macOS Logging: Rolling Diagnostics File and Unified Logs

Logging (macOS)

Rolling diagnostics file log (Debug pane)

The macOS application uses swift-log for its logging (unified logging is the default) and optionally maintains a rotating on-disk log file for persistent storage (DiagnosticsFileLog).

Turn it on: Debug pane -> Logs -> App logging -> "Write rolling diagnostics log (JSONL)" (disabled by default).
Detail level: Debug pane -> Logs -> App logging -> Verbosity selector.
Where it lives: ~/Library/Logs/OpenClaw/diagnostics.jsonl.
Rotation: rotates once it hits 5 MB; up to 5 backups named .1....5 are kept (oldest gets discarded).
Wipe: Debug pane -> Logs -> App logging -> "Clear" removes the current file plus every backup.

Handle this file with care; never share it without inspecting it first.

Export unified logs as JSON

Execute ./scripts/clawlog.sh --json to output recent unified-log entries as a single JSON array to stdout, or append --output logs.json to send that array to a file instead of the terminal. By default the output holds the last 50 log records; switch to --lines 1 for just the newest record or --all to include all matching records. In JSON mode, --lines tallies complete records, not raw lines.

JSON export is incompatible with --follow and --list-categories. Apply those flags without --json.

Unified logging private data on macOS

Unless a subsystem explicitly opts in via privacy -off, unified logging masks most payloads. A plist in /Library/Preferences/Logging/Subsystems/ controls this, keyed by subsystem name. The setting only affects newly created log entries, so activate it before you try to reproduce the problem. Background reading: macOS logging privacy shenanigans.

Enable for OpenClaw (`ai.openclaw`)

Start by writing the plist to a temporary file, then install it atomically as root:

cat <<'EOF' >/tmp/ai.openclaw.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>DEFAULT-OPTIONS</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Enable-Private-Data</key>
        <true/>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>
EOF
sudo install -m 644 -o root -g wheel /tmp/ai.openclaw.plist /Library/Preferences/Logging/Subsystems/ai.openclaw.plist

A restart is unnecessary; logd picks up the change quickly, yet only fresh log lines carry the private payloads. Inspect the enriched output with ./scripts/clawlog.sh --category WebChat --last 5m (--last/-l narrows the time window, default 5m; --category/-c filters by category).

Disable after debugging

Delete the override: sudo rm /Library/Preferences/Logging/Subsystems/ai.openclaw.plist.
Optionally run sudo log config --reload to make logd drop the override right away.
This surface may expose phone numbers and message content; leave the plist installed only for as long as you truly need it.