Ingest API

Send logs to the API with a single JSON POST. Same contract for curl, the CLI, and the Serilog sink.

Endpoint

POST /v1/logs
Content-Type: application/json

Environment	Base URL
Local Docker	http://localhost:5080
Hosted	https://api.qiklog.com

Authentication

Production requires a key on every ingest. Local Docker defaults to keys optional. See API keys.

Send the key with one of these headers:

Header	Example
Authorization: Bearer	Authorization: Bearer ql_your_full_key_here (recommended)
X-QikLog-API-Key	X-QikLog-API-Key: ql_your_full_key_here
X-Api-Key	X-Api-Key: ql_your_full_key_here (legacy alias)

CLI and Serilog send Authorization: Bearer. The landing tape uses the same hosted curl.

Hosted curl

export QIKLOG_API_KEY='ql_your_full_key_here'

curl -X POST https://api.qiklog.com/v1/logs \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $QIKLOG_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"source":"demo","level":"info","message":"hello from curl"}'

Use source demo to see the line on the live landing panel and at /tail/demo on the dashboard.

Equivalent with the product header:

curl -X POST https://api.qiklog.com/v1/logs \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-QikLog-API-Key: $QIKLOG_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"source":"demo","level":"info","message":"hello from curl"}'

A successful ingest returns HTTP 202 Accepted with an empty body.

Local curl

curl -X POST http://localhost:5080/v1/logs \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"source":"demo","level":"info","message":"payment captured"}'

When local auth is on, add the same Bearer or X-QikLog-API-Key header as production.

Request body

Field	Required	Type	Description
source	Yes	string	Logical source name (trimmed). Use stable names per app or environment.
message	Yes	string	Log line body (plain text).
level	No	string or int	Default info. See levels below.
timestamp	No	ISO 8601	Event time (UTC). Defaults to server receipt time.
properties	No	object	Flat key/value strings for structured metadata.

Example

{
  "source": "checkout-api",
  "level": "warning",
  "message": "payment retry attempt 2",
  "timestamp": "2026-06-01T12:00:00Z",
  "properties": {
    "orderId": "ord_123",
    "region": "us-east"
  }
}

Log levels

Accepted as case-insensitive strings or integers:

String	Int	Use for
trace	0	Verbose tracing
debug	1	Debug detail
info	2	Normal operations
warning or warn	3	Recoverable issues
error or err	4	Failures
critical or crit	5	Severe / page-worthy

Responses

Status	Meaning
202 Accepted	Log accepted, broadcast to live subscribers, queued for storage
400 Bad Request	Missing source/message, invalid JSON, or unknown level
401 Unauthorized	Missing API key (when auth is enabled)
403 Forbidden	Invalid or revoked API key
429 Too Many Requests	Per-key rate limit exceeded (default 120/minute)

What happens after ingest

1. The API validates your payload.
2. If auth is enabled, your API key is verified and rate-limited.
3. The entry is saved to Postgres (log_entries).
4. SignalR pushes the line to everyone viewing tail/{source} in the dashboard.

Health check

curl https://api.qiklog.com/healthz

Local: curl http://localhost:5080/healthz.

Returns status and postgres connectivity when a database is configured.

Next steps

• Live tail: watch lines stream in the browser
• API keys: mint and send a Bearer key
• Serilog: one-line .NET sink
• CLI: qiklog send from a terminal