Local log analysis guide
Docker log viewer for container output and JSON files
Open exported container logs, Docker JSON-file logs and Compose output locally. Follow one service or request without pasting production logs into a remote tool.
Container output mixes application messages with timestamps, stream names and service prefixes. During an incident, the useful signal may be one trace ID spread across several services or a stack trace surrounded by restart noise.
Export the relevant Docker or Compose logs to a text file, then use Log Voyager to search, filter, bookmark and reduce the dataset. JSON-file driver output can be formatted as structured entries.
Files and formats
docker.log · compose.log · *-json.log · .jsonl · .txt
Common investigation tasks
Filter one service
Search the Compose service prefix or container name to isolate its output.
Follow a trace
Find a correlation or trace ID as it moves across application services.
Inspect restart failures
Locate fatal messages, exit-related output and the last lines before a restart.
Format JSON-file output
Read log, stream and time fields without losing the original entry order.
A practical workflow
- Export container output - Save docker logs or docker compose logs output as a local text file.
- Open it in the viewer - Choose the exported text, JSON-file log or compressed archive.
- Narrow by service or trace - Search the stable identifier first, then inspect nearby warnings and errors.
- Keep the incident subset - Export selected lines for an issue, postmortem or team handoff.
Frequently asked questions
Can it connect directly to the Docker daemon?
No. Log Voyager intentionally works with local files and pasted text. Export the container output first, then open the result.
Does it support Docker JSON-file logs?
Yes. JSON objects are detected and can be formatted for easier inspection.
Can I view Docker Compose output?
Yes. Save Compose output to a text file and search service prefixes, timestamps and application messages.