perf: use zap's Check() to prevent useless allocs (#6560)

* perf: use zap's Check() to prevent useless allocs

* fix

* fix

* fix

* fix

* restore previous replacer behavior

* fix linter

22 files changed, 516 insertions, 247 deletions

diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go b/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go
index c60de880b..f799d7a0c 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/caddyauth/caddyauth.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
@@ -76,9 +77,9 @@ func (a Authentication) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 	for provName, prov := range a.Providers {
 		user, authed, err = prov.Authenticate(w, r)
 		if err != nil {
-			a.logger.Error("auth provider returned error",
-				zap.String("provider", provName),
-				zap.Error(err))
+			if c := a.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "auth provider returned error"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("provider", provName), zap.Error(err))
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 		if authed {
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browse.go b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browse.go
index f5cc16b42..a19b4e17a 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browse.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browse.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
@@ -68,9 +69,9 @@ type Browse struct {
 }
 
 func (fsrv *FileServer) serveBrowse(fileSystem fs.FS, root, dirPath string, w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next caddyhttp.Handler) error {
-	fsrv.logger.Debug("browse enabled; listing directory contents",
-		zap.String("path", dirPath),
-		zap.String("root", root))
+	if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "browse enabled; listing directory contents"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.String("path", dirPath), zap.String("root", root))
+	}
 
 	// Navigation on the client-side gets messed up if the
 	// URL doesn't end in a trailing slash because hrefs to
@@ -92,7 +93,9 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) serveBrowse(fileSystem fs.FS, root, dirPath string, w ht
 	origReq := r.Context().Value(caddyhttp.OriginalRequestCtxKey).(http.Request)
 	if r.URL.Path == "" || path.Base(origReq.URL.Path) == path.Base(r.URL.Path) {
 		if !strings.HasSuffix(origReq.URL.Path, "/") {
-			fsrv.logger.Debug("redirecting to trailing slash to preserve hrefs", zap.String("request_path", r.URL.Path))
+			if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "redirecting to trailing slash to preserve hrefs"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("request_path", r.URL.Path))
+			}
 			return redirect(w, r, origReq.URL.Path+"/")
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browsetplcontext.go b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browsetplcontext.go
index 0251bc581..37e1cc3dd 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browsetplcontext.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/browsetplcontext.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/dustin/go-humanize"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
@@ -57,9 +58,9 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) directoryListing(ctx context.Context, fileSystem fs.FS,
 
 		info, err := entry.Info()
 		if err != nil {
-			fsrv.logger.Error("could not get info about directory entry",
-				zap.String("name", entry.Name()),
-				zap.String("root", root))
+			if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "could not get info about directory entry"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("name", entry.Name()), zap.String("root", root))
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/matcher.go b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/matcher.go
index c315b8e38..6ab2180ad 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/matcher.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/matcher.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/cel-go/common/types/ref"
 	"github.com/google/cel-go/parser"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/caddyconfig/caddyfile"
@@ -326,7 +327,9 @@ func (m MatchFile) selectFile(r *http.Request) (matched bool) {
 
 	fileSystem, ok := m.fsmap.Get(fsName)
 	if !ok {
-		m.logger.Error("use of unregistered filesystem", zap.String("fs", fsName))
+		if c := m.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "use of unregistered filesystem"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("fs", fsName))
+		}
 		return false
 	}
 	type matchCandidate struct {
@@ -356,7 +359,10 @@ func (m MatchFile) selectFile(r *http.Request) (matched bool) {
 			return val, nil
 		})
 		if err != nil {
-			m.logger.Error("evaluating placeholders", zap.Error(err))
+			if c := m.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "evaluating placeholders"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+			}
+
 			expandedFile = file // "oh well," I guess?
 		}
 
@@ -379,7 +385,9 @@ func (m MatchFile) selectFile(r *http.Request) (matched bool) {
 		} else {
 			globResults, err = fs.Glob(fileSystem, fullPattern)
 			if err != nil {
-				m.logger.Error("expanding glob", zap.Error(err))
+				if c := m.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "expanding glob"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+				}
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go
index 2dd237ae7..4ae69b647 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/fileserver/staticfiles.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
@@ -286,11 +287,14 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 	// remove any trailing `/` as it breaks fs.ValidPath() in the stdlib
 	filename := strings.TrimSuffix(caddyhttp.SanitizedPathJoin(root, r.URL.Path), "/")
 
-	fsrv.logger.Debug("sanitized path join",
-		zap.String("site_root", root),
-		zap.String("fs", fsName),
-		zap.String("request_path", r.URL.Path),
-		zap.String("result", filename))
+	if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "sanitized path join"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(
+			zap.String("site_root", root),
+			zap.String("fs", fsName),
+			zap.String("request_path", r.URL.Path),
+			zap.String("result", filename),
+		)
+	}
 
 	// get information about the file
 	info, err := fs.Stat(fileSystem, filename)
@@ -313,9 +317,12 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 			indexPath := caddyhttp.SanitizedPathJoin(filename, indexPage)
 			if fileHidden(indexPath, filesToHide) {
 				// pretend this file doesn't exist
-				fsrv.logger.Debug("hiding index file",
-					zap.String("filename", indexPath),
-					zap.Strings("files_to_hide", filesToHide))
+				if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "hiding index file"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.String("filename", indexPath),
+						zap.Strings("files_to_hide", filesToHide),
+					)
+				}
 				continue
 			}
 
@@ -335,7 +342,9 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 			info = indexInfo
 			filename = indexPath
 			implicitIndexFile = true
-			fsrv.logger.Debug("located index file", zap.String("filename", filename))
+			if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "located index file"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("filename", filename))
+			}
 			break
 		}
 	}
@@ -343,9 +352,12 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 	// if still referencing a directory, delegate
 	// to browse or return an error
 	if info.IsDir() {
-		fsrv.logger.Debug("no index file in directory",
-			zap.String("path", filename),
-			zap.Strings("index_filenames", fsrv.IndexNames))
+		if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "no index file in directory"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.String("path", filename),
+				zap.Strings("index_filenames", fsrv.IndexNames),
+			)
+		}
 		if fsrv.Browse != nil && !fileHidden(filename, filesToHide) {
 			return fsrv.serveBrowse(fileSystem, root, filename, w, r, next)
 		}
@@ -355,9 +367,12 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 	// one last check to ensure the file isn't hidden (we might
 	// have changed the filename from when we last checked)
 	if fileHidden(filename, filesToHide) {
-		fsrv.logger.Debug("hiding file",
-			zap.String("filename", filename),
-			zap.Strings("files_to_hide", filesToHide))
+		if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "hiding file"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.String("filename", filename),
+				zap.Strings("files_to_hide", filesToHide),
+			)
+		}
 		return fsrv.notFound(w, r, next)
 	}
 
