goosed runaway logging with no rotation under ~/.local/state/goose/logs/server on macOS — logs up to 630 GB per file

[pmakatura]

Hey team,
Ran into this issue with Goose today and used ChatGPT to resolve. Goose suggested this was a result of a bug and suggested I file this bug report + drafted it up for me. Let me know if you need anything else!

Summary

• On macOS, the Goose server (goosed) is writing enormous daily log files under ~/.local/state/goose/logs/server with no apparent rotation or sane size limits. This filled my disk completely.
• This appears to be runaway logging and/or an excessively verbose default log level combined with missing/ineffective rotation.

Environment

• OS: macOS 15.6.1
• Goose Desktop: 1.9.0-block.202509242155-cd4ca (1.9.0-block.202509242155-cd4ca)
• How goosed starts: Unknown (likely background via Desktop; I did not consciously start it)
• XDG_STATE_HOME: Unknown

Impact

• Severity: Critical
• Effect: Disk fills to 100%, risking data loss and system instability. Required manual truncation of logs to recover space.

Observed behavior

• Logs written to: ~/.local/state/goose/logs/server/
• Example file sizes:
  • 20250930_111045-goosed.log → 630 GB
  • 20250930_111618-goosed.log → 26 GB
  • 20251001_goosed.log → 121 GB
• Behavior persisted until I manually truncated the files and killed goosed.

Expected behavior

• Default logging should:
  • Use a sane default level (info or warn).
  • Rotate by size and/or time automatically.
  • Enforce a hard cap to prevent any single file from exceeding a safe size (e.g., 50–200 MB).
• Disk should never be at risk from default logging behavior.

Steps to reproduce (best effort)

1. Install/run Goose Desktop 1.9.0-block.202509242155-cd4ca on macOS 15.6.1.
2. Allow the app/server to run in the background.
3. Over time (hours to a day), logs accumulate under ~/.local/state/goose/logs/server and can grow to hundreds of GB without rotation.

Temporary mitigation taken

• Truncated the large .log files (truncate -s 0 …) to recover space.
• Did not disable the server because I’m unsure if I need it; would prefer a product-side fix.

Notes

• Path is XDG-style; I didn’t intentionally set XDG_STATE_HOME (unknown if set by the app environment). On macOS, it may be more conventional to log under ~/Library/Logs/Goose or use macOS’s unified logging, but the main issue is the lack of rotation and extreme verbosity.
• I’m happy to provide additional diagnostics if helpful.

Requested fix

• Set a safe default log level (warn or info).
• Add size- and time-based rotation by default.
• Enforce a hard maximum per file and a total retention cap.
• Consider platform-appropriate default log locations and rotation mechanisms on macOS.
• Provide a user-facing toggle for server logging level and retention in Desktop settings, or ensure server inherits a safe default.

Optional diagnostics you can request from me

• Check if XDG_STATE_HOME is set:
  • echo "$XDG_STATE_HOME"
• List log sizes:
  • ls -lahS ~/.local/state/goose/logs/server | head -n 50
• Find open file handles (if space doesn’t return after deletion):
  • sudo lsof -nP | grep goosed

Thank you! This issue is blocking due to the potential for complete disk exhaustion.

[DOsinga]

thanks! these are enormous indeed. is there anything in those files you can spot that it is causing this? feels like something might be repeating itself. if you less 20250930_111045-goosed.log for a bit do you spot something?

[pmakatura]

Hey @DOsinga ! Here's what Goose told me to send you - it's the head/tail and top repeating lines from the largest log in 2025-10-02. Let me know if you want anything else!

HEAD_200.txt
SEVERITY_TAIL.txt
TAIL_200.txt
TOP_REPEATS_TAIL.txt

[DOsinga]

ok, cool, I think I know what's up here

[arul-cc]

Hi @DOsinga, Any update on this? Seems like the PR is closed without merging https://github.com/block/goose/pull/4985