Troubleshooting

Practical problem/solution guide for Pragmatic.Logging. Each section covers a common issue, the likely causes, and the fix.

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Log Output Missing Entirely

Your application runs, but no log output appears in any provider.

Checklist

1. Did you call AddPragmaticLogging()? The builder must be created before any providers are added.

   builder.Services.AddLogging(logging =>
   {
       var pragmatic = logging.AddPragmaticLogging(); // Required
       pragmatic.AddConsole();
   });

2. Is Enabled set to false? Check appsettings.json for "PragmaticLogging": { "Enabled": false }.

3. Is the MinimumLevel too high? If MinimumLevel is Warning, all Information and Debug calls are silently dropped. Check both the preset and any overrides.

4. Did you add at least one provider? Calling AddPragmaticLogging() alone registers the pipeline but no output. You need at least one provider (.AddConsole(), .AddFile(...), etc.).

5. Are category-level overrides filtering your logger? Check appsettings.json for "LogLevel" overrides in the "Logging" section that might set your namespace to None.

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Duplicate Log Entries

Every log message appears twice in the console.

Cause

You have both the default .NET console provider and PragmaticConsoleProvider registered.

Fix

Call ClearProviders() before adding Pragmatic:

builder.Services.AddLogging(logging =>
{
    logging.ClearProviders();
    var pragmatic = logging.AddPragmaticLogging();
    pragmatic.AddConsole();
});

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Context Properties Not Appearing in Log Output

You enabled enrichment but log entries do not contain CorrelationId, UserId, or other context properties.

Checklist

1. Is the enrichment middleware registered? Add it early in the pipeline:

   app.UseMiddleware<LoggingEnrichmentMiddleware>();

2. Is the middleware ordered correctly? It must run before your handlers. Place it before UseAuthentication() and MapControllers().

3. Is context enrichment enabled in options?

   pragmatic.Configure(opts =>
   {
       opts.Context.IncludeCorrelationId = true;
       opts.Context.IncludeUserContext = true;
       opts.Context.IncludeMachineContext = true;
   });

4. Is the provider filtering context? Check if a ContextFilterConfiguration with Mode = ContextFilterMode.None is set on the specific provider.

5. For UserId: is the user authenticated? The HttpContextProvider extracts UserId from the NameIdentifier claim. If the request is unauthenticated, UserId will not appear.

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Redaction Not Working

Sensitive data appears in log output despite enabling redaction.

Checklist

1. Is global redaction enabled? The global flag is the master switch:

   pragmatic.Configure(opts => opts.Privacy.EnableRedaction = true);

2. Is the property name in the sensitive list? Check that your property name matches (case-insensitive) or matches a regex pattern:

   pragmatic.EnableDataRedaction(r =>
   {
       r.SensitivePropertyNames = ["password", "apiKey", "email"];
       r.PropertyNamePatterns = [@".*password.*", @".*secret.*"];
   });

3. For secret detection: is it enabled separately? Secret detection and data redaction are independent features:

   pragmatic.Configure(opts =>
   {
       opts.Privacy.EnableRedaction = true;        // Data redaction
       opts.Privacy.EnableSecretDetection = true;  // Secret detection
   });

4. Is the confidence threshold too high? The default is 0.7. If your secrets are not being detected, lower the threshold or use CreateForDevelopment() preset (0.5).

5. Are you using a compliance preset? Compliance presets automatically configure both redaction and detection:

   pragmatic.UseCompliancePreset(ComplianceStandard.Gdpr);

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File Provider Not Writing

The file provider is configured but no log files appear on disk.

Checklist

1. Does the directory exist? The file provider creates the file but not the parent directory. Ensure the logs/ directory (or your configured path) exists.

2. Does the process have write permissions? Check file system permissions for the application’s service account.

3. Is the file path template valid? Placeholders are case-sensitive: {Date}, {Year}, {Month}, {Day}, {Hour}, {DateTime}.

4. Is background processing blocking? If UseBackgroundProcessing is enabled and the application shuts down before the queue is flushed, entries may be lost. Check that IHostApplicationLifetime is properly wired for graceful shutdown.

