> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://elastiflow.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://elastiflow.gitbook.io/docs/elastiflow-documentation/configuration-reference/common/stdout-output.md).

# stdout output

The stdout output is used to output JSON-formatted records to stdout. It is useful for during initial installation and while troubleshooting issues to see the output of the collector directly in the terminal or logs.

:::note At anything more than a few flow records per second the data will scroll too fast to be useful. For this reason the `stdout` output should be used primarily for manual testing. :::

## EF\_OUTPUT\_STDOUT\_ENABLE

Specifies whether the `stdout` output is enabled.

* Valid Values
  * `true`, `false`
* Default
  * `false`

## EF\_OUTPUT\_STDOUT\_FORMAT

* Valid Values
  * `json` - Output as a single JSON-formatted record per line.
  * `json_pretty` - Output each record as a "pretty" formatted JSON document.
* Default
  * `json_pretty`