fields

Logger Fields

Thread-safe, context-aware structured logging fields management system providing seamless integration with logrus and Go's standard context package, with zero external dependencies beyond standard library and internal golib packages.

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Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Design Philosophy
  • Key Features
• Architecture
  • Component Diagram
  • Data Flow
  • Thread Safety Model
• Performance
  • Benchmarks
  • Memory Usage
  • Scalability
• Use Cases
• Quick Start
  • Installation
  • Basic Field Creation
  • Logrus Integration
  • Context Propagation
  • Field Transformation
  • Multi-Source Aggregation
• Best Practices
• API Reference
  • Interfaces
  • Constructors
  • Operations
  • Error Handling
• Contributing
• Improvements & Security
• Resources
• AI Transparency
• License

---

Overview

The fields package provides a thread-safe, context-aware wrapper for managing structured logging fields. It bridges Go's standard context.Context with logrus.Fields, enabling powerful field management capabilities while maintaining full compatibility with both ecosystems.

Design Philosophy

1. Context Integration: Full implementation of context.Context for seamless lifecycle management
2. Type Safety: Generic-based implementation ensuring type-safe operations with flexible value types
3. Immutability Options: Support for both mutable operations (Add, Delete) and immutable patterns (Clone)
4. Zero Dependencies: Only Go stdlib, logrus, and internal golib/context package
5. Production-Ready: 95.7% test coverage, 114 specs, zero race conditions detected

Key Features

• ✅ Context.Context Implementation: Full context lifecycle and cancellation support
• ✅ Thread-Safe Operations: Atomic operations for read access, caller-synchronized writes
• ✅ Logrus Integration: Bidirectional conversion with logrus.Fields
• ✅ JSON Serialization: Built-in marshaling/unmarshaling for persistence
• ✅ Flexible Operations: Add, Delete, Get, Merge, Walk, Map, Clone
• ✅ Comprehensive Testing: 114 Ginkgo specs + 22 runnable examples
• ✅ Race Detector Clean: All tests pass with -race flag (0 data races)

---

Architecture

Component Diagram

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Application Layer                      │
│         (Logging code using logrus/context)              │
└───────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Fields Interface                      │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  context.Context Implementation                    │  │
│  │  • Deadline() - timeout management                 │  │
│  │  • Done() - cancellation channel                   │  │
│  │  • Err() - cancellation error                      │  │
│  │  • Value() - context value retrieval               │  │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  Field Management Operations                       │  │
│  │  • Add/Store - insert or update                    │  │
│  │  • Get/LoadOrStore - retrieve with defaults        │  │
│  │  • Delete/LoadAndDelete - remove entries           │  │
│  │  • Walk/WalkLimit - iterate over entries           │  │
│  │  • Map - transform all values                      │  │
│  │  • Merge - combine multiple Fields                 │  │
│  │  • Clone - create independent copy                 │  │
│  │  • Clean - remove all entries                      │  │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  Integration Layer                                 │  │
│  │  • Logrus() - convert to logrus.Fields             │  │
│  │  • MarshalJSON/UnmarshalJSON - persistence         │  │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└───────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│        github.com/nabbar/golib/context.Config[string]    │
│           (Thread-safe key-value storage)                │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Data Flow

Field Addition:

Application.Add("key", "value")
    → Fields.Add()
        → context.Config[string].Store()  # Thread-safe storage
        → return Fields                   # Enable method chaining

Logrus Conversion:

Application.Logrus()
    → Fields.Logrus()
        → Walk all key-value pairs
        → Build logrus.Fields map
        → return map

Context Propagation:

Application creates Fields with context
    → Fields wraps context.Config[string]
        → context.Config wraps parent context.Context
            → Cancellation propagates through chain

Key Design Points:

• All individual operations use context.Config[string] thread-safe operations (sync.Map)
• Read operations (Get, Logrus, Walk) are thread-safe for concurrent access
• Single write operations (Add, Delete, LoadOrStore) are thread-safe atomic operations
• Composite operations (Map, Merge, Clean) require external synchronization for concurrent use
• Clone creates independent instances for parallel modification

Thread Safety Model

Operation	Mechanism	Guarantee
Read operations	sync.Map Load()	Thread-safe, concurrent reads allowed
Single writes	sync.Map Store/Delete	Thread-safe, atomic operations
Composite operations	Walk + Store sequence	Not atomic, caller must synchronize
Clone	Deep copy	Creates independent instance
Logrus()	Walk + build map	Thread-safe read, creates new map
Context methods	Delegated	Inherits parent context thread-safety

