Bash Logging

Structured logging patterns for bash scripts with color support, emoji icons, and CI/CD integration.

Basic Logging Functions

Simple, portable logging implementation:

# Color definitions
declare -A colors=(
    [green]=$'\033[0;32m'
    [red]=$'\033[0;31m'
    [yellow]=$'\033[1;33m'
    [blue]=$'\033[0;34m'
    [reset]=$'\033[0m'
)

declare -A emojis=(
    [success]='✅'
    [error]='❌'
    [warning]='⚠️'
    [info]='ℹ️'
    [debug]='🐛'
)

# Logging functions
print_success() {
    printf '%b %b%b%b\n' "${emojis[success]}" "${colors[green]}" "$*" "${colors[reset]}"
}

print_error() {
    printf '%b %b%b%b\n' "${emojis[error]}" "${colors[red]}" "$*" "${colors[reset]}" >&2
}

print_warning() {
    printf '%b %b%b%b\n' "${emojis[warning]}" "${colors[yellow]}" "$*" "${colors[reset]}"
}

print_info() {
    printf '%b %b\n' "${emojis[info]}" "$*"
}

print_debug() {
    [[ -n "${DEBUG:-}" ]] && printf '%b %b%b%b\n' "${emojis[debug]}" "${colors[blue]}" "$*" "${colors[reset]}"
}

Log Levels

Implement configurable log levels:

LOG_LEVEL="${LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}"

declare -A LOG_LEVELS=(
    [DEBUG]=0
    [INFO]=1
    [WARN]=2
    [ERROR]=3
    [FATAL]=4
)

log() {
    local level="$1"
    shift
    local message="$*"

    local current_level="${LOG_LEVELS[$LOG_LEVEL]:-1}"
    local msg_level="${LOG_LEVELS[$level]:-1}"

    if [[ $msg_level -ge $current_level ]]; then
        printf '[%s] [%-5s] %s\n' "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')" "$level" "$message"
    fi
}

log_debug() { log DEBUG "$@"; }
log_info()  { log INFO "$@"; }
log_warn()  { log WARN "$@" >&2; }
log_error() { log ERROR "$@" >&2; }
log_fatal() { log FATAL "$@" >&2; exit 1; }

TTY Detection

Disable colors in non-interactive environments:

setup_colors() {
    if [[ -t 1 ]] && [[ -z "${NO_COLOR:-}" ]]; then
        # Terminal supports colors
        COLOR_RED=$'\033[0;31m'
        COLOR_GREEN=$'\033[0;32m'
        COLOR_YELLOW=$'\033[1;33m'
        COLOR_BLUE=$'\033[0;34m'
        COLOR_RESET=$'\033[0m'
    else
        # No color support
        COLOR_RED=''
        COLOR_GREEN=''
        COLOR_YELLOW=''
        COLOR_BLUE=''
        COLOR_RESET=''
    fi
}

# CI environments often support colors
detect_color_support() {
    if [[ -n "${CI:-}" ]] || [[ -n "${GITLAB_CI:-}" ]] || [[ -n "${GITHUB_ACTIONS:-}" ]]; then
        return 0  # CI environment, enable colors
    elif [[ -t 1 ]]; then
        return 0  # Terminal, enable colors
    else
        return 1  # No color support
    fi
}

GitLab CI Collapsible Sections

Create collapsible log sections in GitLab CI:

section_start() {
    local section_key="${1:-section}"
    local section_header="${2:-$section_key}"
    local collapsed="${3:-true}"

    if [[ -n "${GITLAB_CI:-}" ]]; then
        printf "\e[0Ksection_start:%s:%s[collapsed=%s]\r\e[0K%s\n" \
            "$(date +%s)" "$section_key" "$collapsed" "$section_header"
    else
        printf '\n=== %s ===\n' "$section_header"
    fi
}

section_end() {
    local section_key="${1:-section}"

    if [[ -n "${GITLAB_CI:-}" ]]; then
        printf "\e[0Ksection_end:%s:%s\r\e[0K" "$(date +%s)" "$section_key"
    else
        printf '\n'
    fi
}

