How can I use Morgan with Express?

What is Morgan and how do I use it with Express?

Morgan is a middleware for logging HTTP requests in Node.js applications. You can use it with Express by installing it via npm and then adding it to your Express app.

Can you show me a code example of how to set it up?

Sure! First, install Morgan using npm install morgan. Then, in your Express app, add the following code:

const express = require('express');
const morgan = require('morgan');

const app = express();

app.use(morgan('combined')); // or 'dev' for concise output

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World!');
});

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});

What are the different logging formats available in Morgan?

Morgan provides several predefined formats like 'combined', 'common', 'dev', 'short', and 'tiny'. You can also create a custom format if needed.

Can I log to a file instead of the console?

Yes, you can log to a file by using the fs module to create a write stream and passing it to Morgan. Here's an example:

const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');
const accessLogStream = fs.createWriteStream(path.join(__dirname, 'access.log'), { flags: 'a' });

app.use(morgan('combined', { stream: accessLogStream }));