How to Set Up Custom Logging and Monitor App Events in Bubble

Go to the Data tab and create a new Data Type called 'AppLog'. Add the following fields: 'event_type' (text — values like 'info', 'warning', 'error', 'debug'), 'message' (text — description of what happened), 'source' (text — which page or workflow generated the log), 'user' (User — the user who triggered the event, if applicable), 'details' (text — additional context or error messages), and 'severity' (number — 1 for debug, 2 for info, 3 for warning, 4 for error). The auto-generated Created Date field serves as your timestamp.

In any workflow where you want to record an event, add a Create a new thing → AppLog action. Set the fields: event_type to the appropriate level, message to a description of the event, source to the page or workflow name, and user to Current User. For error logging, use the 'An unhandled error occurs' event. Create a workflow for this event and log Current workflow error's message and Current workflow error's code. For important user actions like signups, purchases, or data changes, add an AppLog creation step in the relevant workflow.

Create a new admin page for viewing logs. Add filter controls: a Dropdown for event_type, a Date Range picker for time filtering, and a Search Input for text search. Below the filters, add a Repeating Group with type AppLog. Set the data source to Do a Search for AppLog with constraints matching your filter values. Display columns for timestamp (Created Date), event type, message, source, and user. Add color-coded badges for event types — red for error, yellow for warning, blue for info, gray for debug. Sort by Created Date descending so newest logs appear first.

Create a backend workflow called 'check_error_alerts'. Use a database trigger event: When an AppLog is created and event_type is 'error'. Inside this trigger, add an action to send an email notification to your admin email address. Include the error message, source, timestamp, and user in the email body. You can also send a Slack notification via webhook using the API Connector if your team uses Slack for monitoring. For rate limiting, add a condition that only sends alerts if fewer than 5 error alerts have been sent in the last hour to avoid notification flooding.

Logs accumulate quickly and can bloat your database. Create a scheduled backend workflow called 'cleanup_old_logs' that runs daily. Inside it, search for AppLog entries where Created Date is older than 30 days (or your preferred retention period) and event_type is not 'error'. Delete these records using a Schedule API Workflow on a List action to process them in batches. Keep error logs for 90 days or longer for debugging historical issues. You can also archive old logs by exporting them before deletion.