# Usage
section_start "build" "Building Application"
make build
section_end "build"

GitHub Actions Grouping

group_start() {
    local name="$1"
    if [[ -n "${GITHUB_ACTIONS:-}" ]]; then
        printf '::group::%s\n' "$name"
    else
        printf '\n=== %s ===\n' "$name"
    fi
}

group_end() {
    if [[ -n "${GITHUB_ACTIONS:-}" ]]; then
        printf '::endgroup::\n'
    fi
}

# GitHub Actions annotations
gh_notice()  { printf '::notice::%s\n' "$*"; }
gh_warning() { printf '::warning::%s\n' "$*"; }
gh_error()   { printf '::error::%s\n' "$*"; }

# Usage
group_start "Running tests"
./run_tests.sh
group_end

Progress Indicators

spinner() {
    local pid="$1"
    local message="${2:-Processing}"
    local delay=0.1
    local spinchars='|/-\'

    while kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; do
        for char in $spinchars; do
            printf '\r%s %c' "$message" "$char"
            sleep $delay
        done
    done
    printf '\r%s done\n' "$message"
}

# Usage
long_running_task &
spinner $! "Installing dependencies"

# Progress bar
progress_bar() {
    local current="$1"
    local total="$2"
    local width="${3:-50}"

    local percent=$((current * 100 / total))
    local filled=$((current * width / total))
    local empty=$((width - filled))

    printf '\r['
    printf '%*s' "$filled" '' | tr ' ' '#'
    printf '%*s' "$empty" '' | tr ' ' '-'
    printf '] %3d%%' "$percent"
}

# Usage
for i in {1..100}; do
    progress_bar "$i" 100
    sleep 0.05
done
printf '\n'

Structured Step Logging

step_start() {
    local step_name="$1"
    printf '%b %s... ' "▶" "$step_name"
}

step_pass() {
    printf '%b\n' "${COLOR_GREEN}✓${COLOR_RESET}"
}

step_fail() {
    printf '%b\n' "${COLOR_RED}✗${COLOR_RESET}"
}

step_skip() {
    printf '%b\n' "${COLOR_YELLOW}⊘ skipped${COLOR_RESET}"
}

# Usage
step_start "Checking dependencies"
if check_deps; then
    step_pass
else
    step_fail
fi

Shlocksmith Logging Library

For comprehensive logging with full CI integration, use the shlocksmith logging library.

Features

• 20+ log level functions (log_info, log_error, log_warning, etc.)
• Step-based logging (log_step_start, log_step_pass, log_step_fail)
• Color and emoji support with TTY detection
• GitLab CI section management
• Box drawing characters for TUI
• Key-value pair formatting

Available Functions

# Basic logging
log_info "Informational message"
log_warning "Warning message"
log_error "Error message"
log_debug "Debug message"  # Only shown when DEBUG is set
log_notice "Notice message"
log_fatal "Fatal error"    # Exits script

# Step-based logging
log_start "Process name"
log_step_start "Step description"
log_step_pass "Success message"
log_step_fail "Failure message"
log_step_skip "Skipped message"
log_step_done "Completion message"
log_done "Process complete"

# Results
log_pass "Test passed"
log_fail "Test failed"
log_result "Result details"
log_success "Success message"

# CI sections
section_start "section_id" "Section Title"
section_end "section_id"

Usage

#!/usr/bin/env bash
source /path/to/log_functions.sh

log_start "Deployment Process"

section_start "deps" "Installing Dependencies"
log_step_start "Installing packages"
if apt-get install -y package; then
    log_step_pass "Packages installed"
else
    log_step_fail "Package installation failed"
fi
section_end "deps"

log_done "Deployment complete"

Additional Resources

Scripts

• log_functions.sh - Full shlocksmith logging library

Color Reference

\033[0;30m

\033[0;31m

\033[0;32m

\033[0;33m

\033[0;34m

\033[0;35m

\033[0;36m

\033[0;37m

\033[1;XXm

\033[0m