Universal Log Reader is a VS Code extension that opens logs in a structured, searchable view so you can scan issues faster.

What it does

Opens log files in a custom reader with collapsible entries
Detects timestamps and displays them in your local time
Detects log levels (for example: error, warn, info, debug)
Expands complex entry details when lines contain additional context
Classifies common embedded content such as JSON, XML, SQL, stack traces, and plain text
Lets you copy SQL snippets from parsed details

How to use

Open a log file in VS Code
Choose Open with Universal Log Reader
Expand entries to inspect full details and context

You can launch it from the command palette or directly from the editor title actions on supported files.

File and format support

Curated formats

These formats currently have dedicated parsers:

Apache Combined access logs
Nginx Access logs
Nginx Error logs
Laravel/Monolog canonical line logs

Additional curated log formats are planned and will continue to roll out in future updates.

Best-effort formats

Universal Log Reader also supports many other formats through automatic pattern detection, including:

Plain text logs
JSON log lines and blocks
XML blocks
PHP print_r/var_dump style output
SQL snippets
Syslog-like and Apache-style timestamps

Important note on format prediction

This extension uses format prediction and heuristics to parse unknown or mixed logs. In most cases, results are useful and readable, but parsing may not be perfect for every file or edge case.