Add back the ability to download logs

[cmorinupgrade]

Feature request

The ability to download logs from a TaskRun's pod was removed in the v0.60 redesign. We would like to request this feature be restored, either as a button similar to the previous implementation or through an alternative UI pattern that fits the new design.

In Tekton Dashboard v0.49.0 and earlier, there was a button to download the logs of a given pod stemming from a TaskRun. This functionality is no longer available in v0.64.0.

Use case

We run Tekton at large scale and use the operator to manage our deployments. The log download button was one of the first missing features our developers noticed after upgrading from v0.49.0 to v0.64.0.

This feature is particularly helpful when steps produce a large amount of logs. Developers rely on the download functionality to:

• Save and analyze large log files locally that are too large to comfortably view in the browser UI
• Share complete logs with team members for debugging
• Work around browser performance issues when rendering very large log output

Alternatives

Current workarounds include:

• Using kubectl logs commands directly - requires command-line access, knowledge of pod names, and breaks the UI workflow. Most developers do not have access to do kubectl commands themselves on the clusters where our Tekton infra runs. The dashboard provides the level of abstraction for their feedback loop on their pipelines (master release and PR).
• Copying logs from the browser UI - impractical for large logs due to browser performance and selection limitations
• Setting up external log aggregation systems - adds infrastructure complexity for what was a simple built-in feature
• None of these alternatives provide the same convenience and accessibility as the original download button feature.

Additional context

We upgraded from v0.49.0 to v0.64.0 (skipping the v0.60 redesign where this was removed). This feature is particularly useful when working with large-scale Tekton deployments.

The browser UI can struggle with rendering very large log outputs, making the download feature essential rather than just convenient.

[AlanGreene]

Thanks for the quick and detailed follow-up to our Slack conversation @cmorinupgrade. In particular I appreciate the detail you included around alternatives / workarounds. This really helps us to understand the context of your usage and will feed into explorations for this feature.

[AlanGreene]

The code is still present in the logs toolbar component:

dashboard/packages/components/src/components/LogsToolbar/LogsToolbar.jsx

Lines 75 to 107 in bbfa354

	{url ? (
	<>
	<a
	className={`${carbonPrefix}--btn ${carbonPrefix}--btn--sm ${carbonPrefix}--layout--size-sm ${carbonPrefix}--btn--icon-only ${carbonPrefix}--copy-btn`}
	href={url}
	target="_blank"
	rel="noopener noreferrer"
	>
	<Launch>
	<title>
	{intl.formatMessage({
	id: 'dashboard.logs.launchButtonTooltip',
	defaultMessage: 'Open logs in a new window'
	})}
	</title>
	</Launch>
	</a>
	<a
	className={`${carbonPrefix}--btn ${carbonPrefix}--btn--sm ${carbonPrefix}--layout--size-sm ${carbonPrefix}--btn--icon-only ${carbonPrefix}--copy-btn`}
	download={name}
	href={url}
	>
	<Download>
	<title>
	{intl.formatMessage({
	id: 'dashboard.logs.downloadButtonTooltip',
	defaultMessage: 'Download logs'
	})}
	</title>
	</Download>
	</a>
	</>
	) : null}

It would need to be extracted from this to a separate component that can be optionally rendered in or near each step log.