Relinka: Logging that Actually Feels Good

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@reliverse/relinka is a modern, minimal logging library that actually feels right. It's not just pretty output — it's a system: smart formatting, file-safe logging, runtime config support, and a fatal mode built for developers who care about correctness. Whether you're building CLI tools, SDKs, or full-stack apps — Relinka helps you log with intention.

Why Relinka

• 🧙 Drop-in replacement for node:console, consola, or your internal logger
• 💬 Supports: info, warn, success, error, verbose, fatal, clear
• 🎨 Terminal output that pops, with automatic color handling
• 📁 Save logs to file (with daily rotation, cleanup, and max-file limits)
• 🧠 Structured message formatting (objects, errors, stacks — handled!)
• ⚙️ Runtime config via relinka.config.ts (powered by reconf)
• 🚨 fatal logs halt execution and trigger debugger in dev
• 🧩 Sync-first, async, & CLI-friendly thanks to buffer flushing

Getting Started

1. Install

bun add @reliverse/relinka

2. Use It

Direct Method (Recommended)

• Place this at the START of your app's main function:

await relinkaConfig;

• Place this at the END of your app's main function:

await relinkaShutdown();

Usage example:

import {
  relinka,
  relinkaAsync,
  relinkaConfig,
  relinkaShutdown,
} from "@reliverse/relinka";
export async function main() {
  await relinkaAsync(
    // this automatically loads the config
    "verbose",
    "This ASYNC verbose message can be seen only if verbose=true (in user config)",
  );
  await relinkaConfig; // place this at your main function or just at the top of your entry file
  relinka(
    "verbose",
    "This SYNC verbose message can be seen only if verbose=true (in user config) AND config was loaded ",
  );
  relinka("log", "Hello! 👋");
  relinka("log", "Great to see you here!");
  relinka("info", "Everything is running smoothly");
  relinka("warn", "This might be a problem");
  relinka(
    "error", // non-fatal issue level can be recovered
    "Uh oh, something broke",
  );
  // relinka(
  //   "fatal",
  //   "We should never reach this code! This should never happen! (see <anonymous> line)",
  // ); // fatal level throws error and halts execution
  relinka("success", "Thanks for using Relinka!");
  // Make sure to shut down the logger at the end of your program
  // This is important to flush all buffers and close file handles
  await relinkaShutdown();
}
await main();

[🔜 Soon] Singleton Method

const logger = initRelinkaInstance({/* per-project config */}); 
logger("info", "Looks great!");

[🔜 Soon] Object Method

await relinkaConfig;
relinka.info("Looks great!");

Advanced Usage

// Clear terminal:
relinka("clear", "");
// Blank line:
relinka("info", "");
// Async variant:
import { relinkaAsync } from "@reliverse/relinka";
await relinkaAsync("info", "Logged from async context");
// Coming soon:
await relinkaAsync("info", "Something happened", { animate: true });

Config

Create relinka.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from "@reliverse/relinka";
/**
 * RELINKA CONFIGURATION FILE
 * - Hover over a field to see the information
 * - Use intellisense to see available options
 * @see https://github.com/reliverse/relinka
 */
export default defineConfig({
  // Enable to see verbose logs
  verbose: false,

  // Timestamp configuration
  timestamp: {
    enabled: false,
    format: "HH:mm:ss",
  },

  // Control whether logs are saved to a file
  saveLogsToFile: true,

  // Disable colors in the console
  disableColors: false,

  // Log file path
  logFilePath: "relinka.log",

  levels: {
    success: {
      symbol: "✓",
      fallbackSymbol: "[OK]",
      color: "greenBright",
      spacing: 3,
    },
    info: {
      symbol: "i",
      fallbackSymbol: "[i]",
      color: "cyanBright",
      spacing: 3,
    },
    error: {
      symbol: "✖",
      fallbackSymbol: "[ERR]",
      color: "redBright",
      spacing: 3,
    },
    warn: {
      symbol: "⚠",
      fallbackSymbol: "[WARN]",
      color: "yellowBright",
      spacing: 3,
    },
    fatal: {
      symbol: "‼",
      fallbackSymbol: "[FATAL]",
      color: "redBright",
      spacing: 3,
    },
    verbose: {
      symbol: "✧",
      fallbackSymbol: "[VERBOSE]",
      color: "gray",
      spacing: 3,
    },
    log: { symbol: "│", fallbackSymbol: "|", color: "dim", spacing: 3 },
  },

  // Directory settings
  dirs: {
    dailyLogs: true,
    logDir: "logs", // store logs in a custom folder
    maxLogFiles: 5, // keep only the 5 most recent log files
    specialDirs: {
      distDirNames: [],
      useParentConfigInDist: true,
    },
  },
});

Supported files:

• relinka.config.ts
• 🔜 other formats, supported by reconf, are coming soon

Log Files

• Default: logs/relinka.log
• Daily mode: 2025-04-11-relinka.log
• Auto-cleanup: keep latest N logs

API Summary

relinka("info", "message", optionalDetails);
relinka("fatal", "something broke"); // throws
relinka("clear", ""); // clears terminal

await relinkaAsync("warn", "something async");

defineConfig({ ... }) // helper for relinka.config.ts

Built-in Utilities

• ✅ Timestamping
• ✅ File-safe formatting
• ✅ Log rotation
• ✅ Fatal logging (with debugger)
• ✅ Colorized terminal output

FAQ

Why relinka.config.ts doesn't works for me?

→ You forget to load user's config by using await relinkaConfig; at the START of your app's main function.

Why my terminal stucks after last relinka() usage?

→ You forget to flush the buffer. Place await relinkaShutdown(); at the END of your app's main function.

Why does TS linter tells that something wrong with relinka("info", args)?

→ Add empty string: relinka("info", "", args)

Does fatal throw?

→ Yes, always. It will halt execution and trigger debugger in dev mode.

What's coming next?

• Relinka is designed to be used in the different ways:
• Use relinka(level, message, ...args) (recommended).
• 🔜 Or, just relinka.level(message, ...args)
• 🔜 Both designed to work with both sync (default) and async/await.
• 🔜 Both designed to work with both direct and wrapper methods.
• 🔜 Use the async logger if you want some advanced features (like typing text streaming animation).

Tips

• Building CLIs? Use with @reliverse/prompts
• Want type-safe injections? Try @reliverse/reinject
• For advanced bundling? Pair with @reliverse/relidler

Roadmap

• File logging
• Timestamps
• Daily logs
• Log rotation
• fatal type
• Runtime config
• Implement per-project config redefinition
• Plugin support (custom formatters, hooks)
• CLI interface (to manage logs, config, etc)

Shoutouts

Relinka wouldn't exist without these gems:

• unjs/consola
• winston
• pino
• node-bunyan

License

💖 MIT © 2025 blefnk Nazar Kornienko