Monitoring in 2025: Logs, Metrics, and Alerts Without the Bloat

🎯 What You Need

Good monitoring tells you:

• Is the app up?
• Are there errors?
• Is it slow?
• Are users affected?

✅ Simple Setup

1. Logs

Use structured logging (JSON). Store logs in a simple service (like Papertrail or Logtail). Search when you need to.

2. Metrics

Track the basics:

• Request rate
• Error rate
• Response time
• Server resources (CPU, memory)

3. Alerts

Alert on:

• App is down
• Error rate spikes
• Response time is high

🛠️ My Stack

For small apps:

• Logs: Application logs + simple log service
• Metrics: Built-in platform metrics (Vercel, Railway, etc.)
• Alerts: Email or Slack notifications

For larger apps:

• Logs: Centralized logging (Datadog, New Relic, or self-hosted)
• Metrics: Prometheus + Grafana
• Alerts: PagerDuty or similar

⚠️ What to Skip

Don't add:

• Complex dashboards you never look at
• Metrics you don't act on
• Alerts that go off constantly
• Tools you don't understand

💡 Start Simple

Begin with:

1. Application logs
2. Basic uptime monitoring
3. Error alerts

Add more only when you need it.

💭 My Take

Good monitoring is simple and actionable. You don't need enterprise tools to know if your app is working.

Start with the basics. Add complexity only when you have a real need.