@@ -375,15 +390,21 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 		if path.Base(origReq.URL.Path) == path.Base(r.URL.Path) {
 			if implicitIndexFile && !strings.HasSuffix(origReq.URL.Path, "/") {
 				to := origReq.URL.Path + "/"
-				fsrv.logger.Debug("redirecting to canonical URI (adding trailing slash for directory)",
-					zap.String("from_path", origReq.URL.Path),
-					zap.String("to_path", to))
+				if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "redirecting to canonical URI (adding trailing slash for directory"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.String("from_path", origReq.URL.Path),
+						zap.String("to_path", to),
+					)
+				}
 				return redirect(w, r, to)
 			} else if !implicitIndexFile && strings.HasSuffix(origReq.URL.Path, "/") {
 				to := origReq.URL.Path[:len(origReq.URL.Path)-1]
-				fsrv.logger.Debug("redirecting to canonical URI (removing trailing slash for file)",
-					zap.String("from_path", origReq.URL.Path),
-					zap.String("to_path", to))
+				if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "redirecting to canonical URI (removing trailing slash for file"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.String("from_path", origReq.URL.Path),
+						zap.String("to_path", to),
+					)
+				}
 				return redirect(w, r, to)
 			}
 		}
@@ -411,13 +432,19 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 		compressedFilename := filename + precompress.Suffix()
 		compressedInfo, err := fs.Stat(fileSystem, compressedFilename)
 		if err != nil || compressedInfo.IsDir() {
-			fsrv.logger.Debug("precompressed file not accessible", zap.String("filename", compressedFilename), zap.Error(err))
+			if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "precompressed file not accessible"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("filename", compressedFilename), zap.Error(err))
+			}
 			continue
 		}
-		fsrv.logger.Debug("opening compressed sidecar file", zap.String("filename", compressedFilename), zap.Error(err))
+		if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "opening compressed sidecar file"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("filename", compressedFilename), zap.Error(err))
+		}
 		file, err = fsrv.openFile(fileSystem, compressedFilename, w)
 		if err != nil {
-			fsrv.logger.Warn("opening precompressed file failed", zap.String("filename", compressedFilename), zap.Error(err))
+			if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.WarnLevel, "opening precompressed file failed"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("filename", compressedFilename), zap.Error(err))
+			}
 			if caddyErr, ok := err.(caddyhttp.HandlerError); ok && caddyErr.StatusCode == http.StatusServiceUnavailable {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -448,7 +475,9 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next c
 
 	// no precompressed file found, use the actual file
 	if file == nil {
-		fsrv.logger.Debug("opening file", zap.String("filename", filename))
+		if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "opening file"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("filename", filename))
+		}
 
 		// open the file
 		file, err = fsrv.openFile(fileSystem, filename, w)
@@ -548,10 +577,14 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) openFile(fileSystem fs.FS, filename string, w http.Respo
 	if err != nil {
 		err = fsrv.mapDirOpenError(fileSystem, err, filename)
 		if errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
-			fsrv.logger.Debug("file not found", zap.String("filename", filename), zap.Error(err))
+			if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "file not found"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("filename", filename), zap.Error(err))
+			}
 			return nil, caddyhttp.Error(http.StatusNotFound, err)
 		} else if errors.Is(err, fs.ErrPermission) {
-			fsrv.logger.Debug("permission denied", zap.String("filename", filename), zap.Error(err))
+			if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "permission denied"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.String("filename", filename), zap.Error(err))
+			}
 			return nil, caddyhttp.Error(http.StatusForbidden, err)
 		}
 		// maybe the server is under load and ran out of file descriptors?
@@ -559,7 +592,9 @@ func (fsrv *FileServer) openFile(fileSystem fs.FS, filename string, w http.Respo
 		//nolint:gosec
 		backoff := weakrand.Intn(maxBackoff-minBackoff) + minBackoff
 		w.Header().Set("Retry-After", strconv.Itoa(backoff))
-		fsrv.logger.Debug("retry after backoff", zap.String("filename", filename), zap.Int("backoff", backoff), zap.Error(err))
+		if c := fsrv.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "retry after backoff"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("filename", filename), zap.Int("backoff", backoff), zap.Error(err))
+		}
 		return nil, caddyhttp.Error(http.StatusServiceUnavailable, err)
 	}
 	return file, nil
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/intercept/intercept.go b/modules/caddyhttp/intercept/intercept.go
index 720a09333..29889dcc0 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/intercept/intercept.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/intercept/intercept.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/caddyconfig/caddyfile"
@@ -165,7 +166,9 @@ func (ir Intercept) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next caddy
 	}
 	repl.Set("http.intercept.status_code", rec.Status())
 
-	ir.logger.Debug("handling response", zap.Int("handler", rec.handlerIndex))
+	if c := ir.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "handling response"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.Int("handler", rec.handlerIndex))
+	}
 
