Reading build logs faster
October 5, 2025
Long CI logs hide the real error under hundreds of lines of noise. A few habits help.
Search for the first error, not the last one. The last failure is usually a consequence. Collapse sections by step so the log has structure. And print the versions of every tool at the start of the job; half of "works on my machine" problems end right there.
set -x node --version; npm --version; git --version
None of this is clever, but it saves time every single week.