Logging

August 1, 2026 · View on GitHub

Module: ovos_utils.log

`LOG`

A class-based logger that acts as a drop-in replacement for logging.Logger. All methods are @classmethod, so it can be used without instantiation.

from ovos_utils.log import LOG

LOG.debug("Debug message: %s", value)
LOG.info("Started")
LOG.warning("Watch out")
LOG.error("Something failed")
LOG.exception("Unhandled exception")

The logger name is determined by inspection of the call stack — it includes the module, function, and line number of the caller, plus LOG.name as a prefix. This makes OVOS log lines self-identifying without manually passing a logger name.

2024-01-01 12:00:00.000 - OVOS - ovos_core.skills.skill_manager:load:123 - INFO - Loading skill

Set a custom prefix:

LOG("my-service").info("Ready")

Or set the class-level name:

LOG.name = "audio"

Configuration

LOG reads from mycroft.conf["logging"]:

{
  "logging": {
    "log_level": "DEBUG",
    "logs": {
      "path": "/opt/ovos/logs/",
      "max_bytes": 50000000,
      "backup_count": 6
    },
    "audio": {
      "log_level": "INFO",
      "logs": {
        "path": "/var/log/ovos/"
      }
    }
  }
}

Service-specific sections (e.g. logging.audio) override the global defaults for that service.

Class Attributes

Attribute	Default	Description
`name`	`$OVOS_DEFAULT_LOG_NAME` or `OVOS`	Logger name prefix
`level`	`$OVOS_DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL` or `INFO`	Log level
`base_path`	`stdout`	Log directory (or `"stdout"` for console only)
`max_bytes`	`50_000_000`	Max log file size before rotation
`backup_count`	`3`	Number of rotated log files to keep
`diagnostic_mode`	`False`	If True, log the source bus message for each log call

`LOG.init(config)`

Apply configuration from a dict (as returned by get_logs_config()). Updates base_path, max_bytes, backup_count, level, and diagnostic_mode.

`LOG.set_level(level)`

Update the log level for the class and all existing loggers.

`init_service_logger(service_name)`

Initialize LOG for a named OVOS service. Sets LOG.name, calls LOG.init(), and registers a config watcher to reload the log level when mycroft.conf changes.

from ovos_utils.log import init_service_logger

init_service_logger("audio")

Call this once at service startup. Afterwards, LOG.info(...) etc. will tag log lines with the service name and write to the configured log file.

`get_logs_config(service_name, _cfg) → dict`

Resolve the logging configuration for a given service name by walking the mycroft.conf["logging"] hierarchy. Returns a dict with at least {"level": "INFO"}.

`log_deprecation(log_message, deprecation_version, ...)`

Log a deprecation warning that identifies the external caller (not the deprecation site itself).

from ovos_utils.log import log_deprecation

log_deprecation("Use new_method() instead", "2.0.0")

`@deprecated(log_message, deprecation_version)`

Decorator that logs a deprecation warning on every call:

from ovos_utils.log import deprecated

@deprecated("Use new_method() instead", "2.0.0")
def old_method():
    ...