Monitor API Errors in Express
Catch production errors before users report them
The problem
Errors in your Express production app are inevitable, but finding out from angry users is not. The typical flow is frustrating: a customer emails support, support asks engineering, engineering digs through logs, and by the time you understand the issue, it has been affecting users for hours.
Error monitoring tools exist, but they often drown you in noise. Every 404, every validation error, every expected exception in your route handlers gets logged with the same priority as actual problems. You end up ignoring alerts entirely.
What you need is not more error data. You need the right errors, in context, delivered to the people who can fix them.
The solution
Quicklog lets you track the errors that matter in your Express app. Unexpected exceptions. Failed external calls. Business logic violations. You define what counts as an error worth knowing about.
Include context that helps debugging: the user affected, the request parameters, the state of the system. With npm install @quicklog/sdk and a tracking call in your route handlers, when an error appears in your feed, you have everything needed to understand and fix it.
Route different errors to different channels. Critical payment errors go to one place. Minor UI issues go to another. Your Express team can triage effectively instead of fighting through noise.
Why monitor this?
- Know about errors before users report them
- See the context needed to debug quickly
- Route errors to the right team members
Quick setup
Install the SDK:
npm install @quicklog/sdkAdd tracking to your Express app:
const { Quicklog } = require('@quicklog/sdk')
const ql = new Quicklog(process.env.QUICKLOG_API_KEY)
// Monitor API Errors
await ql.track({
channel: 'errors',
event: 'api.error',
description: 'Describe what happened',
user: {
id: user.id,
email: user.email,
name: user.name
},
metadata: {
// Add relevant context here
}
})Express tips
- Create an error handling middleware at the end of your middleware chain
- Use domains or async_hooks to capture the full request context in errors
- Include the Express route pattern and method in error metadata
Ready to monitor api errors?
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