🚀 Dev Log: The Ultimate Debug Companion for Flutter

Pub Version License: MIT GitHub Stars

A powerful, customizable debug logging package for Flutter with optional colors and emojis, automatic debug/release mode detection. Clean by default, beautiful when you want it.

ðŸĪ” Why Use Dev Log?

Traditional Flutter logging solutions have limitations:

  • print(): No log levels, appears in production, truncates long messages
  • developer.log(): Verbose syntax, manual debug checks required
  • Other packages: Complex setup, heavy dependencies, or forced styling

âœĻ The Dev Log Advantage

dev_log provides a superior debugging experience with:

  • 🎛ïļ Optional Visual Enhancement: Clean by default, beautiful when enabled
  • 🔒 Automatic Production Safety: Silent in release builds, no manual checks needed
  • ⚡ Simple & Powerful API: From basic Log.d() to advanced customization
  • ðŸŠķ Zero Dependencies: Lightweight with no external dependencies

🌟 Enhanced Features

  • ✅ 6 Log Levels: Verbose, Debug, Info, Warning, Error, and WTF (critical failures)
  • ✅ 🎛ïļ Optional Emojis: Disabled by default, enable when you want visual flair
  • ✅ ðŸŽĻ Optional Colors: Independent color control for enhanced readability
  • ✅ 🔒 Auto Debug Detection: Completely silent in release builds
  • ✅ ⚙ïļ Full Customization: Toggle colors, emojis, timestamps, and log levels independently
  • ✅ ðŸ“ą Long Message Support: Auto-splits for Android logcat compatibility
  • ✅ 📄 Enhanced JSON Pretty Print: Beautiful JSON formatting
  • ✅ 🏷ïļ Custom Tags: Organize logs for easy filtering and searching
  • ✅ 🔗 Extension Methods: Log any object with fluent .logD(), .logI() syntax
  • ✅ 📍 Stack Trace Support: Clean, readable error traces
  • ✅ 🌐 Cross-Platform: Works on all Flutter platforms
  • ✅ ðŸŠķ Zero Dependencies: No external packages required

ðŸ“Ķ Installation

Add to your pubspec.yaml:


dependencies:
dev_log: ^1.0.0  \# Use latest version

Install:


flutter pub get

🚀 Quick Start


import 'package:dev_log/dev_log.dart';

// Clean, professional logging (default - no emojis)
Log.v('Verbose: Detailed debugging info');
Log.d('Debug: General debugging');
Log.i('Info: Application information');
Log.w('Warning: Needs attention');
Log.e('Error: Something went wrong');
Log.wtf('Critical: System failure!');

// Short aliases for all levels
L.v('Verbose'); L.d('Debug'); L.i('Info');
L.w('Warning'); L.e('Error'); L.wtf('Critical!');

// Want emojis? Enable them!
Log.setEmojis(true);
Log.d('Debug with emoji');  // 🐛 [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Debug with emoji

// Extension methods work with all levels
'System ready'.logI();            // Info
'Memory low'.logW();              // Warning
'Network failed'.logE();          // Error
'System crash!'.logWtf();         // Critical

🎛ïļ Customization - Your Choice!

Emojis are optional - choose what works best for your team:

Default Behavior (Clean & Professional)


// Clean output by default
Log.d('Debug message');
// Output: [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Debug message

Enable Visual Enhancements


// Enable emojis for visual appeal
Log.setEmojis(true);
Log.d('Debug message');
// Output: 🐛 [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Debug message

// Independent controls
Log.setEmojis(false);   // Disable emojis
Log.setColors(false);   // Disable colors
Log.setTimestamp(false); // Hide timestamps
Log.setLogLevel(false);  // Hide log levels

// Configure all at once
Log.configure(
emojis: true,      // Optional visual flair
colors: true,      // Optional colors
timestamp: true,   // Show timestamps
logLevel: true,    // Show log levels
);

Configuration Examples


// Professional (default)
Log.d('Clean message');
// Output: [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Clean message

// With emojis
Log.setEmojis(true);
Log.d('Enhanced message');
// Output: 🐛 [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Enhanced message

// Minimal
Log.configure(emojis: false, colors: false, timestamp: false, logLevel: false);
Log.d('Minimal message');
// Output: Minimal message

📚 Comprehensive Usage Examples

All Log Levels


// Professional output (emojis disabled by default)
Log.v('Verbose: Starting application initialization');
Log.d('Debug: Loading user preferences');
Log.i('Info: User authentication successful');
Log.w('Warning: API response time is slow');
Log.e('Error: Failed to save user data');
Log.wtf('Critical: Database connection lost!');

// Enable emojis for visual enhancement
Log.setEmojis(true);
Log.v('Verbose with emoji');  // 💜 [VERBOSE] ...
Log.d('Debug with emoji');    // 🐛 [DEBUG] ...
Log.i('Info with emoji');     // â„đïļ [INFO] ...
Log.w('Warning with emoji');  // ⚠ïļ [WARN] ...
Log.e('Error with emoji');    // ❌ [ERROR] ...
Log.wtf('Critical with emoji'); // ðŸ”Ĩ [WTF] ...

