Rapid Debugging with Lnav and Pgcli

The room changes.

Lnav is the log file navigator that turns chaos into signal. It parses logs in real time, indexing events, highlighting errors, and letting you query them fast. You skip the manual tail and grep game because Lnav provides SQL-like search directly over your logs. It supports structured and unstructured formats, works with local and remote files, and comes with powerful filters and timelines.

Pgcli is the Postgres command-line client built for speed and precision. It has auto-completion, syntax highlighting, and smart prompts that know your schema. You get clear query results with table formatting that makes data readable without passing it into another tool. Pgcli also supports persistent query history, connection switching, and smart suggestions so you waste less time typing.

Used together, Lnav and Pgcli shape a tight feedback loop. You read logs, correlate events, run queries, and confirm hypotheses without changing windows. When the system breaks, you move from cause to fix in minutes. This combination reduces context switching, shortens the debug path, and makes live ops safer under pressure.

Installing Lnav is simple: download the binary or build from source. Pgcli comes through pip:

pip install pgcli

Configure credentials, set themes if you like, and start querying. Each tool works standalone, but integrating them means feeding log insights into database checks instantly.

When you need rapid debugging and precise operational control, Lnav with Pgcli is a stack worth keeping close. See this power live in minutes — run it now at hoop.dev.