Logs
When something goes wrong — the app won’t start, a sync fails, a screen is slow — the log usually
says why. It’s one plain-text file, app.log, next to your data. It never contains your
passwords, keys or tokens.
Find the log
| Install | Where |
|---|---|
| Desktop app | Help → Troubleshooting → Open Logs Folder. That’s the logs folder inside your book folder (by default ~/.open-net-worth/logs). |
Server (onw start, source checkout) | ~/.open-net-worth/logs/app.log (or <ONW_ROOT>/logs/app.log if you set ONW_ROOT). The same lines also print in the terminal running the app. |
Boot service (onw autostart install) | ~/.open-net-worth/logs/app.log; on Linux also journalctl --user -u open-net-worth. |
| Docker | docker compose logs app for what the container printed; the file is /home/onw/.open-net-worth/logs/app.log in the open-net-worth-data volume (docker compose exec app tail -n 200 /home/onw/.open-net-worth/logs/app.log). |
When the app is a desktop window onto a server, Open Logs Folder shows the desktop app’s own logs; the book’s log is on the server.
Read it
- Ask Lucius: “Show me the recent errors in the log.” He can read the most recent entries (up to 500 lines, filtered by level or a search word) with secrets masked. This works in chat, not in scheduled Automations.
- Open the file in any text editor, or follow it live:
tail -f ~/.open-net-worth/logs/app.log. - Send it with a problem report: tick Include recent logs in Report a problem to attach the last 200 lines, masked.
What’s in it
- What the app is doing and what failed, with the reason.
- One line per request with its timing, for example
PERF-REQ GET /api/commitments total=850ms db=120ms(14q) compute=730ms— see Performance.
What’s kept out
Credentials — passwords, API keys, tokens — are never written. For anything involving AI (attachments, images, documents Lucius reads), the log records that it happened — an id, a size, which model answered — never the content itself.
Size and access
The file rotates at 5 MB and keeps three older copies (app.log.1 … app.log.3), so it never
uses more than about 20 MB. The folder and file are readable only by the account that runs the
app.
Related pages
- Performance — reading the timing lines
- Backend won’t start — the log is the first place to look
- Reporting a problem