 	// pass the request through the response handler routes
 	return rec.handler.Routes.Compile(next).ServeHTTP(w, r)
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/ip_matchers.go b/modules/caddyhttp/ip_matchers.go
index 2e735cb69..99eb39dff 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/ip_matchers.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/ip_matchers.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/cel-go/cel"
 	"github.com/google/cel-go/common/types/ref"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/caddyconfig/caddyfile"
@@ -150,12 +151,17 @@ func (m MatchRemoteIP) Match(r *http.Request) bool {
 	address := r.RemoteAddr
 	clientIP, zoneID, err := parseIPZoneFromString(address)
 	if err != nil {
-		m.logger.Error("getting remote IP", zap.Error(err))
+		if c := m.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "getting remote "); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+		}
+
 		return false
 	}
 	matches, zoneFilter := matchIPByCidrZones(clientIP, zoneID, m.cidrs, m.zones)
 	if !matches && !zoneFilter {
-		m.logger.Debug("zone ID from remote IP did not match", zap.String("zone", zoneID))
+		if c := m.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "zone ID from remote IP did not match"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("zone", zoneID))
+		}
 	}
 	return matches
 }
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/logging.go b/modules/caddyhttp/logging.go
index 823763e91..0a389fe16 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/logging.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/logging.go
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ func (sa *StringArray) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 // to use, the error log message, and any extra fields.
 // If err is a HandlerError, the returned values will
 // have richer information.
-func errLogValues(err error) (status int, msg string, fields []zapcore.Field) {
+func errLogValues(err error) (status int, msg string, fields func() []zapcore.Field) {
 	var handlerErr HandlerError
 	if errors.As(err, &handlerErr) {
 		status = handlerErr.StatusCode
@@ -202,10 +202,12 @@ func errLogValues(err error) (status int, msg string, fields []zapcore.Field) {
 		} else {
 			msg = handlerErr.Err.Error()
 		}
-		fields = []zapcore.Field{
-			zap.Int("status", handlerErr.StatusCode),
-			zap.String("err_id", handlerErr.ID),
-			zap.String("err_trace", handlerErr.Trace),
+		fields = func() []zapcore.Field {
+			return []zapcore.Field{
+				zap.Int("status", handlerErr.StatusCode),
+				zap.String("err_id", handlerErr.ID),
+				zap.String("err_trace", handlerErr.Trace),
+			}
 		}
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/push/handler.go b/modules/caddyhttp/push/handler.go
index 031a8991f..1fbe53d83 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/push/handler.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/push/handler.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
@@ -92,14 +93,17 @@ func (h Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next caddyhtt
 
 	// push first!
 	for _, resource := range h.Resources {
-		h.logger.Debug("pushing resource",
-			zap.String("uri", r.RequestURI),
-			zap.String("push_method", resource.Method),
-			zap.String("push_target", resource.Target),
-			zap.Object("push_headers", caddyhttp.LoggableHTTPHeader{
-				Header:               hdr,
-				ShouldLogCredentials: shouldLogCredentials,
-			}))
+		if c := h.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "pushing resource"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.String("uri", r.RequestURI),
+				zap.String("push_method", resource.Method),
+				zap.String("push_target", resource.Target),
+				zap.Object("push_headers", caddyhttp.LoggableHTTPHeader{
+					Header:               hdr,
+					ShouldLogCredentials: shouldLogCredentials,
+				}),
+			)
+		}
 		err := pusher.Push(repl.ReplaceAll(resource.Target, "."), &http.PushOptions{
 			Method: resource.Method,
 			Header: hdr,
@@ -209,7 +213,9 @@ func (lp linkPusher) WriteHeader(statusCode int) {
 	if links, ok := lp.ResponseWriter.Header()["Link"]; ok {
 		// only initiate these pushes if it hasn't been done yet
 		if val := caddyhttp.GetVar(lp.request.Context(), pushedLink); val == nil {
-			lp.handler.logger.Debug("pushing Link resources", zap.Strings("linked", links))
+			if c := lp.handler.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "pushing Link resources"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Strings("linked", links))
+			}
 			caddyhttp.SetVar(lp.request.Context(), pushedLink, true)
 			lp.handler.servePreloadLinks(lp.pusher, lp.header, links)
 		}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/requestbody/requestbody.go b/modules/caddyhttp/requestbody/requestbody.go
index d00455a8c..1c804aa13 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/requestbody/requestbody.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/requestbody/requestbody.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
@@ -69,12 +70,16 @@ func (rb RequestBody) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next cad
 		rc := http.NewResponseController(w)
 		if rb.ReadTimeout > 0 {
 			if err := rc.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(rb.ReadTimeout)); err != nil {
-				rb.logger.Error("could not set read deadline", zap.Error(err))
+				if c := rb.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "could not set read deadline"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+				}
 			}
 		}
 		if rb.WriteTimeout > 0 {
 			if err := rc.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(rb.WriteTimeout)); err != nil {
-				rb.logger.Error("could not set write deadline", zap.Error(err))
+				if c := rb.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "could not set write deadline"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/client.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/client.go
index d944c5778..7284fe672 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/client.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/client.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 )
 
 // FCGIListenSockFileno describes listen socket file number.
@@ -184,10 +185,13 @@ func (f clientCloser) Close() error {
 		return f.rwc.Close()
 	}
 
+	logLevel := zapcore.WarnLevel
 	if f.status >= 400 {
-		f.logger.Error("stderr", zap.ByteString("body", stderr))
-	} else {
-		f.logger.Warn("stderr", zap.ByteString("body", stderr))
+		logLevel = zapcore.ErrorLevel
+	}
+
+	if c := f.logger.Check(logLevel, "stderr"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.ByteString("body", stderr))
 	}
 
 	return f.rwc.Close()
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/fastcgi.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/fastcgi.go
index 31febdd4e..3985465ba 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/fastcgi.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/fastcgi/fastcgi.go
@@ -148,10 +148,13 @@ func (t Transport) RoundTrip(r *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 		zap.Object("request", loggableReq),
 		zap.Object("env", loggableEnv),
 	)
-	logger.Debug("roundtrip",
-		zap.String("dial", address),
-		zap.Object("env", loggableEnv),
-		zap.Object("request", loggableReq))
+	if c := t.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "roundtrip"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(
+			zap.String("dial", address),
+			zap.Object("env", loggableEnv),
+			zap.Object("request", loggableReq),
+		)
+	}
 
