# Inspect console evidence from a bundle

Canonical: https://fairleadhq.com/docs/recorder/developers/console-evidence/

Updated: 2026-10-10
Publication state: published
Product version: Source verified — 52de40a

Agent summary: Inspect console.log as supplied text. An absent or clean log does not establish a passed test.

## Prerequisites

- A bundle that may contain console.log

## Inputs

- Console messages, stack traces, and the tester's expected and observed result

## Outputs

- Relevant console observations with source and timing limits

## Limitations

- The text export does not reproduce Viewer filters, detail panels, or inferred action links

## Permissions

- Access to the supplied evidence

## Privacy

- Console text is not universally sanitized and needs manual review


Read captured console text and relate it to the reported behavior.

Open `console.log` as text in your editor. Use search, timestamps, stack frames, and the surrounding artifacts to identify relevant messages.

## Find relevant messages

Search for an exception name, application module, endpoint, subject identifier, or time near the reported action. Read the full message and available stack together. Distinguish application messages from browser, extension, or third-party output before following a stack into code you own.

Compare the message time with `session.md` and `network.har`. A message close to an action or request is a lead, not proof that the action caused it. Check whether the stack, request result, and visible state support the same explanation.

## Interpret missing evidence

Check whether `console.log` is actually present. `session.md` can link to an expected filename even when the downloader omitted it. An absent file can mean there were no exported entries, a download was partial, or the file was not supplied.

A zero console-error count does not establish that the acceptance criteria passed. The sample bundle has a visible state defect and six successful HTTP responses but no `console.log`.

If the missing console context matters, ask the tester for the exact message, stack, source, and time in a new description or note. Do not ask them to send “the Viewer”; a bundle cannot reproduce it.

## Share the useful portion

Include the smallest relevant excerpt with the expected result, observed result, source, timestamp, and related request or action. Review the text for credentials, tokens, personal data, application payloads, and internal URLs before copying it to an issue or another tool.