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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.asymptotelabs.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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Local Logs

Beacon writes endpoint telemetry to a local runtime JSONL log. Local log checks help confirm that commands, the dashboard, and any downstream forwarding are reading the same file.

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Find the active runtime log

Use status to print the configured runtime log path and last observed event: 
beacon endpoint status
For machine-readable output: 
beacon endpoint status --json
Status also reports runtime-log source warnings when a system collector may be writing OTLP events to a different log than the one you are inspecting.

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User and system paths

Default local evaluation uses per-user endpoint paths: 
beacon endpoint status --user
beacon endpoint test-event --user
Managed package deployments usually use system mode and write endpoint events to /var/log/beacon-agent/runtime.jsonl: 
sudo beacon endpoint status --system
sudo beacon endpoint test-event --system
Keep user-mode and system-mode checks separate. A dashboard opened against a user log will not show events written only to the system log, and a system-mode status check may report a different collector or launchd service state.

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Log rotation

Beacon keeps the active runtime.jsonl path stable and rotates it when the next write would exceed 10 MiB. By default, it keeps five numbered local archives next to the active file: 
runtime.jsonl
runtime.jsonl.1
runtime.jsonl.2
runtime.jsonl.3
runtime.jsonl.4
runtime.jsonl.5
External shippers should continue tailing the active runtime.jsonl path and use their normal file-rotation handling to checkpoint offsets. The local dashboard can inspect the active log and numbered archives when you need to review recent rotated events.

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Test a custom log path

Use --log-path when testing a temporary runtime log or a support reproduction: 
beacon endpoint test-event --log-path /path/to/runtime.jsonl
beacon endpoint status --log-path /path/to/runtime.jsonl
beacon endpoint dashboard --log-path /path/to/runtime.jsonl
The same path should be used across the write, status, and dashboard checks. When a custom log rotates, archives use the same path plus a numeric suffix. For example, /tmp/beacon/runtime.jsonl rotates to /tmp/beacon/runtime.jsonl.1.

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What to confirm

AreaExpected result
Runtime pathStatus shows the log path you intend to test
Writabilitybeacon endpoint test-event can append a validation event
FreshnessStatus reports a recent last Beacon event
RotationThe active log remains at runtime.jsonl and older local data moves to numbered archives
Dashboard sourceDashboard --log-path matches the tested runtime log
Deployment modeUser or system mode matches the installation you are validating

Health checks

Confirm endpoint configuration, collector health, and local diagnostics.

Validation events

Append a known-good event to the runtime JSONL log.

Dashboard testing

Confirm the dashboard is reading and summarizing the expected log.

Endpoint event schema

Review the normalized JSONL contract used for endpoint events.