Advanced Features


// Enhanced JSON logging
Map<String, dynamic> userData = {
'name': 'John Doe',
'age': 30,
'preferences': {'theme': 'dark', 'notifications': true},
'permissions': ['read', 'write', 'admin']
};
Log.json(userData, 'USER_DATA');

// Long message auto-splitting
Log.long('This very long message will be automatically split...');

// Custom tags for organization
Log.d('Connection established', 'DATABASE');
Log.i('User session started', 'AUTH');
Log.w('Rate limit: 90% of quota used', 'API');
Log.e('Payment processing failed', 'PAYMENT');
Log.wtf('Security breach detected!', 'SECURITY');

// Method tracing
Log.trace('Method execution started');
Log.trace('Performance checkpoint', 'TIMING');

Extension Methods Magic


// String interpolation with extensions
String userName = 'Alice';

// Clean professional logging (default)
'Debug: Processing login for \$userName'.logD();
'Info: User \$userName authenticated successfully'.logI('AUTH');
'Warning: User \$userName has 2 attempts left'.logW('SECURITY');
'Error: Authentication failed for \$userName'.logE('AUTH');
'Critical: Account \$userName compromised!'.logWtf('SECURITY');

// Object extensions
Map<String, dynamic> config = {
'apiUrl': 'https://api.example.com',
'timeout': 5000
};
config.logJson('CONFIG');        // Pretty JSON logging

List<String> tags = ['flutter', 'mobile'];
tags.logD('TAGS');               // List logging

String apiResponse = 'Very long API response...';
apiResponse.logLong('API_RESPONSE'); // Auto-split logging

ðŸŽŊ Log Level Guide

Level Method Default With Emojis Usage
Verbose Log.v() / L.v() [VERBOSE] 💜 [VERBOSE] Detailed debugging info
Debug Log.d() / L.d() [DEBUG] 🐛 [DEBUG] General debugging
Info Log.i() / L.i() [INFO] â„đïļ [INFO] Application flow
Warning Log.w() / L.w() [WARN] ⚠ïļ [WARN] Potential issues
Error Log.e() / L.e() [ERROR] ❌ [ERROR] Errors, exceptions
WTF Log.wtf() / L.wtf() [WTF] ðŸ”Ĩ [WTF] Critical failures

🎛ïļ Customization Options

Configuration Emojis Colors Output Example
Default ❌ ✅ [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Message
Emojis Only ✅ ❌ 🐛 [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Message
Colors Only ❌ ✅ [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Message (colored)
Full Visual ✅ ✅ 🐛 [DEBUG] [19:45:15.123] Message (colored)
Minimal ❌ ❌ Message 

// Individual controls
Log.setEmojis(true);     // Toggle emojis
Log.setColors(false);    // Toggle colors
Log.setTimestamp(false); // Toggle timestamps
Log.setLogLevel(false);  // Toggle log levels

// Batch configuration
Log.configure(
emojis: false,    // Professional look
colors: true,     // Enhanced readability
timestamp: true,  // Timing information
logLevel: true,   // Level identification
);

🔒 Production Safety

The package automatically detects Flutter's debug mode using kDebugMode:

In Debug Builds:

  • ✅ Full logging with optional visual enhancements
  • ✅ All features active and customizable
  • ✅ Beautiful console output when desired

In Release Builds:

  • ✅ Zero output - completely silent
  • ✅ Zero overhead - minimal performance impact
  • ✅ No sensitive data leaks - automatic protection

🌐 Platform Support

Works perfectly across all Flutter platforms:

  • ðŸ“ą Android - Full color and optional emoji support
  • ðŸ“ą iOS - Complete feature compatibility
  • 🌐 Web - Browser console integration
  • ðŸ’ŧ Windows - Terminal color support
  • ðŸ’ŧ macOS - Native console integration
  • 🐧 Linux - Full terminal compatibility

🚀 Performance

  • Debug Mode: Rich features with minimal impact
  • Release Mode: Zero overhead, completely compiled out
  • Memory: Lightweight with no persistent storage
  • CPU: Optimized string formatting and output

ðŸŽĻ Design Philosophy

Clean by default, beautiful when you want it:

  • Default Experience: Professional, clean logs without visual clutter
  • Optional Enhancement: Enable emojis and colors when your team wants them
  • Independent Controls: Mix and match visual elements as needed
  • Zero Configuration: Works great out of the box
  • Full Customization: Adapt to any team preference or environment

ðŸĪ Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please check our GitHub repository for:

  • 🐛 Bug reports
  • ðŸ’Ą Feature requests
  • 🔧 Pull requests
  • 📚 Documentation improvements

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Made with âĪïļ for the Flutter community - Clean by default, beautiful when you want it!

Libraries

dev_log