Vue.js
+ shadcn/ui + Tailwind CSS frontend. You can try a live public
demo here: https://demo.logchef.app (It's pre-populated with sample
data using Vector, so you can dive right in. Uses Dex for OIDC auth
- creds are on the login page). What's Next & Getting Involved:
Logchef is already used internally at Zerodha, and I'm driving
towards v1.0 this year. The roadmap includes features like
Alerting, Live Tail Logs, and Enhanced Dashboarding. It's open
source (AGPLv3), and I'd love to get more eyes on it and build a
community. Check out the repo: https://github.com/mr-karan/logchef
I'd love to hear your feedback, whether positive or negative.
Please open issues on GitHub with suggestions or bug reports!
Thanks so much, HN!
Author : mr-karan
Score : 23 points
Date : 2025-04-27 15:15 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| badmonster wrote:
| How does Logchef handle multi-tenant access control at the
| ClickHouse query level to prevent cross-team data leaks?
| mr-karan wrote:
| So, Logchef has a concept of "Source" which represents a
| ClickHouse table. You give the DSN (essentially
| host/port/user/password for now) and connect. In prod
| scenarios, usually you only `GRANT SELECT ON db_name.table_name
| TO user_name;`
|
| Once you add the source, you can "connect" the source to a
| team. Only the members of the team will be allowed to query
| this source. So you can have multiple teams and add users
| accordingly. A source can be added to multiple teams as well.
|
| Hope that answers your question!
| Zeppelin1492 wrote:
| similar to https://github.com/iamtelescope/telescope
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(page generated 2025-04-27 23:01 UTC)