Standardizing logging across commands

We're aiming to enhance the clarity and consistency of verbose and debug messages across our commands. This effort will help make our logging more uniform and informative. Below is the first draft of some guidelines on how and when to implement each type of logging.

Verbose Logging

• Prefix each log entry with a timestamp to aid in debugging and tracing. Format: [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS] Message
  • Here I would even look into coloring the timestamp clearly to make it more visual.
  • Maybe even work out some logic where we add some more whitespace after each log.
• Begin each command with a concise description of its action, e.g., [2024-03-23 15:45:15] Listing all Teams Apps...
• Log each API endpoint called, e.g., [2024-03-23 15:45:30] GET: "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/appCatalogs/teamsApps?$filter=distributionMethod eq 'organization'"

Debug Logging

• Focus on logging internal processes, such as received options, token validity, the complete API request being made, and timing reports.
• Avoid adding custom logs in commandAction to explain actions being performed. If they want to do this, it should be a verbose log instead.

To facilitate the changes suggested for verbose logging, I propose adding a new property to Logger, such as logger.logVerbose. This will allow us to centralize the logic for checking the verbose flag and formatting messages with a timestamp in cli.ts. Consequently, writing verbose messages within commandAction will become more straightforward.

Implementation Steps

• Explore NPM packages for logging usage.
• Finalize the guidelines.
• Define the next steps.
  ...
• Apply these changes to each command.

Start by reviewing cli.ts, Logger, and existing commandAction logging, then explore the NPM logging packages mentioned in the issue. The guidelines still need to be finalized before implementation; done would mean agreed verbose and debug behavior applied consistently across each command.