Log File Viewer for the Terminal
Shares rank 2 of 4 log viewers by recommenders
A terminal tool for reading log files that people say saves time. Critics point out that it parses untrusted input and is written in C++, and that its JSON configuration is a poor fit.
A terminal tool for reading log files that people say saves time. Critics point out that it parses untrusted input and is written in C++, and that its JSON configuration is a poor fit.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Useful, time-saving tool
“Looks very useful, will give it a go.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Log File Viewer for the Terminal” “sounds like a huge time saver”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Log File Viewer for the Terminal” “This looks genuinely useful.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Log File Viewer for the Terminal” Plans to try it
“Looks very useful, will give it a go.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Log File Viewer for the Terminal” “very nice, definitely will use it”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Log File Viewer for the Terminal”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Parses untrusted input in C++
“this is reading potentially untrusted input (e.g. in the case of http request logs) and written in c++, so a possible attack vector”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Log File Viewer for the Terminal” Configuration in JSON, not XDG
“I really wish the configuration wasn't done in json and loaded from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Log File Viewer for the Terminal”
Other log viewers people recommend
The three most recommended other log viewers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lnav | 14 | 3 | 82% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Log File Viewer for the TerminalThis page | 8 | 2 | 80% | 1 | — | — |
| GoAccess | 8 | 2 | 80% | 5 | — | — |
| journalctl | 7 | 10 | 41% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I had trouble using it. Not sure what it is doing or what it is even showing me.”
“sounds like a huge time saver”
“I'm a little disappointed that it's not written in Rust.”
“this is reading potentially untrusted input (e.g. in the case of http request logs) and written in c++, so a possible attack vector”
“I wish I had found this earlier.”
“I really wish the configuration wasn't done in json and loaded from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME”
“This looks genuinely useful.”
“very nice, definitely will use it”
“Looks very useful, will give it a go.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.