rileyhilliard/reading-logs
plugins/ce/skills/reading-logs/SKILL.md
Analyzes logs efficiently through targeted search and iterative refinement. Use when investigating errors, debugging incidents, or analyzing patterns in application logs.
$ install --global
skillsauthnpx skillsauth add rileyhilliard/claude-essentials reading-logsInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
Security Scan Results
3 of 9 scanners reported clean
Some scanners were skipped, did not run, or reported a non-clean status. Review each row below.
3
Scanners Passed
9
Scanners in report
Clean
TrivyContainer and dependency vulnerability scanner
95%
Clean
SemgrepStatic code analysis for vulnerabilities
95%
Clean
mcp-scan (Snyk)Model Context Protocol security validation
95%
Skipped
Snyk (dep)Open source security scanning
50%
Skipped
Socket.devSupply chain security analysis
50%
Skipped
VirusTotalMulti-engine malware detection
50%
Skipped
CrowdStrikeAdvanced threat intelligence
50%
Skipped
OSV-ScannerOpen Source Vulnerability database check
50%
Skipped
OWASP Dep-Check
50%
Last scanned: May 11, 2026, 4:51 AM144.9s7 files scanned
SKILL.md
- name:
- reading-logs
- description:
- Analyzes logs efficiently through targeted search and iterative refinement. Use when investigating errors, debugging incidents, or analyzing patterns in application logs.
Reading Logs
IRON LAW: Filter first, then read. Never open a large log file without narrowing it first.
Delegation
For log files over a few hundred lines, delegate to the @ce:log-reader agent. It runs on haiku to keep costs low and context clean. Prompt it with:
- What to investigate (error text, time window, correlation IDs)
- Which log files or directories to search
- The
scripts/utilities available (see Utility Scripts below)
The agent has this skill preloaded, so it already knows the methodology. Keep your prompt tight and specific - don't paste log contents into the delegation message.
Investigation Workflows
Single Incident
- Get time window, error text, correlation IDs
- Find logs covering that time (
Glob) - Time-window grep:
grep "2025-12-04T11:" service.log | grep -i "timeout" - Trace by ID:
grep "req-abc123" *.log - Expand context:
grep -C 10 "req-abc123" app.log
Recurring Patterns
- Filter by severity:
grep -Ei "error|warn" app.log - Group and count:
grep -i "ERROR" app.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head - Exclude known noise
- Drill into top patterns with context
Red Flags
- Opening >10MB file without filtering
- Using Read before Grep
- Dumping raw output without summarizing
- Searching without time bounds on multi-day logs
Utility Scripts
For complex operations, use the scripts in scripts/:
# Aggregate errors by frequency (normalizes timestamps/IDs)
bash scripts/aggregate-errors.sh app.log "ERROR" 20
# Extract and group stack traces by type
bash scripts/extract-stack-traces.sh app.log "NullPointer"
# Parse JSON logs with jq filter
bash scripts/parse-json-logs.sh app.log 'select(.level == "error")'
# Show error distribution over time (hourly/minute buckets)
bash scripts/timeline.sh app.log "ERROR" hour
# Trace a request ID across multiple log files
bash scripts/trace-request.sh req-abc123 logs/
# Find slow operations by duration
bash scripts/slow-requests.sh app.log 1000 20
Output Format
- State what you searched (files, patterns)
- Provide short snippets illustrating the issue
- Explain what likely happened and why
- Suggest next steps
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