--- title: HTTP Logging in ASP.NET: how to automatically log all... description: ASP.NET provides a built-in HttpLogging middleware that automatically logs incoming HTTP requests and responses without needing manual log statements. The... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/http-logging-in-asp-net-how-to-automatically-log-all-incoming-http-requests-and-its-downsides--qaxrzndws twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: HTTP Logging in ASP.NET: how to automatically log all incoming HTTP requests (and its downsides!) | daily.dev og:description: ASP.NET provides a built-in HttpLogging middleware that automatically logs incoming HTTP requests and responses without needing manual log statements. The... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/http-logging-in-asp-net-how-to-automatically-log-all-incoming-http-requests-and-its-downsides--qaxrzndws og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/qAxrZNdWS.png og:image:alt: HTTP Logging in ASP.NET: how to automatically log all incoming HTTP requests (and its downsides!) og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # HTTP Logging in ASP.NET: how to automatically log all incoming HTTP requests (and its downsides!) **[Code4IT](https://daily.dev/sources/code4it)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary ASP.NET provides a built-in HttpLogging middleware that automatically logs incoming HTTP requests and responses without needing manual log statements. The walkthrough shows adding the middleware, enabling its log level (since it's filtered out by default), viewing logs in Seq, and combining request/response entries into a single log item via CombineLogs. It also covers the tradeoffs: performance overhead from processing every request, the need for custom redaction logic via IHttpLoggingInterceptor to strip sensitive data, and increased storage costs from verbose logging. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why don't my ASP.NET HttpLogging middleware logs show up anywhere even though I enabled app.UseHttpLogging()? Logs from HttpLogging middleware are filtered out by default because they're emitted at Information level under the Microsoft.AspNetCore.HttpLogging.HttpLoggingMiddleware namespace, which is suppressed by typical default log level configuration. Fix it by adding an explicit LogLevel entry for that namespace in appsettings.json, or by calling AddFilter with that namespace and LogLevel.Information when configuring logging in code. _daily.dev surfaces practical fixes like this for developers wiring up ASP.NET logging pipelines._ ### How do I combine the separate request and response log entries from ASP.NET HttpLogging into one log item? Set the CombineLogs property to true inside the AddHttpLogging configuration lambda in Program.cs. By default HttpLogging writes two separate log entries per HTTP call, one for the request and one for the response; enabling CombineLogs merges both into a single log item, making it easier to correlate request and response data together. _Developers tuning log verbosity and storage costs can track such ASP.NET configuration tips on daily.dev._ ### What are the downsides of enabling automatic HTTP request/response logging in ASP.NET Core? Automatic HTTP logging adds processing overhead on every request since the middleware must interpret the HTTP context and write log entries, degrading performance. It also logs nearly everything by default except a few redacted fields, so sensitive data may leak unless a custom IHttpLoggingInterceptor is implemented to redact it. Finally, verbose logging increases storage volume, raising log sink costs over time. _Weighing logging tradeoffs for production APIs is easier with ongoing backend engineering coverage on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Guide to Jersey Logging on Server](https://daily.dev/posts/guide-to-jersey-logging-on-server-bwnmrkkha) · Baeldung · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [ASP.NET Core 11 Request Pipeline Performance Deep Dive](https://daily.dev/posts/asp-net-core-11-request-pipeline-performance-deep-dive-y8dxv0kx8) · C\# Corner · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [ASP.NET Core Middleware: Building and Using the Request Pipeline](https://daily.dev/posts/asp-net-core-middleware-building-and-using-the-request-pipeline-tav1b2ck7) · We Are .NET · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Tuning the default logging providers in ASP.NET Core through configuration](https://daily.dev/posts/tuning-the-default-logging-providers-in-asp-net-core-through-configuration-fjejxdftp) · The Art of Simplicity · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Structured Logging Patterns That Actually Survive Production — Daily DevOps & .NET](https://daily.dev/posts/structured-logging-patterns-that-actually-survive-production-daily-devops-net-lphiux5cy) · Daily DevOps & .NET · 6 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#.net](https://daily.dev/tags/.net), [#logging](https://daily.dev/tags/logging), [#c#](https://daily.dev/tags/c#), [#aspnet](https://daily.dev/tags/aspnet) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/http-logging-in-asp-net-how-to-automatically-log-all-incoming-http-requests-and-its-downsides--qaxrzndws) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"HTTP Logging in ASP.NET: how to automatically log all incoming HTTP requests (and its downsides!)","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/http-logging-in-asp-net-how-to-automatically-log-all-incoming-http-requests-and-its-downsides--qaxrzndws","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/http-logging-in-asp-net-how-to-automatically-log-all-incoming-http-requests-and-its-downsides--qaxrzndws"},"datePublished":"2026-10-04T13:07:15.863Z","dateModified":"2026-10-04T13:15:45.153Z","description":"ASP.NET provides a built-in HttpLogging middleware that automatically logs incoming HTTP requests and responses without needing manual log statements. 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