vitessio · mhamza15 · Jan 6, 2026 · Jan 6, 2026 · Jan 6, 2026 · Jan 6, 2026
diff --git a/changelog/24.0/24.0.0/summary.md b/changelog/24.0/24.0.0/summary.md
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
     - **[New Support](#new-support)**
         - [Window function pushdown for sharded keyspaces](#window-function-pushdown)
 - **[Minor Changes](#minor-changes)**
+    - **[Logging](#minor-changes-logging)**
+        - [Structured Logging](#structured-logging)
     - **[VTGate](#minor-changes-vtgate)**
         - [New default for `--legacy-replication-lag-algorithm` flag](#vtgate-new-default-legacy-replication-lag-algorithm)
         - [New "session" mode for `--vtgate-balancer-mode` flag](#vtgate-session-balancer-mode)
@@ -36,6 +38,39 @@ For examples and more details, see the [documentation](https://vitess.io/docs/24
 
 ## <a id="minor-changes"/>Minor Changes</a>
 
+### <a id="minor-changes-logging"/>Logging</a>
+
+#### <a id="structured-logging"/>Structured Logging</a>
+
+Opt-in structured JSON logging has been added. By default, Vitess will continue to use unstructured logging through `glog`. To opt-in to structured logging, use these new flags:
+
+- `--structured-logging`: Enables structured logging.
+- `--structured-logging-level`: Minimum log level: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default: info)
+- `--structured-logging-pretty`: Enable pretty, human-readable output (default: false)
+- `--structured-logging-file`: Log to a file instead of stdout
+
+The existing `--log-rotate-max-size` flag controls the max size of the log file before rotation. Otherwise, the new structured logging flags are mutually exclusive with the old `glog` flags.
+
+Example JSON output:
+
+```console
+$ vttablet --structured-logging
+
+{"level":"info","caller":"/Users/mhamza/dev/vitess/go/vt/servenv/servenv_unix.go:57","time":"2026-01-06T09:22:36-05:00","message":"Version: 24.0.0-SNAPSHOT (Git revision  branch '') built on  by @ using go1.25.5 darwin/arm64"}
+{"level":"fatal","caller":"/Users/mhamza/dev/vitess/go/vt/topo/server.go:257","time":"2026-01-06T09:22:36-05:00","message":"topo-global-server-address must be configured"}
+```
+
+Example pretty output:
+
+```console
+$ vttablet --structured-logging --structured-logging-pretty
+
+2026-01-06T09:23:13-05:00 INF go/vt/servenv/servenv_unix.go:57 > Version: 24.0.0-SNAPSHOT (Git revision  branch '') built on  by @ using go1.25.5 darwin/arm64
+2026-01-06T09:23:13-05:00 FTL go/vt/topo/server.go:257 > topo-global-server-address must be configured
+```
+
+In v25, structured logging will become the default and `glog` and its flags will be deprecated. In v26, `glog` will be removed.
+
 ### <a id="minor-changes-vtgate"/>VTGate</a>
 
 #### <a id="vtgate-new-default-legacy-replication-lag-algorithm"/>New default for `--legacy-replication-lag-algorithm` flag</a>

@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1
 	github.com/kr/text v0.2.0
 	github.com/nsf/jsondiff v0.0.0-20210926074059-1e845ec5d249
+	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.34.0
 	github.com/shirou/gopsutil/v4 v4.25.8
 	github.com/spf13/afero v1.15.0
 	github.com/spf13/jwalterweatherman v1.1.0
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250911091902-df9299821621
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.18.0
 	gonum.org/v1/gonum v0.16.0
+	gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1
 	modernc.org/sqlite v1.39.0
 )
 