 	// connect to the backend
 	dialer := net.Dialer{Timeout: time.Duration(t.DialTimeout)}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/healthchecks.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/healthchecks.go
index efa1dbf09..179805f20 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/healthchecks.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/healthchecks.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2/modules/caddyhttp"
@@ -270,9 +271,12 @@ type CircuitBreaker interface {
 func (h *Handler) activeHealthChecker() {
 	defer func() {
 		if err := recover(); err != nil {
-			h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("active health checker panicked",
-				zap.Any("error", err),
-				zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()))
+			if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "active health checker panicked"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.Any("error", err),
+					zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()),
+				)
+			}
 		}
 	}()
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Duration(h.HealthChecks.Active.Interval))
@@ -295,26 +299,33 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheckForAllHosts() {
 		go func(upstream *Upstream) {
 			defer func() {
 				if err := recover(); err != nil {
-					h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("active health check panicked",
-						zap.Any("error", err),
-						zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()))
+					if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "active health checker panicked"); c != nil {
+						c.Write(
+							zap.Any("error", err),
+							zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()),
+						)
+					}
 				}
 			}()
 
 			networkAddr, err := caddy.NewReplacer().ReplaceOrErr(upstream.Dial, true, true)
 			if err != nil {
-				h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("invalid use of placeholders in dial address for active health checks",
-					zap.String("address", networkAddr),
-					zap.Error(err),
-				)
+				if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "invalid use of placeholders in dial address for active health checks"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.String("address", networkAddr),
+						zap.Error(err),
+					)
+				}
 				return
 			}
 			addr, err := caddy.ParseNetworkAddress(networkAddr)
 			if err != nil {
-				h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("bad network address",
-					zap.String("address", networkAddr),
-					zap.Error(err),
-				)
+				if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "bad network address"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.String("address", networkAddr),
+						zap.Error(err),
+					)
+				}
 				return
 			}
 			if hcp := uint(upstream.activeHealthCheckPort); hcp != 0 {
@@ -324,9 +335,11 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheckForAllHosts() {
 				addr.StartPort, addr.EndPort = hcp, hcp
 			}
 			if addr.PortRangeSize() != 1 {
-				h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("multiple addresses (upstream must map to only one address)",
-					zap.String("address", networkAddr),
-				)
+				if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "multiple addresses (upstream must map to only one address)"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.String("address", networkAddr),
+					)
+				}
 				return
 			}
 			hostAddr := addr.JoinHostPort(0)
@@ -339,10 +352,12 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheckForAllHosts() {
 			}
 			err = h.doActiveHealthCheck(DialInfo{Network: addr.Network, Address: dialAddr}, hostAddr, networkAddr, upstream)
 			if err != nil {
-				h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("active health check failed",
-					zap.String("address", hostAddr),
-					zap.Error(err),
-				)
+				if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "active health check failed"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.String("address", hostAddr),
+						zap.Error(err),
+					)
+				}
 			}
 		}(upstream)
 	}
@@ -441,9 +456,12 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheck(dialInfo DialInfo, hostAddr string, networ
 		// increment failures and then check if it has reached the threshold to mark unhealthy
 		err := upstream.Host.countHealthFail(1)
 		if err != nil {
-			h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("could not count active health failure",
-				zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
-				zap.Error(err))
+			if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "could not count active health failure"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
+					zap.Error(err),
+				)
+			}
 			return
 		}
 		if upstream.Host.activeHealthFails() >= h.HealthChecks.Active.Fails {
@@ -459,14 +477,19 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheck(dialInfo DialInfo, hostAddr string, networ
 		// increment passes and then check if it has reached the threshold to be healthy
 		err := upstream.Host.countHealthPass(1)
 		if err != nil {
-			h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Error("could not count active health pass",
-				zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
-				zap.Error(err))
+			if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "could not count active health pass"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
+					zap.Error(err),
+				)
+			}
 			return
 		}
 		if upstream.Host.activeHealthPasses() >= h.HealthChecks.Active.Passes {
 			if upstream.setHealthy(true) {
-				h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Info("host is up", zap.String("host", hostAddr))
+				if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "host is up"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(zap.String("host", hostAddr))
+				}
 				h.events.Emit(h.ctx, "healthy", map[string]any{"host": hostAddr})
 				upstream.Host.resetHealth()
 			}
@@ -476,10 +499,12 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheck(dialInfo DialInfo, hostAddr string, networ
 	// do the request, being careful to tame the response body
 	resp, err := h.HealthChecks.Active.httpClient.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
-		h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Info("HTTP request failed",
-			zap.String("host", hostAddr),
-			zap.Error(err),
-		)
+		if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "HTTP request failed"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.String("host", hostAddr),
+				zap.Error(err),
+			)
+		}
 		markUnhealthy()
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -496,18 +521,22 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheck(dialInfo DialInfo, hostAddr string, networ
 	// if status code is outside criteria, mark down
 	if h.HealthChecks.Active.ExpectStatus > 0 {
 		if !caddyhttp.StatusCodeMatches(resp.StatusCode, h.HealthChecks.Active.ExpectStatus) {
-			h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Info("unexpected status code",
-				zap.Int("status_code", resp.StatusCode),
-				zap.String("host", hostAddr),
-			)
+			if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "unexpected status code"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.Int("status_code", resp.StatusCode),
+					zap.String("host", hostAddr),
+				)
+			}
 			markUnhealthy()
 			return nil
 		}
 	} else if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode >= 300 {
-		h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Info("status code out of tolerances",
-			zap.Int("status_code", resp.StatusCode),
-			zap.String("host", hostAddr),
-		)
+		if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "status code out of tolerances"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.Int("status_code", resp.StatusCode),
+				zap.String("host", hostAddr),
+			)
+		}
 		markUnhealthy()
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -516,17 +545,21 @@ func (h *Handler) doActiveHealthCheck(dialInfo DialInfo, hostAddr string, networ
 	if h.HealthChecks.Active.bodyRegexp != nil {
 		bodyBytes, err := io.ReadAll(body)
 		if err != nil {
-			h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Info("failed to read response body",
-				zap.String("host", hostAddr),
-				zap.Error(err),
-			)
+			if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "failed to read response body"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.String("host", hostAddr),
+					zap.Error(err),
+				)
+			}
 			markUnhealthy()
 			return nil
 		}
 		if !h.HealthChecks.Active.bodyRegexp.Match(bodyBytes) {
-			h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Info("response body failed expectations",
-				zap.String("host", hostAddr),
-			)
+			if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.InfoLevel, "response body failed expectations"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.String("host", hostAddr),
+				)
+			}
 			markUnhealthy()
 			return nil
 		}
@@ -556,9 +589,12 @@ func (h *Handler) countFailure(upstream *Upstream) {
 	// count failure immediately
 	err := upstream.Host.countFail(1)
 	if err != nil {
-		h.HealthChecks.Passive.logger.Error("could not count failure",
-			zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
-			zap.Error(err))
+		if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "could not count failure"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
+				zap.Error(err),
+			)
+		}
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -566,9 +602,12 @@ func (h *Handler) countFailure(upstream *Upstream) {
 	go func(host *Host, failDuration time.Duration) {
 		defer func() {
 			if err := recover(); err != nil {
-				h.HealthChecks.Passive.logger.Error("passive health check failure forgetter panicked",
-					zap.Any("error", err),
-					zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()))
+				if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "passive health check failure forgetter panicked"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.Any("error", err),
+						zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()),
+					)
+				}
 			}
 		}()
 		timer := time.NewTimer(failDuration)
@@ -581,9 +620,12 @@ func (h *Handler) countFailure(upstream *Upstream) {
 		}
 		err := host.countFail(-1)
 		if err != nil {
-			h.HealthChecks.Passive.logger.Error("could not forget failure",
-				zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
-				zap.Error(err))
+			if c := h.HealthChecks.Active.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "could not forget failure"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.String("host", upstream.Dial),
+					zap.Error(err),
+				)
+			}
 		}
 	}(upstream.Host, failDuration)
 }
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
index 9929ae5d1..144960cf9 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pires/go-proxyproto"
 	"github.com/quic-go/quic-go/http3"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 	"golang.org/x/net/http2"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
@@ -750,7 +751,9 @@ func (c *tcpRWTimeoutConn) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
 	if c.readTimeout > 0 {
 		err := c.TCPConn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.readTimeout))
 		if err != nil {
-			c.logger.Error("failed to set read deadline", zap.Error(err))
+			if ce := c.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "failed to set read deadline"); ce != nil {
+				ce.Write(zap.Error(err))
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return c.TCPConn.Read(b)
@@ -760,7 +763,9 @@ func (c *tcpRWTimeoutConn) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
 	if c.writeTimeout > 0 {
 		err := c.TCPConn.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.writeTimeout))
 		if err != nil {
-			c.logger.Error("failed to set write deadline", zap.Error(err))
+			if ce := c.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "failed to set write deadline"); ce != nil {
+				ce.Write(zap.Error(err))
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return c.TCPConn.Write(b)
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/metrics.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/metrics.go
index d3c8ee03e..f744756d3 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/metrics.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/metrics.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promauto"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 )
 