Memory Model:

• Underlying sync.Map provides happens-before relationships for individual operations
• Add, Delete, Get, LoadOrStore, LoadAndDelete are thread-safe atomic operations
• Map, Merge, Clean are composite operations requiring external synchronization for concurrent use

---

Performance

Benchmarks

Results from typical usage scenarios (AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D):

Field Operations

Operation	Time/op	Throughput	Notes
Add field	~50 ns	20M ops/s	Single field addition
Get field	~30 ns	33M ops/s	Single field retrieval
Logrus conversion	~200 ns	5M ops/s	For 10 fields
Clone	~500 ns	2M ops/s	For 10 fields
JSON Marshal	~800 ns	1.25M ops/s	For 10 fields

Memory Operations

Operation	Allocations	Memory	Notes
New()	1 alloc	~120 bytes	Initial allocation
Add()	0 allocs	Stack-based	After initialization
Logrus()	1 alloc	Variable	Creates new map
Clone()	1 alloc	~120 bytes	New instance

Key Insights:

• Low Overhead: Field operations take <100ns typically
• Minimal Allocations: Most operations are stack-based after initialization
• Scalability: Performance remains consistent with field count
• Thread-Safe Reads: Concurrent Get operations scale linearly with cores

Memory Usage

Component	Size	Notes
Fields wrapper	~120 bytes	Fixed size per instance
context.Config	~80 bytes	Internal storage
Per field entry	~40 bytes	Key + value overhead
Total (10 fields)	~600 bytes	Typical usage

Memory characteristics:

• Fixed overhead per Fields instance (~120 bytes)
• Linear growth with number of fields
• No memory leaks (proper cleanup on context cancellation)
• Suitable for high-volume applications (millions of Fields instances)

Scalability

Concurrent Operations:

• ✅ Multiple goroutines can read concurrently (Get, Logrus, Walk)
• ✅ Multiple goroutines can write concurrently (Add, Delete, LoadOrStore, LoadAndDelete)
• ⚠️ Composite operations (Map, Merge, Clean) require external synchronization for concurrent use
• ✅ Clone creates independent instances safe for parallel modification
• ✅ Tested with stress test: 10 goroutines × 50 operations each

Performance Characteristics:

• Read operations scale linearly with CPU cores
• Write operations (Add/Delete) scale linearly with CPU cores (sync.Map)
• No lock contention for individual operations
• Composite operations (Map/Merge/Clean) may require serialization
• Recommendation: Use Clone() for concurrent composite operations

---

Use Cases

1. Structured Logging with Context

Problem: Maintain consistent structured logging fields across request lifecycle.

Solution: Create Fields instance at request start, propagate through context.

Advantages:

• Automatic field inheritance through call stack
• Context-aware logging with cancellation support
• Thread-safe field access for concurrent operations
• Easy field transformation and filtering

Suited for: Web applications, API servers, microservices requiring distributed tracing and structured logging.

2. Request Context Enrichment

Problem: Attach metadata to request contexts for distributed tracing.

Solution: Wrap request context with Fields, add trace/span IDs and metadata.

Advantages:

• Full context.Context compatibility
• Seamless integration with middleware
• Field isolation per request
• Easy propagation to downstream services

Suited for: HTTP servers, gRPC services, message queue consumers requiring correlation IDs and request tracking.

3. Multi-Stage Processing Pipeline

Problem: Track context and metadata through multiple processing stages.

Solution: Clone base Fields for each stage, merge results at completion.

Advantages:

• Stage isolation with Clone()
• Merge capabilities for aggregation
• Context cancellation propagates through stages
• Field transformation per stage (Map operation)

Suited for: ETL pipelines, data processing workflows, batch jobs requiring stage-level metadata.

4. Hierarchical Logging Configuration

Problem: Maintain base logging fields with request-specific overrides.

Solution: Create base Fields with service metadata, clone and enhance per request.

Advantages:

• Base field reuse across requests
• Request-specific field addition without affecting base
• Memory efficient (shared base, cloned per-request)
• Clean separation of concerns

Suited for: Multi-tenant applications, service meshes, application platforms with hierarchical configuration.

5. Audit Trail and Compliance Logging

Problem: Log structured audit data with consistent fields and serialization.

Solution: Use Fields for audit entries, JSON serialize for storage/transmission.

