lux-autohost

What is it?

lux-autohost provides two Action Creator API abstractions (for logging and metrics). These APIs provide developer-friendly (& expressive) methods that wrap the publishing of lux Action messages:

• Logging Action Creator API
  • error( data )
  • warn( data )
  • info( data )
  • debug( data )
• Metrics Action Creator API
  • meter( key, value [, unit, customData ] )
  • timer( key, value [, customData ] ) (timer units are in ms)

In addition to these methods, lux-autohost transparently adds metrics-capture for any lux Action executed in the client. In other words, lux-autohost automatically starts count and timer metrics for every action (so you don't have to worry about that), and it provides the Action Creator APIs in case you have other custom metrics/logging you need to capture.

Logging and metric payloads will be batched and transmitted at the interval you specify (see below).

Usage

Configuring the interval(s)

Below is an example of configuring the intervals at which logging & metrics will be transmitted to the autohost resource endpoints. In this example, metrics-related messages will be transmitted every 30 seconds, or every 500 messages (whichever is reached first), and logging-related messages will be transmitted every 5 seconds, or every 25 messages.

define([
    "lux-autohost"
], function( luxah ) {
    luxah.config({
        metrics: {
            timeout: 30000, // every 30 seconds...OR
            messages: 500   // every 500 messages
        },
        logging: {
            timeout: 5000, // every 5 seconds...OR
            messages: 25   // every 25 messages
        }
    });
});

Configuring include/exclude

By default, lux-autohost will wire up metrics on every action. You may have actions that you don't care about monitoring (for example: an action that fires any time a text input updates as a user types). You can choose to add actions to an "exclude" list, OR you can switch lux-autohost into "include" mode, and only the actions specified will be monitored.

define([
    "lux-autohost"
], function( luxah ) {
    luxah.config({
        filter: {
            include: false, // default value is false - we exclude by default
            actions: [ "someAction", "anotherAction" ]
        },
        // interval configuration example from above snippet
        // showing you can set all this config in one call
        metrics: {
            timeout: 30000, // every 30 seconds...OR
            messages: 500   // every 500 messages
        },
        logging: {
            timeout: 5000, // every 5 seconds...OR
            messages: 25   // every 25 messages
        }
    });
});

Using the Action Creator APIs

Logging

Here's an example of a React component pulling in the error, warn, info and debug Action Creator API calls that are provided for logging.

define( [
    "react",
    "lux.js",
], function( React, lux ) {
    var Component = React.createClass( {

        mixins: [ lux.reactMixin.actionCreator ],

        getActions: [ "error", "warn", "info", "debug" ],

        componentDidMount: function() {
            this.debug( "Yay! My component mounted." );
        },

        componentWillUnmount: function() {
            this.warn( "Sad times, my component is going to unmount." );
        },

        handleFatalError: function( data ) {
            this.error( data );
        },

        // more methods, etc.
    } );

    return Component;
} );

Metrics

Here's an example of a React component pulling in the meter and timer Action Creator API calls that are provided for metrics.

define( [
    "react",
    "lux.js",
], function( React, lux ) {
    var Component = React.createClass( {

        mixins: [ lux.reactMixin.actionCreator ],

        getActions: [ "meter", "timer" ],

        componentDidMount: function() {
            this.meter("some.arbitrary.key", 1);
        },

        componentWillUnmount: function() {
            this.meter( "gauge.the.thing", -20 );
        },

        render: function() {
            var timer = this.timer( "pointless.render.timer" );
            // do render-y things
            timer.record();
        },

        // more methods, etc.
    } );

    return Component;
} );

How Logging and Metrics Make it to autohost

The underlying batch manager in lux-autohost is an Action Listener for actions matching the method names provided by the logging and metrics Action Creator APIs (in other words, it listens for timer, meter, error, warn, info and debug action messages). Logging and metrics action messages are queued until the interval threshold has been reached, at which point lux-autohost will publish a sendLogBatch or sendMetricsBatch action message. Your API wrapper will need to handle sendLogBatch and/or sendMetricsBatch actions, transmitting them to your autohost endpoints however you prefer (we use halon to do this). For example, our API wrapper might look like this:

define( [
    "lux.js",
    "halon",
    "jquery"
], function( lux, halon, $) {

    var lk = halon( {
            root: window.location.origin + "/api",
            knownOptions: {
                logging: [ "upload" ],
                metrics: [ "upload" ]
            },
            adapter: halon.jQueryAdapter( $ ),
            version: 1
        } );

    lk.connect();

    return lux.actionCreatorListener( {
            namespace: "muhapi",
            handlers: {
                // Other API wrapper methods....
                sendLogBatch: function( batch ) {
                    lk.logging.upload( data ).catch( function( err ) {
                        if ( DEBUG ) {
                            console.log( "Unable to reach logging endpoint: ", err );
                        }
                    } );
                },
                sendMetricsBatch: function( batch ) {
                    lk.metrics.upload( data ).catch( function( err ) {
                        if ( DEBUG ) {
                            console.log( "Unable to reach metrics endpoint: ", err );
                        }
                    } );
                }
            }
        } );
} );