How can I share minimal set of logs

Understanding and Sharing Logs for Troubleshooting

Our apps automatically roll over logs every few days, capturing only essential raw network data and UI interactions. These logs help us diagnose errors, usability issues, and service compatibility problems when you reach out for support.

Because logs may include event details necessary for troubleshooting, we handle them with strict security measures and discard them once your issue is resolved. However, if you have privacy concerns or organizational requirements (such as HIPAA compliance), you may prefer to share a minimal set of logs instead.

important

The information in the logs is kept confidential, used exclusively for troubleshooting, and is deleted after the issue is resolved. Please consult our privacy policy to learn how we deal with your logs.

When Should You Share Minimal Logs?

This method is only useful if you can reliably reproduce the issue. If the problem occurred in the past and cannot be reproduced, we would need previously recorded logs, and the steps below will not be helpful. Instead, please consider the manual approach.

How to Share Minimal Logs

If you can consistently reproduce the issue, follow these steps to generate a minimal log file:

1. Open the app and go to Help Menu > Show Logs.
2. Quit the app.
3. Open the Logs folder and delete all files.
4. Relaunch the app and reproduce the issue.
5. The new log files will now contain only the relevant data since the app was restarted.
6. Retain the database-info.txt file, which contains a basic outline of your account and settings (without personal data).

When you're ready, please select all the files you wish to share, control-click and select Compress to create a zip file. Send this file to support@busymac.com

How to Manually Review and Reduce Logs

If reproducing the issue is difficult and you want to investigate further before sharing logs:

1. Open the Logs folder as described above.
2. Sort files by name in Finder.
3. Each log file is numbered and has a last modified date (ensure the "Date Modified" column is visible in Finder).
4. Delete older logs, keeping only the most recent one or two (e.g., Today/Yesterday).
5. Retain the database-info.txt file, which contains a basic outline of your account and settings (without personal data).

By following these steps, you can minimize the amount of data shared while still providing enough information for us to diagnose and resolve your issue.

When you're ready, please select all the files you wish to share, control-click and select Compress to create a zip file. Send this file to support@busymac.com

tip

Another, though more time-consuming, way to protect your privacy is to manually review the logs before sharing them and redact any sensitive information you find.

Can the App Not Auto-Redact Private Information?

Unfortunately, there is no way to automatically redact or store redacted information in the logs, as the app cannot determine what qualifies as private information. In many cases, diagnosing errors or sync-related issues requires matching exact event titles and unique identifiers.

Self-Troubleshooting

If you prefer not to share any logs at all and feel equipped to self-diagnose service connectivity issues—such as troubleshooting a CalDAV server you've set up—you may be able to identify underlying errors by reviewing the app's logs manually without external help.

To inspect logs for errors:

1. Open the app and go to Help Menu > Show Logs.
2. Sort files by name in Finder.
3. Each log file is numbered and has a last modified date (ensure the "Date Modified" column is visible in Finder).
4. Open the latest .log file (e.g., log-XXXXXX.log) in a text editor.
5. Look for errors or warnings. Errors in the log files are typically marked with -0- after a timestamp.

By analyzing these logs, you may be able to pinpoint specific errors and resolve issues without needing to share logs with us.

Why Logs Matter

Although our apps are built with years of exception and edge-case handling, device operating systems and third-party cloud services are constantly evolving.

Changes in APIs, server configurations, authentication methods, and system policies can sometimes cause unexpected behavior. Diagnostic logs are the most effective tool we have for identifying, troubleshooting, and resolving such issues in a timely fashion.