Logs Overview

The platform keeps several logs rather than one, because they answer different questions and have different volumes and retention.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → Activity:

• Activity Log — changes to data
• Record Read Log — who read what
• Audit Chain — tamper-evidence over the audit entries
• Error Log — what went wrong technically
• E-mail Log — what was sent, and whether it went
• SMS Log — text messages sent
• Calls — telephone activity
• Correspondence — letters and documents sent
• Satisfaction — survey responses received

Choosing the right log

• "Why is this record like this?" — Activity Log.
• "Who has seen this?" — Record Read Log.
• "Can I prove the history is intact?" — Audit Chain.
• "Why did this page fail?" — Error Log.
• "Did the customer get the e-mail?" — E-mail Log.
• "Did the text message go?" — SMS Log.
• "What contact have we had with them?" — Calls and Correspondence.

Most wasted investigation time comes from starting in the wrong one. Deciding what kind of question you are asking first will usually save more time than any amount of skilled searching afterwards.

They are all under Activity

Every log listed above is in one place in the Architect Panel, under Activity. There is no separate Logs section — if you are looking for one, this is where the logs are.

Logs answer different questions from timelines

A record's activity stream is the business history of that record, written for the people working on it. These logs are technical and operational records, written automatically and read by administrators.

A customer asking "what is happening with my case" is answered from the timeline. A colleague asking "why does this field say that" is answered from the Activity Log.

Volume differs enormously

Reads outnumber changes; changes outnumber errors; errors outnumber almost everything else on a healthy system. That shapes how each is used — the error log can be read; the read log must be filtered.

Retention is a decision per log

The right retention differs by log. Errors are useful for weeks. Audit entries may be needed for years. Message logs contain the content of communications with people, which brings its own obligations.

Set each deliberately. The default of keeping everything forever is both a storage problem and, for logs containing personal data, a compliance one.

Start with the error log after any deployment

It is the cheapest possible check, and a new error type appearing on the day of a release is the clearest signal you will get. Making it routine turns a class of problem into something found before it is reported.

Worked example

A customer says they never received their invoice. The E-mail Log shows it sent successfully to an address ending in a typo. The Activity Log shows that address was entered three weeks earlier by a member of staff, replacing a correct one. Two logs, one question each, and the answer is complete — including how it happened.

Recommendations

• Decide what kind of question you have before opening a log.
• Check the error log after every deployment.
• Set retention per log, not globally.
• Use timelines for people, logs for administrators.