SQLite C# Request Logs

Up until this release all of ServiceStack's database features like AutoQuery have been database agnostic courtesy of OrmLite's support for popular RDBMS's so that they integrate into an App's existing configured database.

Background Jobs is our first foray into a SQLite-only backend, as it's the only RDBMS that enables us to provide encapsulated black-box functionality without requiring any infrastructure dependencies. It's low latency, high-performance and ability to create lightweight databases on the fly make it ideal for self-managing isolated appliance backends like Background Jobs and Request Logging which don't benefit from integrating with your existing RDBMS.

The new ServiceStack.Jobs NuGet package allows us to deliver plug and play SQLite backed features into .NET 8 C# Apps that are configured with any RDBMS or without one. The next feature added is a SQLite backed provider for Request Logs with the new SqliteRequestLogger which can be added to existing .NET 8 Apps with the mix tool:

Which adds a reference to ServiceStack.Jobs and the Modular Startup config below:

using ServiceStack.Jobs;
using ServiceStack.Web;

[assembly: HostingStartup(typeof(MyApp.ConfigureRequestLogs))]

namespace MyApp;

public class ConfigureRequestLogs : IHostingStartup
{
    public void Configure(IWebHostBuilder builder) => builder
        .ConfigureServices((context, services) => {
            
            services.AddPlugin(new RequestLogsFeature {
                RequestLogger = new SqliteRequestLogger(),
                EnableResponseTracking = true,
                EnableRequestBodyTracking = true,
                EnableErrorTracking = true
            });
            services.AddHostedService<RequestLogsHostedService>();
        });
}

public class RequestLogsHostedService(ILogger<RequestLogsHostedService> log, IRequestLogger requestLogger) : BackgroundService
{
    protected override async Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken stoppingToken)
    {
        var dbRequestLogger = (SqliteRequestLogger)requestLogger;
        using var timer = new PeriodicTimer(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3));
        while (!stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested && await timer.WaitForNextTickAsync(stoppingToken))
        {
            dbRequestLogger.Tick(log);
        }
    }
}

This will use a Hosted Background Service to flush Request Logs to the requests SQLite database every 3 seconds (configurable in the PeriodicTimer).

If your App is already using RequestLogsFeature configured (e.g. with Profiling) you'll want to remove it:

public class ConfigureProfiling : IHostingStartup
{
    public void Configure(IWebHostBuilder builder) => builder
        .ConfigureServices((context, services) => {
            // services.AddPlugin(new RequestLogsFeature());
            services.AddPlugin(new ProfilingFeature
            {
                IncludeStackTrace = true,
            });
        });
}

Rolling Monthly SQLite Databases​

The benefit of using SQLite is that databases can be created on-the-fly where Requests will be persisted into isolated requests Monthly databases which can be easily archived into managed file storage instead of a singular growing database, visible in the Database Admin UI:

SQLite logs will also make it easier to generate monthly aggregate reports to provide key insights into the usage of your App.

AutoQuery Grid Admin Logging UI​

As SQLite Requests Logs also makes it efficiently possible to sort and filter through logs, the Logging UI will switch to using a fully queryable AutoQueryGrid when using SqliteRequestLogger: