# Kubetail Gets a Search Upgrade: Taming Kubernetes Logs in Real-Time

## Kubetail Gets a Search Upgrade: Taming Kubernetes Logs in Real-Time

Kubernetes can be a powerful platform for orchestrating complex applications, but managing its logs across multiple containers can quickly become a headache. Kubetail, a popular logging dashboard for Kubernetes, aims to alleviate that pain. Initially launched last year, Kubetail has just released a major update that addresses a top user request: integrated search functionality.

Kubetail’s primary strength lies in its ability to consolidate logs from all containers within a workload (like a Deployment or DaemonSet) into a single, chronologically ordered stream. This unified view, accessible through either a web browser or the command line, simplifies debugging and monitoring.

The key new feature in the latest release (cli/v0.4.3, helm/v0.10.1) is real-time search. Previously, Kubetail relied on the Kubernetes API for fetching logs, which lacked built-in search capabilities. To overcome this limitation, the developers introduced a clever solution. Users can now install a Kubetail agent on each node by clicking the “Install” button in the GUI or running `kubetail cluster install` in the CLI. This deploys a DaemonSet containing a custom Rust binary powered by ripgrep. This agent scans the node’s log files, filtering for lines that match the search query and streaming only the relevant data back to the user. This effectively provides “remote grep” for Kubernetes logs, eliminating the need to download entire log files for local analysis.

Beyond search, Kubetail has also seen several other improvements since its initial launch. One notable addition is a simple CLI tool that launches the web dashboard directly on your desktop. Installation and usage are straightforward:

“`bash
# Install
brew install kubetail

# Run
kubetail serve
“`

Another powerful enhancement is the `logs` subcommand within the CLI. This command allows users to follow container logs in real-time or fetch all log records within a specified time window for more in-depth local analysis. Here are a couple of usage examples:

“`bash
# Follow example
$ kubetail logs deployments/web
–with-ts
–with-pod
–follow

# Fetch example
$ kubetail logs deployments/web
–since 2025-04-20T00:00:00Z
–until 2025-04-21T00:00:00Z
–all > logs.txt
“`

These features provide greater flexibility and control over Kubernetes log analysis, allowing users to efficiently pinpoint issues and understand application behavior. Kubetail offers a streamlined approach to Kubernetes logging, making it a valuable tool for developers and operations teams working with containerized applications. You can explore the features further and even try a live demo at [https://www.kubetail.com/demo](https://www.kubetail.com/demo).