Dot.Inscribe 1.0.1

Dot.Inscribe

Make Serilog setup in ASP.NET Core painless. One fluent builder, sensible defaults, rich HTTP request logging, and useful enrichers — ready for production in minutes.

• Works with .NET 9
• Sinks: Console, File, SQL Server, optional Splunk HEC
• Enrichers: CorrelationId, Activity (TraceId/SpanId), HttpContext basics, Machine/Thread
• Request logging: message template, header redaction, optional body capture, level overrides

Install

• NuGet (when published): dotnet add package Dot.Inscribe
• Until then: add a project reference to Dot.Inscribe

60‑second Quickstart

Program.cs (minimal hosting):

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

var inscribe = builder.Services
    .AddDotInscribe()
    .WriteToConsole()
    .WriteToFile(o => o.Path("logs/app-.log").RollingDaily().Retain(7))
    .EnrichWithCorrelation()
    .EnrichWithHttpContext()
    .EnrichWithMachineAndThread()
    .MinimumLevelInformation();

inscribe.Build(builder.Configuration);

var app = builder.Build();

app.UseDotInscribeRequestLogging(); // basic HTTP request logging

app.MapGet("/", () => "OK");
app.Run();

Common recipes

• Console sink

  .WriteToConsole()
  

• File sink

  .WriteToFile(o => o.Path("logs/app-.log").RollingDaily().Retain(7))
  

• SQL Server sink

  // Minimal
  inscribe.WriteToSqlServer(o => o
      .Connection(builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("Logs")!)
      .Schema("dbo").Table("Logs").AutoCreateTable()
  );
  
  // Control SQL table columns (parametrable)
  inscribe.WriteToSqlServer(o => o
      .Connection(builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("Logs")!)
      .Schema("dbo").Table("HttpLogs").AutoCreateTable()
      .Columns(c => c
          // Enable/disable standard columns
          .UseStandard(
              level: true,
              message: true,
              timestamp: true,
              exception: false,       // don't store exception text
              properties: false,      // don't store JSON Properties
              messageTemplate: true,  // keep message template
              logEvent: false         // keep full LogEvent off (large)
          )
          // Add custom varchar columns
          .AddVarchar("RequestPath", 256)
          .AddVarchar("ClientIp", 64)
      )
  );
  

  Notes:
  • Standard columns you can toggle: Level, Message, TimeStamp, Exception, Properties, MessageTemplate, LogEvent.
  • Defaults mirror Serilog's MSSqlServer sink (LogEvent is off by default).
  • AutoCreateTable() will create the table with the chosen columns on first run.
• Splunk HEC (requires Serilog.Sinks.Splunk in your app)

  inscribe.WriteToSplunkHec(o =>
  {
      o.Host = "https://splunk:8088/services/collector";
      o.Token = "<hec-token>";
  });
  

Request logging (options)

Keep it simple, or add options as needed:

app.UseDotInscribeRequestLogging(o => o
    .MessageTemplate("HTTP {RequestMethod} {RequestPath} -> {StatusCode}")
    .RedactHeaders("Authorization", "Cookie")
    .IncludeRequestBody(1024)              // optional: bytes
    .IncludeResponseBody(1024)             // optional: bytes
);

Tip: body capture costs CPU/memory — keep limits small in production.

Advanced: you can also call the lower-level

app.UseDotRequestLogging(o => { /* same options */ });

Enrichers

.EnrichWithCorrelation()    // CorrelationId from header or TraceIdentifier
.EnrichWithSpan()           // TraceId, SpanId (Activity)
.EnrichWithHttpContext()    // Method, Path, ClientIp
.EnrichWithMachineAndThread()

Notes & compatibility

• Uses Serilog 4.x and Serilog.AspNetCore 8.x.
• The builder wires Serilog into Microsoft.Extensions.Logging. Use ILogger<T> anywhere in your app.
• appsettings.json: this builder doesn’t auto-bind Serilog settings; configure via the fluent API shown above.

Troubleshooting

• No logs? Ensure inscribe.Build(...) is called before builder.Build() and at least one sink is configured.
• Splunk not logging? Add a reference to Serilog.Sinks.Splunk in your app.
• SQL issues? Check connection string and that AutoCreateTable() is enabled initially.

License

MIT.