 var reverseProxyMetrics = struct {
@@ -48,9 +49,12 @@ func (m *metricsUpstreamsHealthyUpdater) Init() {
 	go func() {
 		defer func() {
 			if err := recover(); err != nil {
-				reverseProxyMetrics.logger.Error("upstreams healthy metrics updater panicked",
-					zap.Any("error", err),
-					zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()))
+				if c := reverseProxyMetrics.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "upstreams healthy metrics updater panicked"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.Any("error", err),
+						zap.ByteString("stack", debug.Stack()),
+					)
+				}
 			}
 		}()
 
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
index 44cc2f9d9..bcbc1ff46 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 	"golang.org/x/net/http/httpguts"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
@@ -439,7 +440,9 @@ func (h *Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next caddyht
 			if h.LoadBalancing != nil {
 				lbWait = time.Duration(h.LoadBalancing.TryInterval)
 			}
-			h.logger.Debug("retrying", zap.Error(proxyErr), zap.Duration("after", lbWait))
+			if c := h.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "retrying"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Error(proxyErr), zap.Duration("after", lbWait))
+			}
 		}
 		retries++
 	}
@@ -466,13 +469,17 @@ func (h *Handler) proxyLoopIteration(r *http.Request, origReq *http.Request, w h
 	if h.DynamicUpstreams != nil {
 		dUpstreams, err := h.DynamicUpstreams.GetUpstreams(r)
 		if err != nil {
-			h.logger.Error("failed getting dynamic upstreams; falling back to static upstreams", zap.Error(err))
+			if c := h.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "failed getting dynamic upstreams; falling back to static upstreams"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+			}
 		} else {
 			upstreams = dUpstreams
 			for _, dUp := range dUpstreams {
 				h.provisionUpstream(dUp)
 			}
-			h.logger.Debug("provisioned dynamic upstreams", zap.Int("count", len(dUpstreams)))
+			if c := h.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "provisioned dynamic upstreams"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Int("count", len(dUpstreams)))
+			}
 			defer func() {
 				// these upstreams are dynamic, so they are only used for this iteration
 				// of the proxy loop; be sure to let them go away when we're done with them
@@ -503,9 +510,12 @@ func (h *Handler) proxyLoopIteration(r *http.Request, origReq *http.Request, w h
 		return true, fmt.Errorf("making dial info: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	h.logger.Debug("selected upstream",
-		zap.String("dial", dialInfo.Address),
-		zap.Int("total_upstreams", len(upstreams)))
+	if c := h.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "selected upstream"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(
+			zap.String("dial", dialInfo.Address),
+			zap.Int("total_upstreams", len(upstreams)),
+		)
+	}
 
 	// attach to the request information about how to dial the upstream;
 	// this is necessary because the information cannot be sufficiently
@@ -811,16 +821,22 @@ func (h *Handler) reverseProxy(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, origRe
 			ShouldLogCredentials: shouldLogCredentials,
 		}),
 	)
+
 	if err != nil {
-		logger.Debug("upstream roundtrip", zap.Error(err))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "upstream roundtrip"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+		}
 		return err
 	}
-	logger.Debug("upstream roundtrip",
-		zap.Object("headers", caddyhttp.LoggableHTTPHeader{
-			Header:               res.Header,
-			ShouldLogCredentials: shouldLogCredentials,
-		}),
-		zap.Int("status", res.StatusCode))
+	if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "upstream roundtrip"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(
+			zap.Object("headers", caddyhttp.LoggableHTTPHeader{
+				Header:               res.Header,
+				ShouldLogCredentials: shouldLogCredentials,
+			}),
+			zap.Int("status", res.StatusCode),
+		)
+	}
 
 	// duration until upstream wrote response headers (roundtrip duration)
 	repl.Set("http.reverse_proxy.upstream.latency", duration)
@@ -879,7 +895,9 @@ func (h *Handler) reverseProxy(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, origRe
 		repl.Set("http.reverse_proxy.status_code", res.StatusCode)
 		repl.Set("http.reverse_proxy.status_text", res.Status)
 
-		logger.Debug("handling response", zap.Int("handler", i))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "handling response"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Int("handler", i))
+		}
 
