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name: syslog-filter description: Filters and cleans syslog/log files by removing unwanted lines containing specific phrases or patterns. Use when the user asks to "regular log file", "filter the log file", "clean the log", "remove noise from logs", or when analyzing logs that need preprocessing to remove unwanted entries. Automatically creates a filtered temporary file for cleaner analysis.

Syslog Filter Skill

This skill filters syslog and log files by removing lines containing unwanted phrases, making log analysis cleaner and more focused.

When This Skill Activates

This skill should be used when:

• User mentions "regular log file"
• User asks to "filter the log file" or "clean the log"
• User wants to "remove noise" or "filter out" specific content from logs
• Analyzing logs that contain repetitive or unwanted entries

Workflow

When filtering a log file:

1. Identify filter criteria: Determine which phrases should be removed. Common patterns include:

   • Usernames or user paths (e.g., "alex", "Alex", "/alfeng")
   • Separator lines (e.g., "========", "-------")
   • Verbose messages (e.g., "Process use", "DEBUG")
   • Other noise patterns specific to the log

2. Run the filter script: Use scripts/filter_syslog.py to create a cleaned version:

   python scripts/filter_syslog.py <input_log> <output_log> "phrase1" "phrase2" ...
   

3. Create temporary filtered file: Save the filtered output to a temporary location for analysis:

   python scripts/filter_syslog.py input.log /tmp/filtered_log.txt "alex" "Alex" "=======" "Process use"
   

4. Proceed with analysis: Use the filtered file for subsequent analysis, searching, or processing

Filter Script Usage

The filtering script (scripts/filter_syslog.py) removes lines containing specified phrases (case-sensitive).

Syntax:

python filter_syslog.py <input_file> <output_file> [phrase1] [phrase2] ...

Parameters:

• input_file: Path to the original log file
• output_file: Path where filtered log will be saved
• phrase1, phrase2, ...: List of phrases to filter out (case-sensitive)

Examples:

Remove common noise patterns:

python filter_syslog.py system.log /tmp/clean.log "========" "DEBUG" "Process use"

Remove user-specific paths:

python filter_syslog.py app.log /tmp/app_clean.log "/alfeng" "alex" "Alex"

Multiple filters:

python filter_syslog.py syslog.txt /tmp/filtered.txt "=======" "alex" "Process use" "DEBUG"

Important Notes

• Case-sensitive: Filtering is case-sensitive. "alex" and "Alex" are different and must be specified separately if both should be removed
• Partial matching: Any line containing the phrase will be removed (not just exact matches)
• Temporary files: Use /tmp/ directory for temporary filtered files to avoid cluttering the workspace
• Preserve original: The original log file is never modified; filtered output is written to a new file
• Summary output: The script reports how many lines were read, kept, and removed

Default Filters

If no phrases are specified, the script uses these default filters:

• "========"
• "alex"
• "Alex"
• "Process use"

Users can override these by providing explicit phrase arguments.