5. Is the file locked by another process? Another instance of the application or a log viewer may have the file locked. Check with your file system.

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Rate Limiting Dropping Important Messages

Critical error messages are being dropped by the rate limiter.

Cause

Rate limiting applies to all log levels equally by default.

Fix

Configure rate limiting with appropriate thresholds, or apply it only to specific levels:

pragmatic.EnableRateLimiting(rl =>
{
    rl.MaxMessagesPerSecond = 1000;
    rl.BurstSize = 100;
    rl.Strategy = "TokenBucket";
});

// Or use built-in presets that only limit lower-priority levels
// Error and Critical are typically exempt from rate limiting

For compliance scenarios, disable rate limiting entirely and rely on the bounded queue with Block overflow strategy instead.

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High Memory Usage from Logging

The application’s memory footprint grows over time due to logging.

Checklist

1. Is the Memory provider accumulating entries? PragmaticMemoryProvider stores entries in-memory. Check MaxEntries and ensure AutoTruncate is enabled.

2. Is the background queue growing unbounded? If using QueueOverflowStrategy.Expand, the queue grows without limit. Switch to DropOldest or set a reasonable MaxQueueSize.

3. Are StringBuilder instances leaking? This should not happen with StringBuilderPool, but if you are using StringBuilderPool.Rent() directly, ensure every Rent() has a matching Return() in a finally block.

4. Is zero-allocation mode enabled? Enable it to reduce GC pressure:

   pragmatic.Configure(opts => opts.Performance.EnableZeroAllocation = true);

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Slow Application Startup with PrecompilePatterns

Application startup takes several seconds when secret detection is enabled.

Cause

PrecompilePatterns = true compiles all regex patterns at startup. With the full pattern library, this can take 1-2 seconds.

Fix

For development, disable precompilation:

pragmatic.Configure(opts =>
{
    opts.Privacy.SecretDetection.PrecompilePatterns = false;
});

For production, accept the startup cost (patterns are compiled once) or limit the number of patterns:

pragmatic.Configure(opts =>
{
    opts.Privacy.SecretDetection.PrecompilePatterns = true;
    opts.Privacy.SecretDetection.MaxPatternsPerScan = 20; // Fewer patterns, faster startup
});

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FAQ

Can I use Pragmatic.Logging with Serilog or NLog?

Yes, but there is no benefit. Pragmatic.Logging replaces these libraries entirely. It registers as an ILoggerProvider in the standard .NET logging infrastructure. If you add both Pragmatic and Serilog providers, log entries will be processed by both pipelines independently.

Does Pragmatic.Logging support OpenTelemetry?

The CorrelationIdProvider integrates with Activity.Current and propagates W3C traceparent headers. The BaggagePropagationMiddleware forwards context values to downstream services. OpenTelemetry exporters can consume these traces.

Can I use different redaction settings per provider?

Yes. Each provider has its own PrivacyConfiguration. Enable global redaction, then configure per-provider RedactionMode:

// Aggressive redaction for file logs
pragmatic.AddFile("logs/app.log", c => c.Privacy.RedactionMode = RedactionMode.Aggressive);

// No redaction for memory provider (testing)
pragmatic.AddMemory(); // Uses default privacy settings

How do I test that redaction is working?

Use the PragmaticMemoryProvider with redaction enabled and assert on the stored entries:

var memoryProvider = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<PragmaticMemoryProvider>();
var entries = memoryProvider.GetLogEntriesContaining("[REDACTED]");
entries.Should().NotBeEmpty();

What is the BootstrapLogger for?

The BootstrapLogger provides logging before the DI container is built. Use it for startup diagnostics:

using var bootstrap = BootstrapLogger.Create();
bootstrap.LogInformation("Loading configuration...");

It writes to the console and is disposed when the full logging pipeline takes over.

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Getting Help

1. Check the concepts guide for architecture overview
2. Check the getting started guide for setup instructions
3. Review Benchmark Results for performance comparisons
4. Open an issue on the Pragmatic.Design repository with:
   • Your PragmaticLoggingBuilder configuration code
   • The PragmaticLogging section from appsettings.json
   • The expected vs actual behavior
   • .NET version and OS