Live tail

Live tail is a mode of the Messages tab, not a separate screen. The toolbar carries a two-way switch: History shows stored messages, Realtime opens a live subscription and streams messages in as they arrive.

Payloads decode on the fly. When you change a .proto source while a live session runs, Natscope re-decodes with the new schema without a reconnect. See Protobuf.

Realtime tail of a work queue, throttled to a readable rate.

Start a tail

1. Open a stream and go to the Messages tab.
2. Switch the toolbar toggle to Realtime.
3. Optional: open Filters and set a Subject pattern to narrow the feed. NATS wildcards work.

Messages arrive in batches with live throughput stats: messages per second, per-subject counts and dropped-message tracking.

Control the flow

Realtime mode adds three controls to the toolbar:

• Pause / Resume — stop and restart intake without dropping the subscription
• Clear — empty the live buffer
• Display rate — No limit, 1 msg/s, 5 msg/s, 10 msg/s, 25 msg/s or 50 msg/s

The rate limit throttles what the UI renders. It does not slow the stream or the subscription. A busy work queue at 1 msg/s stays readable while the server keeps running at full speed.

A separate dropdown caps how many live messages the buffer holds. Older ones fall off the top.

Subscription mode

Settings → Preferences → Live picks how the tail subscribes:

• Core NATS — a plain subject subscription
• JetStream Ordered — an ordered ephemeral consumer bound to the stream

The same section sets Max display rate as a default, so new tails start throttled. Under Display, Default view mode decides whether a stream opens in History or Realtime, and Auto-scroll live keeps the list pinned to the newest message.