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Step 1: Start Some Containers

First, make sure you have Docker running with at least one container. If you don’t have any running, start a quick test container: 
# Start a simple web server
docker run -d --name web-server nginx

# Start a background worker
docker run -d --name worker-app busybox sh -c "while true; do echo 'working...'; sleep 5; done"

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Step 2: Tail All Logs

Run docker-agent-tail with the --all flag to discover and tail all running containers: 
docker-agent-tail --all --follow
You’ll see logs from both containers streaming in real-time with timestamps and container names.

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Step 3: Filter Specific Containers

Target specific containers using the --names flag: 
docker-agent-tail --names web-server,worker-app --follow

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Step 4: Filter Log Content

Use regex patterns to filter and mute specific log lines: 
# Exclude lines matching a pattern
docker-agent-tail --all --exclude 'health.*check' --follow

# Mute specific patterns (separate output file)
docker-agent-tail --all --mute 'DEBUG|TRACE' --follow

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Step 5: Save to Files

Write logs to files for later analysis or sharing with AI agents: 
# Create a logs directory
mkdir -p logs

# Write combined logs
docker-agent-tail --all --output logs/combined.log --follow
This creates individual per-container logs and a combined log file.

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Understanding Log Output

Log lines follow a structured format optimized for parsing: 
[2026-03-04T10:30:01.789Z] [stdout] GET /api/users 200 12ms
  • Timestamp: ISO 8601 format with millisecond precision
  • Container name: Fixed-width column in combined logs
  • Stream type: stdout or stderr

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Next Steps

CLI Reference

Explore all available flags and options

Using with AI Agents

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