micsapp Obsidian Observability
Contents
Overview
Implement comprehensive logging, metrics collection, error tracking, and a debug panel for Obsidian plugins.
Prerequisites
- Working Obsidian plugin
- Understanding of Developer Tools
- Basic TypeScript knowledge
Key Metrics
| Metric | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Command execution time | Timer | Performance tracking |
| File operations count | Counter | Usage patterns |
| Error rate | Counter | Reliability |
| Cache hit ratio | Gauge | Efficiency |
| Memory usage | Gauge | Resource health |
Instructions
Step 1: Add Structured Logger
Create a Logger class with levels (debug/info/warn/error), history buffer, formatted output, and timing helpers.
Step 2: Implement Metrics Collection
Build MetricsCollector with counters, gauges, and timers. Add timeAsync() wrapper for measuring function duration with percentile stats (p95).
Step 3: Set Up Error Tracking
Create ErrorTracker that deduplicates errors by name+message, counts occurrences, and provides wrapAsync() for safe error capture.
Step 4: Build Debug Panel View
Register a sidebar view (dev mode only) that auto-refreshes every 5 seconds showing counters, timer stats, recent errors, and log history. Add export button for downloadable JSON debug bundle.
Step 5: Integrate in Main Plugin
Initialize logger, metrics, and error tracker in onload(). Wrap commands with metrics timing. Track command usage with counters.
See detailed implementation for complete Logger, MetricsCollector, ErrorTracker, DebugView classes and CSS styles.
Output
- Structured logger with levels and history
- Metrics collection (counters, gauges, timers with p95)
- Error tracking with deduplication
- Debug panel for runtime inspection
- Exportable debug bundle for support
Error Handling
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Too much logging | Debug level in prod | Set level to 'error' in production |
| Memory growth | Unbounded history | Limit history to 100 entries |
| Performance impact | Sync logging | Use async patterns for file logging |
| Missing context | No error tracking | Wrap async calls with errorTracker |
Examples
Quick Timing Check
const endTimer = logger.time('my-operation');
await doExpensiveWork();
endTimer(); // Logs: [plugin-id] my-operation (245.32ms)
Resources
Next Steps
For incident response, see obsidian-incident-runbook.