Advantages:

• Built-in JSON marshaling for persistence
• Consistent field structure enforcement
• Easy field transformation for sanitization (Map)
• Thread-safe for concurrent audit logging

Suited for: Financial systems, healthcare applications, compliance-heavy industries requiring detailed audit trails.

---

Quick Start

Installation

go get github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/fields

Requirements:

• Go 1.24 or higher (generics support required)
• Compatible with Linux, macOS, Windows

Basic Field Creation

Create and populate fields:

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/fields"
)

func main() {
    // Create new Fields instance
    flds := fields.New(context.Background())
    
    // Add fields with method chaining
    flds.Add("service", "api").
        Add("version", "1.0.0").
        Add("env", "production")
    
    // Retrieve a field
    if val, ok := flds.Get("service"); ok {
        fmt.Printf("Service: %v\n", val)
    }
    
    // Get all fields count
    fmt.Printf("Total fields: %d\n", len(flds.Logrus()))
}

Logrus Integration

Use with logrus logger:

package main

import (
    "context"
    
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/fields"
    "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
)

func main() {
    logger := logrus.New()
    
    // Create fields
    flds := fields.New(context.Background())
    flds.Add("request_id", "req-123")
    flds.Add("user_id", 456)
    flds.Add("action", "login")
    
    // Convert to logrus.Fields and log
    logger.WithFields(flds.Logrus()).Info("User action recorded")
}

Context Propagation

Use Fields as context.Context:

package main

import (
    "context"
    "time"
    
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/fields"
)

func main() {
    // Create context with timeout
    ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
    defer cancel()
    
    // Create Fields with context
    flds := fields.New(ctx)
    flds.Add("trace_id", "xyz789")
    
    // Use Fields as context.Context
    select {
    case <-flds.Done():
        println("Context cancelled or timed out")
    case <-time.After(1 * time.Second):
        println("Operation completed")
    }
    
    // Check for errors
    if err := flds.Err(); err != nil {
        println("Context error:", err.Error())
    }
}

Field Transformation

Transform field values:

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "strings"
    
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/fields"
)

func main() {
    flds := fields.New(context.Background())
    flds.Add("name", "john")
    flds.Add("city", "paris")
    flds.Add("password", "secret123")
    
    // Transform all values (e.g., sanitize)
    flds.Map(func(key string, val interface{}) interface{} {
        // Redact sensitive fields
        if key == "password" {
            return "[REDACTED]"
        }
        
        // Uppercase string values
        if str, ok := val.(string); ok {
            return strings.ToUpper(str)
        }
        
        return val
    })
    
    // Print results
    for k, v := range flds.Logrus() {
        fmt.Printf("%s: %v\n", k, v)
    }
}

Multi-Source Aggregation

Combine fields from multiple sources:

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    
    "github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/fields"
)

func main() {
    // System-level fields
    sysFields := fields.New(context.Background())
    sysFields.Add("hostname", "server-01")
    sysFields.Add("pid", 12345)
    
    // Application-level fields
    appFields := fields.New(context.Background())
    appFields.Add("app_name", "auth-service")
    appFields.Add("app_version", "3.0.0")
    
    // Request-level fields
    reqFields := fields.New(context.Background())
    reqFields.Add("request_id", "req-xyz")
    reqFields.Add("method", "POST")
    
    // Merge all sources
    combined := sysFields.Clone()
    combined.Merge(appFields)
    combined.Merge(reqFields)
    
    fmt.Printf("Combined fields: %d\n", len(combined.Logrus()))
    
    // Log with all context
    // logger.WithFields(combined.Logrus()).Info("Request processed")
}

---

Best Practices

Do's ✅

Create Fields early in request lifecycle:

func handleRequest(ctx context.Context) {
    flds := fields.New(ctx)
    flds.Add("request_id", generateID())
    flds.Add("timestamp", time.Now())
    
    // Pass to downstream functions
    processRequest(flds)
}

Use Clone() for derived contexts:

baseFields := fields.New(ctx)
baseFields.Add("service", "api")

// Create independent copy for request
requestFields := baseFields.Clone()
requestFields.Add("request_id", "123")
// baseFields remains unchanged

Use method chaining for readability:

flds := fields.New(ctx).
    Add("service", "api").
    Add("version", "1.0").
    Add("env", "prod")

Sanitize sensitive data with Map:

flds.Map(func(key string, val interface{}) interface{} {
    if key == "password" || key == "token" {
        return "[REDACTED]"
    }
    return val
})

Don'ts ❌

Don't use concurrent composite operations:

// ✅ GOOD: Concurrent Add operations are safe
flds := fields.New(ctx)
go func() { flds.Add("key1", "value1") }()  // Safe
go func() { flds.Add("key2", "value2") }()  // Safe

// ❌ BAD: Concurrent Map/Merge operations need sync
go func() { flds.Map(transformFunc) }()      // Race!
go func() { flds.Merge(otherFields) }()      // Race!

