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Switch to JSON format for Nginx logs #11

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Merged
maquchizi merged 2 commits into from
Jan 29, 2026
Merged

Switch to JSON format for Nginx logs #11

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0cdf36c
Switch to JSON format for Nginx logs
maquchizi Jan 29, 2026
b0a39ae
Set log format in HTTPS server block
maquchizi Jan 29, 2026
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19 changes: 19 additions & 0 deletions contrib/compose/nginx_medium_rewrite_urls.conf
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -33,10 +33,29 @@ map $uri $needs_conversion {
default "no";
}

# Set up a JSON log format for better structured logging.
log_format json escape=json
'{'
'"timestamp": "$time_iso8601",'
'"client_ip": "$remote_addr",'
'"request_id": "$request_id",'
'"http_method": "$request_method",'
'"http_path": "$uri",'
'"protocol": "$server_protocol",'
'"user_agent": "$http_user_agent",'
'"referer": "$http_referer",'
'"status_code": $status,'
'"bytes_sent": $body_bytes_sent,'
'"request_time_secs": $request_time'
'}';

server {
listen 8069;
server_name localhost;

access_log logs/access.log json;
error_log logs/error.log;

client_max_body_size 100M;

# Remove the random ID that Medium appends to post URLs. This effectively does the same redirect recommended by Ghost here:
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20 changes: 18 additions & 2 deletions nginx.conf.sigil
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -38,12 +38,28 @@ map $uri $needs_conversion {
default "no";
}

# Set up a JSON log format for better structured logging.
log_format json escape=json
'{'
'"timestamp": "$time_iso8601",'
'"client_ip": "$remote_addr",'
'"request_id": "$request_id",'
'"http_method": "$request_method",'
'"http_path": "$uri",'
'"protocol": "$server_protocol",'
'"user_agent": "$http_user_agent",'
'"referer": "$http_referer",'
'"status_code": $status,'
'"bytes_sent": $body_bytes_sent,'
'"request_time_secs": $request_time'
'}';

server {
listen [::]:80;
listen 80;
server_name {{ .NOSSL_SERVER_NAME }};

access_log /var/log/nginx/{{ .APP }}-access.log;
access_log /var/log/nginx/{{ .APP }}-access.log json;
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@chatgpt-codex-connector chatgpt-codex-connector bot Jan 29, 2026

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P2 Badge Avoid mixed access log formats in same file

This server block now writes JSON to /var/log/nginx/{{ .APP }}-access.log, but the HTTPS server block below still writes to the same file without the json format. In deployments where HTTPS handles most traffic, the access log will therefore mix JSON and default log lines, which breaks JSON-only parsing (e.g., in Grafana) or drops entries. If the goal is to switch to JSON logs, the 443 access_log should use the same json format or a separate file.

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@maquchizi maquchizi Jan 29, 2026

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OMG! This is actually a good catch. I forgot to change the format in the HTTPS block.

error_log /var/log/nginx/{{ .APP }}-error.log;
underscores_in_headers off;

Expand All @@ -70,7 +86,7 @@ server {
listen 443 ssl http2;
{{ if .SSL_SERVER_NAME }}server_name {{ .SSL_SERVER_NAME }}; {{ end }}

access_log /var/log/nginx/{{ .APP }}-access.log;
access_log /var/log/nginx/{{ .APP }}-access.log json;
error_log /var/log/nginx/{{ .APP }}-error.log;

ssl_certificate {{ .APP_SSL_PATH }}/server.crt;
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