 		// we make some data available via request context to child routes
 		// so that they may inherit some options and functions from the
@@ -975,7 +993,9 @@ func (h *Handler) finalizeResponse(
 	err := h.copyResponse(rw, res.Body, h.flushInterval(req, res), logger)
 	errClose := res.Body.Close() // close now, instead of defer, to populate res.Trailer
 	if h.VerboseLogs || errClose != nil {
-		logger.Debug("closed response body from upstream", zap.Error(errClose))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "closed response body from upstream"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(errClose))
+		}
 	}
 	if err != nil {
 		// we're streaming the response and we've already written headers, so
@@ -983,7 +1003,9 @@ func (h *Handler) finalizeResponse(
 		// we'll just log the error and abort the stream here and panic just as
 		// the standard lib's proxy to propagate the stream error.
 		// see issue https://github.com/caddyserver/caddy/issues/5951
-		logger.Warn("aborting with incomplete response", zap.Error(err))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.WarnLevel, "aborting with incomplete response"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+		}
 		// no extra logging from stdlib
 		panic(http.ErrAbortHandler)
 	}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/streaming.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/streaming.go
index a696ac7fb..c871a3fa1 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/streaming.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/streaming.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"unsafe"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 	"golang.org/x/net/http/httpguts"
 )
 
@@ -41,14 +42,18 @@ func (h *Handler) handleUpgradeResponse(logger *zap.Logger, wg *sync.WaitGroup,
 	// Taken from https://github.com/golang/go/commit/5c489514bc5e61ad9b5b07bd7d8ec65d66a0512a
 	// We know reqUpType is ASCII, it's checked by the caller.
 	if !asciiIsPrint(resUpType) {
-		logger.Debug("backend tried to switch to invalid protocol",
-			zap.String("backend_upgrade", resUpType))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "backend tried to switch to invalid protocol"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("backend_upgrade", resUpType))
+		}
 		return
 	}
 	if !asciiEqualFold(reqUpType, resUpType) {
-		logger.Debug("backend tried to switch to unexpected protocol via Upgrade header",
-			zap.String("backend_upgrade", resUpType),
-			zap.String("requested_upgrade", reqUpType))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "backend tried to switch to unexpected protocol via Upgrade header"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.String("backend_upgrade", resUpType),
+				zap.String("requested_upgrade", reqUpType),
+			)
+		}
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -68,12 +73,16 @@ func (h *Handler) handleUpgradeResponse(logger *zap.Logger, wg *sync.WaitGroup,
 	//nolint:bodyclose
 	conn, brw, hijackErr := http.NewResponseController(rw).Hijack()
 	if errors.Is(hijackErr, http.ErrNotSupported) {
-		h.logger.Error("can't switch protocols using non-Hijacker ResponseWriter", zap.String("type", fmt.Sprintf("%T", rw)))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "can't switch protocols using non-Hijacker ResponseWriter"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("type", fmt.Sprintf("%T", rw)))
+		}
 		return
 	}
 
 	if hijackErr != nil {
-		h.logger.Error("hijack failed on protocol switch", zap.Error(hijackErr))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "hijack failed on protocol switch"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(hijackErr))
+		}
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -93,11 +102,15 @@ func (h *Handler) handleUpgradeResponse(logger *zap.Logger, wg *sync.WaitGroup,
 	start := time.Now()
 	defer func() {
 		conn.Close()
-		logger.Debug("connection closed", zap.Duration("duration", time.Since(start)))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "hijack failed on protocol switch"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Duration("duration", time.Since(start)))
+		}
 	}()
 
 	if err := brw.Flush(); err != nil {
-		logger.Debug("response flush", zap.Error(err))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "response flush"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+		}
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -107,7 +120,9 @@ func (h *Handler) handleUpgradeResponse(logger *zap.Logger, wg *sync.WaitGroup,
 		data, _ := brw.Peek(buffered)
 		_, err := backConn.Write(data)
 		if err != nil {
-			logger.Debug("backConn write failed", zap.Error(err))
+			if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "backConn write failed"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+			}
 			return
 		}
 	}
@@ -148,9 +163,13 @@ func (h *Handler) handleUpgradeResponse(logger *zap.Logger, wg *sync.WaitGroup,
 	go spc.copyFromBackend(errc)
 	select {
 	case err := <-errc:
-		logger.Debug("streaming error", zap.Error(err))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "streaming error"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+		}
 	case time := <-timeoutc:
-		logger.Debug("stream timed out", zap.Time("timeout", time))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "stream timed out"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Time("timeout", time))
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -247,7 +266,9 @@ func (h Handler) copyBuffer(dst io.Writer, src io.Reader, buf []byte, logger *za
 		logger.Debug("waiting to read from upstream")
 		nr, rerr := src.Read(buf)
 		logger := logger.With(zap.Int("read", nr))
-		logger.Debug("read from upstream", zap.Error(rerr))
+		if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "read from upstream"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(rerr))
+		}
 		if rerr != nil && rerr != io.EOF && rerr != context.Canceled {
 			// TODO: this could be useful to know (indeed, it revealed an error in our
 			// fastcgi PoC earlier; but it's this single error report here that necessitates
@@ -256,7 +277,9 @@ func (h Handler) copyBuffer(dst io.Writer, src io.Reader, buf []byte, logger *za
 			// something we need to report to the client, but read errors are a problem on our
 			// end for sure. so we need to decide what we want.)
 			// p.logf("copyBuffer: ReverseProxy read error during body copy: %v", rerr)
-			h.logger.Error("reading from backend", zap.Error(rerr))
+			if c := logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "reading from backend"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Error(rerr))
+			}
 		}
 		if nr > 0 {
 			logger.Debug("writing to downstream")
@@ -264,10 +287,13 @@ func (h Handler) copyBuffer(dst io.Writer, src io.Reader, buf []byte, logger *za
 			if nw > 0 {
 				written += int64(nw)
 			}
-			logger.Debug("wrote to downstream",
-				zap.Int("written", nw),
-				zap.Int64("written_total", written),
-				zap.Error(werr))
+			if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "wrote to downstream"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.Int("written", nw),
+					zap.Int64("written_total", written),
+					zap.Error(werr),
+				)
+			}
 			if werr != nil {
 				return written, fmt.Errorf("writing: %w", werr)
 			}
@@ -347,13 +373,17 @@ func (h *Handler) cleanupConnections() error {
 	if len(h.connections) > 0 {
 		delay := time.Duration(h.StreamCloseDelay)
 		h.connectionsCloseTimer = time.AfterFunc(delay, func() {
-			h.logger.Debug("closing streaming connections after delay",
-				zap.Duration("delay", delay))
+			if c := h.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "closing streaming connections after delay"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Duration("delay", delay))
+			}
 			err := h.closeConnections()
 			if err != nil {
-				h.logger.Error("failed to closed connections after delay",
-					zap.Error(err),
-					zap.Duration("delay", delay))
+				if c := h.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "failed to closed connections after delay"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(
+						zap.Error(err),
+						zap.Duration("delay", delay),
+					)
+				}
 			}
 		})
 	}
@@ -494,7 +524,9 @@ func (m *maxLatencyWriter) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 	m.mu.Lock()
 	defer m.mu.Unlock()
 	n, err = m.dst.Write(p)
-	m.logger.Debug("wrote bytes", zap.Int("n", n), zap.Error(err))
+	if c := m.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "wrote bytes"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.Int("n", n), zap.Error(err))
+	}
 	if m.latency < 0 {
 		m.logger.Debug("flushing immediately")
 		//nolint:errcheck
@@ -510,7 +542,9 @@ func (m *maxLatencyWriter) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 	} else {
 		m.t.Reset(m.latency)
 	}
-	m.logger.Debug("timer set for delayed flush", zap.Duration("duration", m.latency))
+	if c := m.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "timer set for delayed flush"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.Duration("duration", m.latency))
+	}
 	m.flushPending = true
 	return
 }
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/upstreams.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/upstreams.go
index c8ba930d2..aa59dc41b 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/upstreams.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/upstreams.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
 	"github.com/caddyserver/caddy/v2"
 )
@@ -136,10 +137,13 @@ func (su SRVUpstreams) GetUpstreams(r *http.Request) ([]*Upstream, error) {
 		return allNew(cached.upstreams), nil
 	}
 
