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Share a stack trace or log output as a link

Turn a stack trace, build log, or error output into a link that expires: paste it in the browser, or pipe it straight from the terminal with curl.

Updated

A stack trace pasted into Slack becomes an unreadable wall that pushes the actual conversation off screen, and it stays in that channel's history long after the bug is fixed. A link is better: formatting survives, the recipient can open it raw, and you can make the whole thing disappear on a schedule.

From the browser

  • Open the paste form, paste the trace or log, and pick an expiry. For a debugging session, 1d is usually right; the default keeps it for a week.
  • Leave visibility on unlisted. The paste stays off the public archive and search engines are told not to index it; anyone you give the link to can read it.
  • Create the paste and share the link. The recipient needs no account and sees the text with line numbers and highlighting, plus a raw view for copying into an editor.

Straight from the terminal

The pipe endpoint takes a plain-text body and answers with the paste URL, so sharing a failing build is one command:

Pipe a command's output
npm test 2>&1 | curl -sS --data-binary @- https://www.pastepile.com/api/paste

# or an existing file:
curl -sS --data-binary @error.log https://www.pastepile.com/api/paste

The response body is the share URL. Two response headers are worth keeping: X-Edit-Key (shown once; it can delete the paste early) and X-Raw-Url. Pipe-created pastes are unlisted and expire in one week. Piped writes work without a key until September 8, 2026; after that they need an API key, while pasting in the browser stays free.

Redact before you share

Logs are where secrets go to hide. Before sharing, scan for tokens and API keys in environment dumps, Authorization headers in request logs, session cookies, internal hostnames, and customer identifiers. An unlisted paste is not access control: anyone who obtains the link can read it.
  • If the log is genuinely sensitive, create it as an end-to-end encrypted paste in the browser. The decryption key stays in the link fragment and never reaches the server.
  • If exactly one person should read it once, use burn-after-read: the paste destroys itself on first view.
  • If a secret did leak into a shared log, rotate it. Deleting the paste helps, but a sent link may already have been opened.

Paste a trace and get a link

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