Add the ability for Roo to send log messages to the Roo-Code Output Channel.

[StevenTCramer]

Context

This PR adds a log entry feature to Roo Code that allows the AI assistant to output debugging information to the VSCode output channel. Unlike tools, log entries don't require user approval and don't count toward the one-tool-per-message limit, making them ideal for diagnostic purposes.

Implementation

The implementation includes:

1. Added a new log entry section to the system prompt that explains how to use log entries
2. Created a log entry parser in the parseAssistantMessage function that handles both complete and partial log entries during streaming
3. Defined log levels (debug, info, warn, error) with "info" as the default
4. Added comprehensive tests to ensure log entry functionality works correctly
5. Fixed an issue with log entry levels by only logging complete entries

The log entry feature follows a similar pattern to tool use but is simpler and doesn't require user approval. Log entries are formatted using XML-style tags:

<log_entry>
<message>Your log message here</message>
<level>info</level>
</log_entry>

Special attention was given to handling XML tags inside code blocks (triple backticks) to prevent false positives.

Screenshots

How to Test

1. Start a new conversation with Roo
2. Ask Roo to demonstrate log entries with different log levels
3. Check the VSCode output channel (View > Output > Roo) to see the log entries
4. Verify that log entries with different levels (debug, info, warn, error) appear with appropriate formatting
5. Verify that log entries inside code blocks (triple backticks) are not processed as actual log entries

Get in Touch

Discord: StevenTCramer

---

Important

Adds a logging feature to Roo Code for sending diagnostic messages to the VSCode output channel using XML-style log entries without user approval.

• Behavior:
  • Adds log entry feature to send diagnostic messages to VSCode output channel without user approval.
  • Log entries use XML-style tags and support levels: debug, info, warn, error.
  • Implemented in Cline.ts and LogManager.ts.
• Parsing and Management:
  • parseAssistantMessage() in parse-assistant-message.ts updated to handle log entries.
  • New LogManager class in LogManager.ts for processing log entries.
• Prompts and Schemas:
  • Adds getLogEntrySection() in log-entry.ts for system prompts.
  • Defines logLevels and logEntryParamsSchema in log-entry.ts.
• Testing:
  • Comprehensive tests for log entry parsing in log-entry.test.ts.
  • Tests for LogManager in LogManager.test.ts.

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🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 3b29790

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package

Name	Type
roo-cline	Minor

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[KJ7LNW]

Neat, but what is the use case?

[StevenTCramer]

Neat, but what is the use case?

The use case is to allow for debugging of prompts specifically state machines and mermaid flow charts like boomerang. When asking an AI to follow a flow/state machine this gives the AI the ability to log where it is in the flow.

Example messages:
Entering State "Analyzing"
Data: {"ToolFailure": false }
Exiting State "Analyzing"
Entering State "ExecutingTool"

This allows the AI to "tell" us information about its following of our system prompts etc.

[daniel-lxs]

@StevenTCramer
Hey, the use case for this feature appears quite niche. Could this be achieved with an MCP? I understand that using an MCP no longer allows for bypassing the "one tool call per message" rule.

Given that allowing multiple tool calls in a single message has been a topic of discussion for quite some time, do you think allowing this specific tool along with others in a single API response could confuse the model and cause it to try to use multiple tools? Just allowing it for a single tool might not be ideal.

[daniel-lxs]

Hey @StevenTCramer,
Thank you for your contribution, We noticed this PR is stale and will be closed. If you plan to revisit this, please create an issue first as required by our issue-first approach before opening a new PR.