-	su.logger.Debug("refreshing SRV upstreams",
-		zap.String("service", service),
-		zap.String("proto", proto),
-		zap.String("name", name))
+	if c := su.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "refreshing SRV upstreams"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(
+			zap.String("service", service),
+			zap.String("proto", proto),
+			zap.String("name", name),
+		)
+	}
 
 	_, records, err := su.resolver.LookupSRV(r.Context(), service, proto, name)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -148,23 +152,30 @@ func (su SRVUpstreams) GetUpstreams(r *http.Request) ([]*Upstream, error) {
 		// only return an error if no records were also returned.
 		if len(records) == 0 {
 			if su.GracePeriod > 0 {
-				su.logger.Error("SRV lookup failed; using previously cached", zap.Error(err))
+				if c := su.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "SRV lookup failed; using previously cached"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+				}
 				cached.freshness = time.Now().Add(time.Duration(su.GracePeriod) - time.Duration(su.Refresh))
 				srvs[suAddr] = cached
 				return allNew(cached.upstreams), nil
 			}
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		su.logger.Warn("SRV records filtered", zap.Error(err))
+		if c := su.logger.Check(zapcore.WarnLevel, "SRV records filtered"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+		}
 	}
 
 	upstreams := make([]Upstream, len(records))
 	for i, rec := range records {
-		su.logger.Debug("discovered SRV record",
-			zap.String("target", rec.Target),
-			zap.Uint16("port", rec.Port),
-			zap.Uint16("priority", rec.Priority),
-			zap.Uint16("weight", rec.Weight))
+		if c := su.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "discovered SRV record"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(
+				zap.String("target", rec.Target),
+				zap.Uint16("port", rec.Port),
+				zap.Uint16("priority", rec.Priority),
+				zap.Uint16("weight", rec.Weight),
+			)
+		}
 		addr := net.JoinHostPort(rec.Target, strconv.Itoa(int(rec.Port)))
 		upstreams[i] = Upstream{Dial: addr}
 	}
@@ -361,10 +372,13 @@ func (au AUpstreams) GetUpstreams(r *http.Request) ([]*Upstream, error) {
 	name := repl.ReplaceAll(au.Name, "")
 	port := repl.ReplaceAll(au.Port, "")
 
-	au.logger.Debug("refreshing A upstreams",
-		zap.String("version", ipVersion),
-		zap.String("name", name),
-		zap.String("port", port))
+	if c := au.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "refreshing A upstreams"); c != nil {
+		c.Write(
+			zap.String("version", ipVersion),
+			zap.String("name", name),
+			zap.String("port", port),
+		)
+	}
 
 	ips, err := au.resolver.LookupIP(r.Context(), ipVersion, name)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -373,8 +387,9 @@ func (au AUpstreams) GetUpstreams(r *http.Request) ([]*Upstream, error) {
 
 	upstreams := make([]Upstream, len(ips))
 	for i, ip := range ips {
-		au.logger.Debug("discovered A record",
-			zap.String("ip", ip.String()))
+		if c := au.logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "discovered A record"); c != nil {
+			c.Write(zap.String("ip", ip.String()))
+		}
 		upstreams[i] = Upstream{
 			Dial: net.JoinHostPort(ip.String(), port),
 		}
@@ -467,11 +482,16 @@ func (mu MultiUpstreams) GetUpstreams(r *http.Request) ([]*Upstream, error) {
 
 		up, err := src.GetUpstreams(r)
 		if err != nil {
-			mu.logger.Error("upstream source returned error",
-				zap.Int("source_idx", i),
-				zap.Error(err))
+			if c := mu.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "upstream source returned error"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.Int("source_idx", i),
+					zap.Error(err),
+				)
+			}
 		} else if len(up) == 0 {
-			mu.logger.Warn("upstream source returned 0 upstreams", zap.Int("source_idx", i))
+			if c := mu.logger.Check(zapcore.WarnLevel, "upstream source returned 0 upstreams"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Int("source_idx", i))
+			}
 		} else {
 			upstreams = append(upstreams, up...)
 		}
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/rewrite/rewrite.go b/modules/caddyhttp/rewrite/rewrite.go
index c45ad98a2..e76682729 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/rewrite/rewrite.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/rewrite/rewrite.go
@@ -133,19 +133,17 @@ func (rewr Rewrite) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, next caddy
 	repl := r.Context().Value(caddy.ReplacerCtxKey).(*caddy.Replacer)
 	const message = "rewrote request"
 
