Generate a license key
Quick-start licenses for local development and production. No account, domain, or IP registration — valid until 1 January 2028 on any host. Online verification runs inside ArgusLogs.core automatically.
- No login
- Any host
- Until Jan 2028
- Online verify
1. Install NuGet packages
Add the published packages from nuget.org. Current versions are pre-release (1.0.11-alpha.2608292142) — not a generally available stable 1.0. Versions must match across ArgusLogs.* packages:
dotnet add package ArgusLogs --version 1.0.11-alpha.2608292142
dotnet add package ArgusLogs.DataAnnotation --version 1.0.11-alpha.26082921422. Configure appsettings.json
Set your license key and project metadata. Generate a free key at /get-license — no account required for Development and Production generator keys.
{
"ArgusLogsKey": "ARGUS-LIC-YOUR-KEY",
"Logging": {
"LogLevel": {
"Default": "Information"
}
}
}3. Wire Program.cs
Register ArgusLogs logging and enable the middleware pipeline early so HTTP and woven [LogMethod] telemetry is captured.
using ArgusLogs;
using ArgusLogs.DataAnnotation;
builder.Services.AddArgus(options =>
{
options.SetLicense(builder.Configuration["ArgusLogsKey"] ?? "")
.WithLogFile("logs/Argus")
.WithLogFileNameFormat("yyyyMMdd")
.WithConsoleOutput();
}).AddArgusDataAnnotation();
var app = builder.Build();
app.UseArgus();
app.MapControllers();
app.Run();4. Optional — ArgusLogs.UI
ArgusLogs.UI is an embedded diagnostics dashboard served from your ASP.NET Core app (default route /argus-logs). It reads from ArgusLogs.TieredStorage for fast search, trace drill-down, and SQL/HTTP inspection. Install the UI packages alongside ArgusLogs core:
dotnet add package ArgusLogs.TieredStorage --version 1.0.11-alpha.2608292142
dotnet add package ArgusLogs.UI --version 1.0.11-alpha.26082921425. Wire ArgusLogs.UI
Enable TieredStorage in AddArgus(), then call UseArgusUI() after UseArgus(). See the ArgusLogs.UI doc and the live dashboard walkthrough for full options and screenshots.
using ArgusLogs;
using ArgusLogs.UI;
builder.Services.AddArgus(options =>
{
options.SetLicense(builder.Configuration["ArgusLogsKey"] ?? "")
.WithTieredStorage(opt =>
{
opt.SqliteConnectionString = "Data Source=logs/argus_hot.db;Cache=Shared";
opt.ArchiveDirectory = "logs/archives";
opt.RetentionDays = 7;
});
});
var app = builder.Build();
app.UseArgus();
app.UseArgusUI(options => options.RoutePrefix = "/argus-logs");Next steps
Read the ArgusLogs.UI guide, installation and configuration docs, follow the developer tutorial, and review best practices for TieredStorage retention.