What is the project about?

Tailpipe is a lightweight, developer-friendly tool for querying and analyzing logs from various sources (cloud, containers, applications) using SQL.

What problem does it solve?

It simplifies log analysis by allowing users to query logs directly with SQL, eliminating the need for complex log management systems or custom scripting for basic analysis. It provides fast, local analysis without needing to upload data to a central service.

What are the features of the project?

• SQL-based querying: Analyze logs using familiar SQL syntax.
• Local and efficient: Runs locally, leveraging DuckDB and Parquet for performance.
• Plugin ecosystem: Extensible with plugins for various services (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.).
• Prebuilt intelligence: Includes prebuilt queries, detections, benchmarks, and dashboards (via Powerpipe).
• Detections as code: Define security and anomaly detections using code.
• Data Collection: Downloads, enriches and saves logs.
• Interactive Query Mode

What are the technologies used in the project?

• DuckDB (in-memory analytics)
• Parquet (optimized storage)
• SQL
• HCL (configuration)
• Go (implied by build instructions)

What are the benefits of the project?

• Simplified log analysis: Easy to query and understand logs.
• Fast and efficient: Local processing with optimized technologies.
• Extensible: Supports various log sources through plugins.
• Community-driven: Open source with prebuilt content and contributions.
• Security focused: Includes prebuilt detections and allows custom definitions.

What are the use cases of the project?

• Troubleshooting application and infrastructure issues.
• Security monitoring and threat detection.
• Analyzing cloud service usage and activity.
• Auditing and compliance reporting.
• General log exploration and data discovery.