Bring back home-assistant.log for supervised users #1527
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Describe your core improvement2025.11 removed home-assistant.log if you're a HAOS or Supervised user. I'd like the option to have them back as well as the past log. Both of these items were necessary for debugging systems through restarts as well as simple configuration errors, like creating a template sensor or a rest sensor. Current limitationsDebugging just got harder
Technical benefits
Additional contextNo response |
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Replies: 44 comments 103 replies
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Link to PR: home-assistant/core#146675 |
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I'd like to suggest a symlink to the logs instead, the config directory is a good place to find everything, it can also be the easier place to diagnose a broken setup. If there are multiple logs avaliable, os, supervisor, network etc. potentially a directory could be used This is the first I heard of this change, its a good one, but it needs ways of accessing the logs when your system is remote and the UI is down. Unrelated, but the |
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I also appreciate reducing disk writes, but the logs (UI) now mostly help the user looking at them and not the people who ask for them. The file was the last remaining piece that could easily be shared for support. Could this be an optional file instead? Of course, when a system is already in trouble, you can’t enable what you can’t reach. The observer (:4357) could be expanded to be more useful in general, but the reply to that has always been that it lacks authentication . |
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while we wait https://github.com/Petro31/a-file-logger |
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Adding to this - as also mentioned in the #beta channel - the 'enable debug logging' for integrations is broken as well. Regardless of which one you put in debug logging, as soon as the user turns it off and it would proceed to download the file - one get's a 404. This is most likely not the intended change for end-users willing to provide feedback |
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Hey 👋 ! Thanks for the feedback @Petro31 . So, when this was being developed there were discussions about whether or not to implement some way to keep the file around. In the end, the decision was to not have that because there wasn't a clear use-case that was worth the extra complexity of a new setting or something like that. Most of the use cases we thought of could still be handled without the home-assistant.log file. But feedback is welcome, and if indeed there is a common use-case that now became impossible, we should consider it. I think most use cases (other than downloading trough HA) would be covered by But, as always, nothing is set on stone! |
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We've also lost access to the home-assistant.log.1 file (easily accessible logs from before the last restart). This was a vital support resource to help people troubleshoot system instability. |
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I've got syslog-ng installed on my system which sends over the logs to my monitoring server, which parses these into charts and grafana which allow me for sending alerts + have nice lifetime historical data. The system I've got setup allows me to dissect issues at the log level and send me alerts for anomalies to handle things immediately. As this log file will now no longer exist, I'm curious how I can manually re-enable it to continue my syslog-ng setup so that I don't lose access to a lot of the automation I have setup on my monitoring server. Also, just my opinion, but something like this shouldn't be forced on the users. I can see the benefits to it as much as I can see the losses to it. Having something like this should have been an 'option' for people to select. Default it not write the log file if preferred, but give folks the option to enable it if they need or want those logs for any reason. |
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Completely agree, this should be a choice, because the intention behind it is great but not all use cases have been understood. What do you use for your log aggregation? |
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A very nice tool, very easy to use, used by many people |
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Please bring back the log files! |
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Since the logs still are written to disk, how do I read them from a system that does not start?
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I have no clue how to get logs from a HAOS that is down. And I guess that applies to 90% of all users. SSH into it? Isn't that impossible without an addon? This feels like a car that can only open the hood if the engine is running. Who from those who thought it wise to remove the functionality can we refer all users to to help them out? I won't be able to. My HA is in a closet, I cannot get it to a monitor and keyboard without unplugging it, ethernet and three usb extension cords with z-wave, zigbee and thread adapters. All my monitors are attached to monitor arms, stuck to a desk. So whatever I can get straight from the console is not what caused HA to crash? |
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Let's compile a list of things that the community wants a solution on, without focussing on what's lost or what can be achieved with
In his reply abmantis already indicated use-cases help get a other/proper route (https://github.com/orgs/home-assistant/discussions/1527#discussioncomment-14831724) |
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if i do "ha core logs" , i get below, whats that for garbage? completely useless ??
