# logs

Read runtime logs from the linked application, once or by following snapshots.

URL: https://coolship.itrocas.com/docs/commands/logs

```text
coolship logs [target] [flags]
```

`logs` reads the application's runtime logs — the container output — not the build log, which [`deploy`](https://coolship.itrocas.com/docs/commands/deploy) streams while it waits.

```text
$ coolship logs --lines 3
2026-09-10T11:49:33.442427921Z 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Sep/2026:11:49:33 +0000] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 182 "-" "Wget" "-"
2026-09-10T11:49:43.474192232Z 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Sep/2026:11:49:43 +0000] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 182 "-" "Wget" "-"
2026-09-10T11:49:53.513347418Z 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Sep/2026:11:49:53 +0000] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 182 "-" "Wget" "-"
```

Lines are printed exactly as the server returns them, with its timestamps, and never styled.

## Flags

| Flag              | Purpose                                                             |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `-f`, `--follow`  | Poll new log snapshots until interrupted.                           |
| `-n`, `--lines N` | Maximum number of lines in each requested snapshot (default `100`). |

## Examples

```bash
coolship logs
coolship logs --lines 500
coolship logs --follow
coolship logs web -f              # named target in a monorepo
coolship logs --format json | jq -r .logs
```

## Following

The endpoint has no cursor, so `--follow` polls bounded snapshots and compares overlapping lines to emit only what is new. Repeated identical lines are handled correctly, but log rotation, a container restart, or a gap larger than `--lines` can still produce gaps or duplicates. Coolship reports such a reset as a warning on stderr rather than pretending the stream is lossless. Persistent polling failures are surfaced, and the command stops promptly on Ctrl-C.

Selecting a container is not supported: the server ignores the parameter Coolify CLI sends for it and returns the first container.

## JSON

`--format json` prints newline-delimited events, one object per line, both for a single snapshot and when following:

```json
{"type":"logs","logs":"2026-09-10T11:49:33.442427921Z 127.0.0.1 - - [10/Sep/2026:11:49:33 +0000] \"GET / HTTP/1.1\" 200 182 \"-\" \"Wget\" \"-\"\n"}
```

Each event has a `type`; log events carry the chunk in `logs`, and warnings such as a detected reset carry `message`. Every chunk ends with a newline.

## Exit codes

`0` when the snapshot was read; `1` when the logs cannot be read, or when following stops because a poll failed; `2` when the directory is not linked or `--lines` is not positive; `130` when `--follow` is interrupted, which is how following normally ends: `Interrupted` is printed on stderr, however many snapshots were read before it.