@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ github.com/containerd/log v0.1.0 h1:TCJt7ioM2cr/tfR8GPbGf9/VRAX8D2B4PjzCpfX540I=
 github.com/containerd/log v0.1.0/go.mod h1:VRRf09a7mHDIRezVKTRCrOq78v577GXq3bSa3EhrzVo=
 github.com/coreos/go-semver v0.3.1 h1:yi21YpKnrx1gt5R+la8n5WgS0kCrsPp33dmEyHReZr4=
 github.com/coreos/go-semver v0.3.1/go.mod h1:irMmmIw/7yzSRPWryHsK7EYSg09caPQL03VsM8rvUec=
+github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.5.0/go.mod h1:Y58oyj3AT4RCenI/lSvhwexgC+NSVTIJ3seZv2GcEnc=
 github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.6.0 h1:aGVa/v8B7hpb0TKl0MWoAavPDmHvobFe5R5zn0bCJWo=
 github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.6.0/go.mod h1:iG+pp635Fo7ZmV/j14KUcmEyWF+0X7Lua8rrTWzYgWU=
 github.com/corpix/uarand v0.1.1 h1:RMr1TWc9F4n5jiPDzFHtmaUXLKLNUFK0SgCLo4BhX/U=
@@ -261,6 +262,7 @@ github.com/go-stack/stack v1.8.0/go.mod h1:v0f6uXyyMGvRgIKkXu+yp6POWl0qKG85gN/me
 github.com/go-task/slim-sprig v0.0.0-20210107165309-348f09dbbbc0/go.mod h1:fyg7847qk6SyHyPtNmDHnmrv/HOrqktSC+C9fM+CJOE=
 github.com/go-viper/mapstructure/v2 v2.4.0 h1:EBsztssimR/CONLSZZ04E8qAkxNYq4Qp9LvH92wZUgs=
 github.com/go-viper/mapstructure/v2 v2.4.0/go.mod h1:oJDH3BJKyqBA2TXFhDsKDGDTlndYOZ6rGS0BRZIxGhM=
+github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.0.4/go.mod h1:xhWf0FNVPg57R7Z0UbKHbJfkEywrmjJnf7w5xrFpKfA=
 github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.1.0 h1:4KLkAxT3aOY8Li4FRJe/KvhoNFFxo0m6fNuFUO8QJUk=
 github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.1.0/go.mod h1:xhWf0FNVPg57R7Z0UbKHbJfkEywrmjJnf7w5xrFpKfA=
 github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.1.1/go.mod h1:r8qH/GZQm5c6nD/R0oafs1akxWv10x8SbQlK7atdtwQ=
@@ -410,13 +412,16 @@ github.com/lufia/plan9stats v0.0.0-20250827001030-24949be3fa54 h1:mFWunSatvkQQDh
 github.com/lufia/plan9stats v0.0.0-20250827001030-24949be3fa54/go.mod h1:autxFIvghDt3jPTLoqZ9OZ7s9qTGNAWmYCjVFWPX/zg=
 github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.9/go.mod h1:u6P/XSegPjTcexA+o6vUJrdnUu04hMope9wVRipJSqc=
 github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.12/go.mod h1:u5H1YNBxpqRaxsYJYSkiCWKzEfiAb1Gb520KVy5xxl4=
+github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13/go.mod h1:7S9/ev0klgBDR4GtXTXX8a3vIGJpMovkB8vQcUbaXHg=
 github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14 h1:9A9LHSqF/7dyVVX6g0U9cwm9pG3kP9gSzcuIPHPsaIE=
 github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.14/go.mod h1:6LmQG8QLFO4G5z1gPvYEzlUgJ2wF+stgPZH1UqBm1s8=
 github.com/mattn/go-ieproxy v0.0.1/go.mod h1:pYabZ6IHcRpFh7vIaLfK7rdcWgFEb3SFJ6/gNWuh88E=
 github.com/mattn/go-ieproxy v0.0.12 h1:OZkUFJC3ESNZPQ+6LzC3VJIFSnreeFLQyqvBWtvfL2M=
 github.com/mattn/go-ieproxy v0.0.12/go.mod h1:Vn+N61199DAnVeTgaF8eoB9PvLO8P3OBnG95ENh7B7c=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.12/go.mod h1:cbi8OIDigv2wuxKPP5vlRcQ1OAZbq2CE4Kysco4FUpU=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.14/go.mod h1:7GGIvUiUoEMVVmxf/4nioHXj79iQHKdU27kJ6hsGG94=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16/go.mod h1:kYGgaQfpe5nmfYZH+SKPsOc2e4SrIfOl2e/yFXSvRLM=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.19/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 h1:xfD0iDuEKnDkl03q4limB+vH+GxLEtL/jb4xVJSWWEY=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.19 h1:v++JhqYnZuu5jSKrk9RbgF5v4CGUjqRfBm05byFGLdw=
