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AWS CloudWatch Streams

A stream under an AWS source tails one CloudWatch log group, live. There's no file path - you pick a log group and, optionally, narrow it with a server-side filter.

Log group

Paste the log group's ARN (e.g. arn:aws:logs:us-east-1:123456789012:log-group:/aws/lambda/my-fn), or click Choose… to list the account's log groups and pick one. The picker uses logs:DescribeLogGroups; if you typed a partial name first, it's used as a prefix filter.

Specific log streams (optional)

A log group contains many log streams. By default a stream tails every stream in the group; to narrow it, add specific stream names in the Log Streams field. This is mainly useful for long-lived sources (ECS tasks, EC2 instances) where stream names are stable. For Lambda - where each execution environment creates a new, date-stamped stream - leave it blank to tail the whole group.

Server Filter (optional)

A CloudWatch Logs filter pattern applied at the source, before events are streamed to you - so it cuts data over the wire. For example ERROR keeps only events containing that term, and { $.level = "error" } matches a JSON field. Leave it blank to receive everything.

Filter (display)

The pill filter is the same client-side display filter every stream kind has: it hides non-matching lines in the pane without changing what's fetched. Use the Server Filter to reduce data at the source, and the display Filter to focus the view on the fly.

Auto-stream at startup

When on, the stream starts tailing automatically when LogRaker launches. When off, it comes online the first time you select it in the sidebar.

History on connect

StartLiveTail only carries events ingested after it opens, so when a stream connects LogRaker first backfills the most recent lines (via FilterLogEvents) so the pane isn't empty, then live-tails from there. A few seconds around the hand-off may not be backfilled - the live tail covers everything from when it opens. A live session lasts up to three hours; LogRaker re-opens a fresh one automatically, so you won't see a disconnect.

Test Filter

Click Test Filter to run a quick FilterLogEvents probe with the source's credentials. It confirms the log group is reachable and the server filter is valid, and tells you whether any recent events matched.