How can I set up the logging context from middleware? - http

Question

I want to populate the logging context by items in the request, for example: r.Header.Get("X-Request-Id"). I assumed I could override the Log type in the handler from middleware. Though it doesn't seem to work and I am not sure why!
package main
import (
"fmt"
"net/http"
"os"
"github.com/apex/log"
"github.com/gorilla/mux"
)
// Assumption: handler is the shared state between the functions
type handler struct{ Log *log.Entry }
// New creates a handler for this application to co-ordinate shared resources
func New() (h handler) { return handler{Log: log.WithFields(log.Fields{"test": "FAIL"})} }
func (h handler) index(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
h.Log.Info("Hello from the logger")
fmt.Fprint(w, "YO")
}
func main() {
h := New()
app := mux.NewRouter()
app.HandleFunc("/", h.index)
app.Use(h.loggingMiddleware)
if err := http.ListenAndServe(":"+os.Getenv("PORT"), app); err != nil {
log.WithError(err).Fatal("error listening")
}
}
func (h handler) loggingMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
h.Log = log.WithFields(log.Fields{"test": "PASS"})
next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
})
}
Can you see why h.Log = log.WithFields(log.Fields{"test": "PASS"}) doesn't seem to have any effect on h.Log.Info("Hello from the logger") which should be IIUC within the same request?

Answer 1

You need your logger to be request-scoped. You're setting it globally for the entire handler, every time a new connection comes in, which means you're asking for data races, and generally undesirable behavior.
For request-scoped context, the context.Context embedded in the request is perfect. You can access it through the Context() and WithContext methods.
Example:
var loggerKey = "Some unique key"
func (h handler) loggingMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
ctx := r.Context()
ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, loggerKey, log.WithFields(log.Fields{"test": "PASS"}))
next.ServeHTTP(w, r.WithContext(ctx)
})
}
Then to access your logger:
func doSomething(r *http.Request) error {
log, ok := r.Context().Value(loggerKey).(*log.Logger) // Or whatever type is appropriate
if !ok {
return errors.New("logger not set on context!")
}
// Do stuff...
}