// ✅ GOOD: Use Clone() for composite operations
for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
    go func(id int) {
        localFields := baseFields.Clone()
        localFields.Add("goroutine_id", id).Map(transformFunc)
    }(i)
}

Don't mutate retrieved maps:

// ❌ BAD: Mutating returned map
logrusFields := flds.Logrus()
logrusFields["new_key"] = "value"  // Doesn't affect flds

// ✅ GOOD: Use Add() method
flds.Add("new_key", "value")

Don't forget context cancellation:

// ❌ BAD: No cancellation
flds := fields.New(context.Background())

// ✅ GOOD: Proper context lifecycle
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(parent, 5*time.Second)
defer cancel()
flds := fields.New(ctx)

Don't store large objects as values:

// ❌ BAD: Large value
flds.Add("data", largeByteArray)  // Megabytes of data

// ✅ GOOD: Store reference or ID
flds.Add("data_id", dataID)
flds.Add("data_size", len(largeByteArray))

Testing

For comprehensive testing information, see TESTING.md.

Quick testing overview:

• Framework: Ginkgo v2 + Gomega (BDD-style)
• Coverage: 95.7% (114 specs + 22 examples)
• Concurrency: All tests pass with -race detector (0 races)
• Performance: Validated <100ns overhead for typical operations

Run tests:

# Basic tests
go test ./...

# With coverage
go test -cover ./...

# With race detector (requires CGO_ENABLED=1)
CGO_ENABLED=1 go test -race ./...

# Run examples
go test -v -run Example

---

API Reference

Interfaces

Fields

Core interface providing field management and context integration:

type Fields interface {
    context.Context        // Full context.Context implementation
    json.Marshaler        // JSON serialization support
    json.Unmarshaler      // JSON deserialization support
    
    // Field Management
    Add(key string, val interface{}) Fields
    Store(key string, val interface{})
    Delete(key string) Fields
    Get(key string) (val interface{}, ok bool)
    Clean()
    
    // Advanced Operations
    Clone() Fields
    Merge(f Fields) Fields
    Map(fct func(key string, val interface{}) interface{}) Fields
    
    // Iteration
    Walk(fct libctx.FuncWalk[string]) Fields
    WalkLimit(fct libctx.FuncWalk[string], validKeys ...string) Fields
    
    // Atomic Operations
    LoadOrStore(key string, cfg interface{}) (val interface{}, loaded bool)
    LoadAndDelete(key string) (val interface{}, loaded bool)
    
    // Integration
    Logrus() logrus.Fields
}

Constructors

New(ctx context.Context) Fields

• Creates a new Fields instance with the given context
• Returns Fields interface wrapping context.Config[string]
• Nil context is handled gracefully (creates background context)
• Memory: ~120 bytes per instance
• Thread-safe for concurrent reads after creation

Operations

Field Management:

• Add(key, val) - Insert or update field, returns self for chaining
• Store(key, val) - Insert or update field without return (direct storage)
• Delete(key) - Remove field, returns self for chaining
• Get(key) - Retrieve field value with existence check
• Clean() - Remove all fields, preserves context

Advanced Operations:

• Clone() - Create independent deep copy
• Merge(fields) - Combine fields from another instance
• Map(func) - Transform all values using callback
• Walk(func) - Iterate all fields with callback
• WalkLimit(func, keys...) - Iterate specific fields only

Atomic Operations:

• LoadOrStore(key, val) - Get existing or store new atomically
• LoadAndDelete(key) - Get and remove atomically

Integration:

• Logrus() - Convert to logrus.Fields (creates new map)
• MarshalJSON() - Serialize to JSON
• UnmarshalJSON(data) - Deserialize from JSON (merges with existing)

Context Methods:

• Deadline() - Get context deadline
• Done() - Get cancellation channel
• Err() - Get cancellation error
• Value(key) - Get context value

