Visual Syslog (Open Source)

Visual Syslog is a lightweight, native macOS app to receive and view RFC-3164 syslog messages over UDP. Built with Go + Wails (Vite/Vanilla), it runs entirely locally and stores data in memory only.

• Repo root: CI and release workflows
• App code: visual-syslog/

Docs

• See docs/ for extra documentation (PRD, App Store notes, icon guide)

Features

• Real-time UDP syslog listener (default port 5514, configurable)
• Parsing: timestamp, source IP, hostname, facility, priority, tag, message
• Color-coded priorities; newest on top
• In-memory buffering, configurable limits
• Sandbox-compliant for macOS

Install (macOS)

• Download the latest release from GitHub Releases: https://github.com/BarelElbaz/SyslogViewer/releases

• Open the ZIP and drag the Visual Syslog.app to Applications

• First run (unsigned build): macOS Gatekeeper may warn that the app "can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer".

  

  If you see this:

  • Option A: Right‑click Visual Syslog.app → Open → Open (one‑time bypass)
  • Option B: System Settings → Privacy & Security → scroll to Security → click "Open Anyway"

  

Quick Start

Requirements: Go 1.23+, Node 18+, Wails CLI.

# Install Wails
curl -fsSL https://wails.io/install.sh | bash   # or `go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@latest`

# Install frontend deps
cd visual-syslog/frontend && npm install

# Dev mode
cd .. && wails dev

# Build (universal macOS)
wails build -platform darwin/universal -clean

Send a Test Message

echo "<134>$(date '+%b %d %H:%M:%S') testhost myapp: Test message" | nc -u localhost 5514

Project Structure

• visual-syslog/app.go, syslog_server.go, parser.go: core backend
• visual-syslog/frontend/: UI
• visual-syslog/build/: packaging files (Info.plist, icons)

Privacy

No data collection, analytics, or outbound network calls. See PRIVACY.md.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Please follow the CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.

Security

Report vulnerabilities via SECURITY.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.