> Fetch the index of every Tonbo docs page as Markdown at https://tonbo.dev/llms.txt

# Read its logs

Last updated 3 November 2026

> Machines are not open yet. These pages describe Machines as they will open; until then, a create answers [`region_not_offered`](https://tonbo.dev/docs/machines/troubleshooting/manage.md#region_not_offered) (422), “Machines are not offered in any region yet.”

Read what your Machine’s program printed, and what Tonbo did to the Machine, from its last few days or live, across sleeps and wakes. Reading never wakes the Machine.

> Planned Not served yet. This page describes how it will work, as decided; until it is served, every request below answers 404 at `https://api.us-east-1.tonbo.sh/v1`. The [Machines API reference](https://tonbo.dev/docs/reference/management/machines.md) lists each operation, marked Planned.

## Read and follow

```shell
curl -sS "https://api.us-east-1.tonbo.sh/v1/machines/hello/logs?limit=100" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TONBO_API_KEY"

# Follow new lines as they come, across sleeps and wakes
curl -sSN "https://api.us-east-1.tonbo.sh/v1/machines/hello/logs?follow=true&cursor=<seq>" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TONBO_API_KEY"
```

The answer is one JSON object per line, oldest first:

```json
{"type":"line","seq":41,"t":"2026-11-03T09:30:02Z","activation":"0193a6c4e8a07d2c9f3b5a1e6d4c2b10","stream":"stdout","line":"starting","continued":false}
{"type":"line","seq":42,"t":"2026-11-03T09:30:03Z","activation":"0193a6c4e8a07d2c9f3b5a1e6d4c2b10","stream":"stdout","line":"listening on :8080","continued":false}
{"type":"eof","next_cursor":"42"}
```

- `cursor` takes a line’s `seq` and reads after it, and `since` takes a time. `limit` is 500 by default and at most 5,000.
- Without `follow` the answer ends with an `eof` line and the `next_cursor` to read from next. With `follow=true` it streams new lines, with a `tick` line every 30 seconds, for at most 24 hours a connection; read on from the last `seq` you read.
- A line holds at most 16 KiB; longer output is split, and every part but the last is marked `continued`.
- `activation` reads one boot’s lines, the `Tonbo-Activation` other answers name.

## What the logs hold

- `stdout` and `stderr`: what the Machine’s own program, its `command`, printed.
- `platform`: what Tonbo did, written by Tonbo and never by the Machine: each wake and why one was refused, the image pulled, the program started and its exit code, a run out of memory, and each stop with its reason. A line a program prints claiming to be `platform` is shown as `stdout`.

The output of commands and background processes is never logged: read it from their answer or their output (see [Read its output](https://tonbo.dev/docs/machines/processes.md#output)).

## How long they are kept

7 days, or the last 1 GiB a Machine, and deleted with the Machine. Writing them counts as the Machine’s stream writes (see [Pricing](https://tonbo.dev/docs/machines/pricing.md)). Reading them needs `machines.connect`, which every role holds, because what a program prints can include secrets.