Design philosophy

This page explains the goals and non-goals of bozo. It exists to prevent ambiguity and reduce long-term maintenance friction.

Why bozo exists

bozo provides a structured logging system that is reliable, typed, and safe in production. It focuses on predictable output formats and operational stability.

What bozo does not try to solve

• It is not a log aggregation platform.
• It does not provide tracing or metrics.
• It does not manage external storage or retention policies.
• It does not replace application monitoring tools.

Why the API is minimal

A small API surface keeps usage consistent and reduces long-term breaking changes. bozo exposes only the functions needed for configuration, logging, context, and optional viewing.

Logging must never crash applications

Logging should be non-fatal. bozo is designed so that log calls do not bring down the process. This is critical in production environments where logs are diagnostic, not essential for correctness.

Why the viewer is optional

The viewer is a development tool. It adds dependencies and runtime behavior that is unnecessary for production use. Keeping it optional preserves a minimal and stable core.

Stability and compatibility goals

• Public API changes are minimized.
• Default behavior is conservative and safe.
• Backward compatibility is preferred when possible.