Querying Logs

The query command retrieves stored entries and prints them to stdout. Filter by time range or retrieve all entries.

Query Options

Flag	Description	Example
--from	Filter from time	--from 1h
--to	Filter until time	--to "2026-01-30"
--format	Output format	text, json, csv, hex
--limit	Maximum entries to return	--limit 1000

Without filters, query returns up to 1000 entries. Use --limit 0 to return all.

Time Formats

Relative

Terminal

kifa query -d ./data --from 1h      # Last hour
kifa query -d ./data --from 30m     # Last 30 minutes
kifa query -d ./data --from 2d      # Last 2 days
kifa query -d ./data --from 1h30m   # Last 1.5 hours

Absolute

Terminal

kifa query -d ./data --from "2026-01-29 12:00:00"
kifa query -d ./data --from "2026-01-29T12:00:00Z"
kifa query -d ./data --from "2026-01-29"             # Midnight

Output Formats

Text

Terminal

kifa query -d ./data --format text

Output

2026-01-31 18:30:00 UTC {"txn":"TXN-001","amount":5000}

JSON

Terminal

kifa query -d ./data --format json

Output

{"timestamp":"2026-01-31 18:30:00 UTC","data":"{...}"}

CSV

Terminal

kifa query -d ./data --format csv

Output

timestamp,data
"2026-01-31 18:30:00 UTC","{...}"

Hex

Terminal

kifa query -d ./data --format hex

Output

18276c2dae160000 7b22...

Combining Filters

Time filters can be combined to select a specific window:

Terminal

kifa query -d ./data --from 24h --to 1h