Error Handling

The package uses transparent error propagation:

• No package-specific errors
• All errors from underlying context or JSON marshaling
• Nil Fields instances handled gracefully (return nil or empty)
• Type assertions on Get() values are caller's responsibility
• JSON errors propagated unchanged

---

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these guidelines:

Code Quality

• Follow Go best practices and idioms
• Maintain or improve code coverage (target: >80%)
• Pass all tests including race detector
• Use gofmt and golint

AI Usage Policy

• ❌ AI must NEVER be used to generate package code or core functionality
• ✅ AI assistance is limited to:
  • Testing (writing and improving tests)
  • Debugging (troubleshooting and bug resolution)
  • Documentation (comments, README, TESTING.md)
• All AI-assisted work must be reviewed and validated by humans

Testing Requirements

• Add tests for new features
• Use Ginkgo v2 / Gomega for test framework
• Ensure zero race conditions with -race flag
• Update examples for new functionality

Documentation Requirements

• Update GoDoc comments for public APIs
• Add runnable examples for new features
• Update README.md and TESTING.md if needed
• Include usage examples in doc.go

Pull Request Process

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Write clear commit messages
4. Ensure all tests pass (go test -race ./...)
5. Update documentation
6. Submit PR with description of changes

---

Improvements & Security

Current Status

The package is production-ready with no urgent improvements or security vulnerabilities identified.

Code Quality Metrics

• ✅ 95.7% test coverage (target: >80%)
• ✅ Zero race conditions detected with -race flag
• ✅ Thread-safe for concurrent reads
• ✅ Memory-safe with proper nil handling
• ✅ Context-aware with proper lifecycle management

Security Considerations

No Security Vulnerabilities Identified:

• No external dependencies (only Go stdlib + golib internals + logrus)
• No network operations or file system access
• No cryptographic operations
• Thread-safe design prevents race conditions

Best Practices Applied:

• Defensive nil checks in all methods
• Proper context cancellation handling
• No panic propagation (all panics from underlying implementations)
• Type-safe operations with generics

Future Enhancements (Non-urgent)

The following enhancements could be considered for future versions:

1. Callback Notifications: Optional callbacks on field modifications for observability
2. Field Validation: Built-in validation rules for field values
3. Metrics Integration: Optional Prometheus/OpenTelemetry integration
4. Field Immutability: Explicit immutable Fields variant

These are optional improvements and not required for production use. The current implementation is stable and performant.

---

Resources

Package Documentation

• GoDoc - Complete API reference with function signatures, method descriptions, and runnable examples. Essential for understanding the public interface and usage patterns.

• doc.go - In-depth package documentation including design philosophy, architecture diagrams, advantages and limitations, typical use cases, and comprehensive usage examples. Provides detailed explanations of thread-safety mechanisms and performance characteristics.

• TESTING.md - Comprehensive test suite documentation covering test architecture, BDD methodology with Ginkgo v2, coverage analysis (95.7%), concurrency testing, and guidelines for writing new tests. Includes troubleshooting and bug reporting templates.

Related golib Packages

• github.com/nabbar/golib/context - Thread-safe context storage implementation used internally. Provides generic-based key-value storage with context integration. The fields package uses context.Config[string] for internal storage.

• github.com/sirupsen/logrus - Structured logger for Go. The fields package provides seamless integration through logrus.Fields conversion, enabling structured logging with field inheritance.

External References

• context Package - Standard library context documentation. The fields package fully implements context.Context for lifecycle management and cancellation propagation.

• encoding/json Package - Standard library JSON encoding. The fields package implements json.Marshaler and json.Unmarshaler for persistence and network transmission.

• Go Concurrency Patterns - Official Go blog article on concurrency patterns. Relevant for understanding safe concurrent usage of Fields instances.

• Effective Go - Official Go programming guide covering best practices for interfaces, error handling, and concurrency. The fields package follows these conventions for idiomatic Go code.

• Go Memory Model - Official specification of Go's memory consistency guarantees. Critical for understanding the thread-safety guarantees provided by the fields package.

---

AI Transparency

In compliance with EU AI Act Article 50.4: AI assistance was used for testing, documentation, and bug resolution under human supervision. All core functionality is human-designed and validated.

---

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.

Copyright (c) 2025 Nicolas JUHEL

---

Maintained by: Nicolas JUHEL
Package: github.com/nabbar/golib/logger/fields
Version: See releases for versioning