> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.nxcframework.net/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.nxcframework.net/running-your-server/logs.md).

# Reading the logs

> **Available.** Every resource logs structured records with correlation identifiers. Log shipping and retention are yours to arrange — nothing here writes to anywhere but the server console.

## Two different things

|                  | Logs                          | Audits                          |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| Answer           | Why did this behave this way? | Who did what to whom, and when? |
| Retention        | Short                         | Long                            |
| Failure to write | Degrades diagnosis            | **Fails the operation**         |

That last row is a design rule: where a domain requires an audit record, an operation that cannot be recorded does not proceed. Audit records are written inside the same transaction as the change they record, so this is structural rather than procedural.

## Correlation IDs

Every log and audit record produced during an operation carries the same correlation ID — including records produced in other resources.

This is what turns a failed purchase from several unrelated log lines into one reconstructible sequence, and it is what the diagnostic tooling searches on.

**When investigating anything, start by finding the correlation ID.**

## Audited domains

Banking · inventory · vehicles · property · evidence · permissions · employment · businesses · configuration · staff actions · high-value crafting · ownership transfers · service requests · integration delivery.

Audit records are append-only. A correction is a new record referencing the original — nothing is edited or deleted.

## Never in a log

Tokens · passwords · API keys · session secrets · webhook URLs · private message contents unless explicitly approved · sensitive medical or justice data outside authorized audit systems.

Redaction happens where the log call is made, not at the destination.

## Volume

State changes are logged, not states. Slow calls are logged; fast successful ones are counted. A record written per frame or per entity per tick is a performance defect, not thorough logging.


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