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Luckily I haven't upgraded to 2025.11 version yet and I will skip it and wait for a version which has the logfile feature back there as it used to be. The logfile in the config folder is the most important debugging feature for custom integration developer. It is must to have. |
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This change just cost me an hour to first find out what happened to the logs and why they are missing. And I don't know how many more hours it will cost me, because the update to 2025.11 broke two of my scripts AND all of my usual workflow methods to fix them.
Non of this is possible now (or at least needs a workaround that I have to find out first). Since when is the solution to too many log writes to remove the log file? |
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Another voice to say removal of the logfile was a bad idea. I have an automation that notifies me if the number of entries in the logfile are growing unexpectedly. If the numbers reach the next threshold it will wake me up. So rather than spend time sorting out a different solution I have restored back to 2025.10. I also use the logfile when developing automations or until they are proven by writing debug information. Such a simple task and then browse through each time it has run. Traces function only does 5 executions. My routine each day is a glance at the logfile pretty much first thing ... 'anything unexpected?'. Nicely colour coded information instantly viewable. Thanks to Petro31 for being so quick with a solution. I will be using that when the time comes to revisit a core update if it has not been restored by then. |
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This is the most frustrating change in a long time. I remember when Plex started out where users could tweak their servers to meet their needs and as it got popular, developers decided to dictate what is best for us without any choices. |
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Running a mix of native and HACS components, the log file (via Log Viewer) was my first stop to investigate any issues, and I saved many hours by having a quick reference. I can understand the desire to make HA more reliable for some setups by removing this write-heavy option, but the cost of removing observability is significant, and maybe more than was contemplated when making this change. I think leaving the log file as an option for advanced users (and/or adding other observability utilities) would be really beneficial for those of us that really need it. |
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I never download a log from from the UI, now we are forced todo it, but i see the log spammed with below example, i never saw it in the old log file, what is that? i also dont see it in the UI, only if i download the file, also tried Petro his custom, i dont see it in the log file then either? what is that? |
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For people later to this longer thread; see the comment on the PR here https://github.com/orgs/home-assistant/discussions/1527#discussioncomment-14831724 or my suggested list of users chiming their alternatives https://github.com/orgs/home-assistant/discussions/1527#discussioncomment-14899460 Happy to add new ideas to the list if you have them (but I've not seen newer ideas, though one never knows if someone has another lightbulb moment). For those impatient for (or if) any changes you can use Petro's workaround https://github.com/orgs/home-assistant/discussions/1527#discussioncomment-14829700 |
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Hey everyone 👋First off, thank you to everyone who took the time to share their use cases and workflows. This kind of detailed feedback is genuinely valuable and helps us understand how people actually use Home Assistant in ways we might not have anticipated. I want to let you know that we hear you, and we're actively exploring options. Nothing concrete to announce just yet, but the feedback in this thread (and the well-documented use cases) is being taken seriously. That said, I do want to take a moment to talk about something else I noticed in this thread. Open source thrives on collaboration, and that means we iterate together. Sometimes changes don't land perfectly the first time, or pan out to kill others use cases. That's okay. That's part of the process. What matters is that we can have constructive conversations about it and find solutions together. What doesn't help is when frustration turns into dismissiveness, assumptions about intent, or responses that shut down dialogue rather than open it up. I've seen some of that in this thread, and I'd like to gently remind everyone that we can disagree, we can be frustrated, we can advocate strongly for our needs, all while still treating each other with respect. We're a community. Let's act like one. More updates to come as we work through the options. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and for continuing to help make Home Assistant what it is. ../Frenck Blogging my personal ramblings at frenck.dev |
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Hey everyone 👋
First off, thank you to everyone who took the time to share their use cases and workflows. This kind of detailed feedback is genuinely valuable and helps us understand how people actually use Home Assistant in ways we might not have anticipated.
I want to let you know that we hear you, and we're actively exploring options. Nothing concrete to announce just yet, but the feedback in this thread (and the well-documented use cases) is being taken seriously.
That said, I do want to take a moment to talk about something else I noticed in this thread.
We're all here because we care about Home Assistant. The people who contributed the original change care. The people who are frustr…