@@ -544,6 +549,9 @@ github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.4.7/go.mod h1:FN3SvrM+Zdj16jyLfmOkMNblXMcoc8DfTHruCPUc
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.9.0/go.mod h1:WtVeX8xhTBvf0smdhujwtBcq4Qrzq/fJaraNFVN+nFs=
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.14.1 h1:UQB4HGPB6osV0SQTLymcB4TgvyWu6ZyliaW0tI/otEQ=
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.14.1/go.mod h1:MaRKkUm5W0goXpeCfT7UZI6fk/L7L7so1lCWt35ZSgc=
+github.com/rs/xid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:7XoLgs4eV+QndskICGsho+ADou8ySMSjJKDIan90Nz0=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.34.0 h1:k43nTLIwcTVQAncfCw4KZ2VY6ukYoZaBPNOE8txlOeY=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.34.0/go.mod h1:bJsvje4Z08ROH4Nhs5iH600c3IkWhwp44iRc54W6wYQ=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0 h1:JIOH55/0cWyOuilr9/qlrm0BSXldqnqwMsf35Ld67mk=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
 github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.12.0 h1:/NQhBAkUb4+fH1jivKHWusDYFjMOOKU88eegjfxfHb4=
@@ -819,8 +827,10 @@ golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20211025201205-69cdffdb9359/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBc
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220503163025-988cb79eb6c6/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220627191245-f75cf1eec38b/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220715151400-c0bba94af5f8/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220811171246-fbc7d0a398ab/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.1.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.12.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.38.0 h1:3yZWxaJjBmCWXqhN1qh02AkOnCQ1poK6oF+a7xWL6Gc=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.38.0/go.mod h1:OgkHotnGiDImocRcuBABYBEXf8A9a87e/uXjp9XT3ks=
 golang.org/x/term v0.0.0-20201126162022-7de9c90e9dd1/go.mod h1:bj7SfCRtBDWHUb9snDiAeCFNEtKQo2Wmx5Cou7ajbmo=
@@ -906,6 +916,8 @@ gopkg.in/ini.v1 v1.67.0 h1:Dgnx+6+nfE+IfzjUEISNeydPJh9AXNNsWbGP9KzCsOA=
 gopkg.in/ini.v1 v1.67.0/go.mod h1:pNLf8WUiyNEtQjuu5G5vTm06TEv9tsIgeAvK8hOrP4k=
 gopkg.in/ldap.v2 v2.5.1 h1:wiu0okdNfjlBzg6UWvd1Hn8Y+Ux17/u/4nlk4CQr6tU=
 gopkg.in/ldap.v2 v2.5.1/go.mod h1:oI0cpe/D7HRtBQl8aTg+ZmzFUAvu4lsv3eLXMLGFxWk=
+gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1 h1:bBRl1b0OH9s/DuPhuXpNl+VtCaJXFZ5/uEFST95x9zc=
+gopkg.in/natefinch/lumberjack.v2 v2.2.1/go.mod h1:YD8tP3GAjkrDg1eZH7EGmyESg/lsYskCTPBJVb9jqSc=
 gopkg.in/tomb.v1 v1.0.0-20141024135613-dd632973f1e7 h1:uRGJdciOHaEIrze2W8Q3AKkepLTh2hOroT7a+7czfdQ=
 gopkg.in/tomb.v1 v1.0.0-20141024135613-dd632973f1e7/go.mod h1:dt/ZhP58zS4L8KSrWDmTeBkI65Dw0HsyUHuEVlX15mw=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v2 v2.2.1/go.mod h1:hI93XBmqTisBFMUTm0b8Fm+jr3Dg1NNxqwp+5A1VGuI=

diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctl.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctl.txt
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ Flags:
       --service-map strings                                         comma separated list of services to enable (or disable if prefixed with '-') Example: grpc-queryservice
       --socket-file string                                          Local unix socket file to listen on
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
+      --structured-logging                                          Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                              Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                             Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                   Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --table-refresh-interval int                                  interval in milliseconds to refresh tables in status page with refreshRequired class
       --tablet-dir string                                           The directory within the vtdataroot to store vttablet/mysql files. Defaults to being generated by the tablet uid.
       --tablet-uid uint32                                           Tablet UID. (default 41983)

diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctld.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctld.txt
@@ -119,6 +119,10 @@ Flags:
       --shutdown-wait-time duration                                      How long to wait for mysqld shutdown (default 5m0s)
       --socket-file string                                               Local unix socket file to listen on
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                     logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
+      --structured-logging                                               Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                                   Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                                  Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                        Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --table-refresh-interval int                                       interval in milliseconds to refresh tables in status page with refreshRequired class
       --tablet-dir string                                                The directory within the vtdataroot to store vttablet/mysql files. Defaults to being generated by the tablet uid.
       --tablet-uid uint32                                                Tablet UID (default 41983)

diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/topo2topo.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/topo2topo.txt
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ Flags:
       --purge-logs-interval duration                                how often try to remove old logs (default 1h0m0s)
       --security-policy string                                      the name of a registered security policy to use for controlling access to URLs - empty means allow all for anyone (built-in policies: deny-all, read-only)
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
+      --structured-logging                                          Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                              Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                             Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                   Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --to-implementation string                                    topology implementation to copy data to
       --to-root string                                              topology server root to copy data to
       --to-server string                                            topology server address to copy data to

diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtaclcheck.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtaclcheck.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ Flags:
       --security-policy string                                      the name of a registered security policy to use for controlling access to URLs - empty means allow all for anyone (built-in policies: deny-all, read-only)
       --static-auth-file string                                     The path of the auth_server_static JSON file to check
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
+      --structured-logging                                          Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                              Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                             Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                   Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --v Level                                                     log level for V logs
   -v, --version                                                     print binary version
       --vmodule vModuleFlag                                         comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtbackup.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtbackup.txt
@@ -226,6 +226,10 @@ Flags:
       --stats-drop-variables string                                 Variables to be dropped from the list of exported variables.
       --stats-emit-period duration                                  Interval between emitting stats to all registered backends (default 1m0s)
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
+      --structured-logging                                          Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                              Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                             Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                   Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --tablet-manager-grpc-ca string                               the server ca to use to validate servers when connecting
       --tablet-manager-grpc-cert string                             the cert to use to connect
       --tablet-manager-grpc-concurrency int                         concurrency to use to talk to a vttablet server for performance-sensitive RPCs (like ExecuteFetchAs{Dba,App}, CheckThrottler and FullStatus) (default 8)

diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtbench.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtbench.txt
@@ -92,6 +92,10 @@ Flags:
       --sql-max-length-errors int                                   truncate queries in error logs to the given length (default unlimited)
       --sql-max-length-ui int                                       truncate queries in debug UIs to the given length (default 512) (default 512)
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
+      --structured-logging                                          Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                              Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                             Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                   Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --tablet-grpc-ca string                                       the server ca to use to validate servers when connecting
       --tablet-grpc-cert string                                     the cert to use to connect
       --tablet-grpc-crl string                                      the server crl to use to validate server certificates when connecting

diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtclient.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtclient.txt
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ Flags:
       --server string                                               vtgate server to connect to
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
       --streaming                                                   use a streaming query
+      --structured-logging                                          Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                              Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                             Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                   Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --target string                                               keyspace:shard@tablet_type
       --timeout duration                                            timeout for queries (default 30s)
       --tracer string                                               tracing service to use (default "noop")

diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtcombo.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtcombo.txt
@@ -350,6 +350,10 @@ Flags:
       --stderrthreshold severityFlag                                     logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
       --stream-buffer-size int                                           the number of bytes sent from vtgate for each stream call. It's recommended to keep this value in sync with vttablet's query-server-config-stream-buffer-size. (default 32768)
       --stream-health-buffer-size uint                                   max streaming health entries to buffer per streaming health client (default 20)
+      --structured-logging                                               Enable structured logging
+      --structured-logging-file string                                   Path to log file for structured logging with rotation (empty means stdout)
+      --structured-logging-level string                                  Log level for structured logging: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled (default "info")
+      --structured-logging-pretty                                        Enable pretty console output for structured logging
       --table-gc-lifecycle string                                        States for a DROP TABLE garbage collection cycle. Default is 'hold,purge,evac,drop', use any subset ('drop' implicitly always included) (default "hold,purge,evac,drop")
       --table-refresh-interval int                                       interval in milliseconds to refresh tables in status page with refreshRequired class
       --tablet-dir string                                                The directory within the vtdataroot to store vttablet/mysql files. Defaults to being generated by the tablet uid.