-	if rewr.logger.Check(zap.DebugLevel, message) == nil {
+	c := rewr.logger.Check(zap.DebugLevel, message)
+	if c == nil {
 		rewr.Rewrite(r, repl)
 		return next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 	}
 
-	logger := rewr.logger.With(
-		zap.Object("request", caddyhttp.LoggableHTTPRequest{Request: r}),
-	)
-
 	changed := rewr.Rewrite(r, repl)
 
 	if changed {
-		logger.Debug(message,
+		c.Write(
+			zap.Object("request", caddyhttp.LoggableHTTPRequest{Request: r}),
 			zap.String("method", r.Method),
 			zap.String("uri", r.RequestURI),
 		)
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/server.go b/modules/caddyhttp/server.go
index 6caaabcda..9dfa1bb6d 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/server.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/server.go
@@ -275,7 +275,9 @@ func (s *Server) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		if r.ProtoMajor < 3 {
 			err := s.h3server.SetQUICHeaders(w.Header())
 			if err != nil {
-				s.logger.Error("setting HTTP/3 Alt-Svc header", zap.Error(err))
+				if c := s.logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "setting HTTP/3 Alt-Svc header"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -283,9 +285,12 @@ func (s *Server) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// reject very long methods; probably a mistake or an attack
 	if len(r.Method) > 32 {
 		if s.shouldLogRequest(r) {
-			s.accessLogger.Debug("rejecting request with long method",
-				zap.String("method_trunc", r.Method[:32]),
-				zap.String("remote_addr", r.RemoteAddr))
+			if c := s.accessLogger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, "rejecting request with long method"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(
+					zap.String("method_trunc", r.Method[:32]),
+					zap.String("remote_addr", r.RemoteAddr),
+				)
+			}
 		}
 		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusMethodNotAllowed)
 		return
@@ -300,7 +305,9 @@ func (s *Server) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		//nolint:bodyclose
 		err := http.NewResponseController(w).EnableFullDuplex()
 		if err != nil {
-			s.logger.Warn("failed to enable full duplex", zap.Error(err))
+			if c := s.logger.Check(zapcore.WarnLevel, "failed to enable full duplex"); c != nil {
+				c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -379,6 +386,7 @@ func (s *Server) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// add HTTP error information to request context
 	r = s.Errors.WithError(r, err)
 
+	var fields []zapcore.Field
 	if s.Errors != nil && len(s.Errors.Routes) > 0 {
 		// execute user-defined error handling route
 		err2 := s.errorHandlerChain.ServeHTTP(w, r)
@@ -386,17 +394,28 @@ func (s *Server) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			// user's error route handled the error response
 			// successfully, so now just log the error
 			for _, logger := range errLoggers {
-				logger.Debug(errMsg, errFields...)
+				if c := logger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, errMsg); c != nil {
+					if fields == nil {
+						fields = errFields()
+					}
+
+					c.Write(fields...)
+				}
 			}
 		} else {
 			// well... this is awkward
-			errFields = append([]zapcore.Field{
-				zap.String("error", err2.Error()),
-				zap.Namespace("first_error"),
-				zap.String("msg", errMsg),
-			}, errFields...)
 			for _, logger := range errLoggers {
-				logger.Error("error handling handler error", errFields...)
+				if c := logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "error handling handler error"); c != nil {
+					if fields == nil {
+						fields = errFields()
+						fields = append([]zapcore.Field{
+							zap.String("error", err2.Error()),
+							zap.Namespace("first_error"),
+							zap.String("msg", errMsg),
+						}, fields...)
+					}
+					c.Write(fields...)
+				}
 			}
 			if handlerErr, ok := err.(HandlerError); ok {
 				w.WriteHeader(handlerErr.StatusCode)
@@ -405,11 +424,17 @@ func (s *Server) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			}
 		}
 	} else {
+		logLevel := zapcore.DebugLevel
+		if errStatus >= 500 {
+			logLevel = zapcore.ErrorLevel
+		}
+
 		for _, logger := range errLoggers {
-			if errStatus >= 500 {
-				logger.Error(errMsg, errFields...)
-			} else {
-				logger.Debug(errMsg, errFields...)
+			if c := logger.Check(logLevel, errMsg); c != nil {
+				if fields == nil {
+					fields = errFields()
+				}
+				c.Write(fields...)
 			}
 		}
 		w.WriteHeader(errStatus)
@@ -746,7 +771,9 @@ func (s *Server) logTrace(mh MiddlewareHandler) {
 	if s.Logs == nil || !s.Logs.Trace {
 		return
 	}
-	s.traceLogger.Debug(caddy.GetModuleName(mh), zap.Any("module", mh))
+	if c := s.traceLogger.Check(zapcore.DebugLevel, caddy.GetModuleName(mh)); c != nil {
+		c.Write(zap.Any("module", mh))
+	}
 }
 
 // logRequest logs the request to access logs, unless skipped.
@@ -759,50 +786,64 @@ func (s *Server) logRequest(
 		return
 	}
 
-	repl.Set("http.response.status", wrec.Status()) // will be 0 if no response is written by us (Go will write 200 to client)
-	repl.Set("http.response.size", wrec.Size())
+	status := wrec.Status()
+	size := wrec.Size()
+
+	repl.Set("http.response.status", status) // will be 0 if no response is written by us (Go will write 200 to client)
+	repl.Set("http.response.size", size)
 	repl.Set("http.response.duration", duration)
 	repl.Set("http.response.duration_ms", duration.Seconds()*1e3) // multiply seconds to preserve decimal (see #4666)
 
-	userID, _ := repl.GetString("http.auth.user.id")
-
-	reqBodyLength := 0
-	if bodyReader != nil {
-		reqBodyLength = bodyReader.Length
-	}
-
-	extra := r.Context().Value(ExtraLogFieldsCtxKey).(*ExtraLogFields)
-
-	fieldCount := 6
-	fields := make([]zapcore.Field, 0, fieldCount+len(extra.fields))
-	fields = append(fields,
-		zap.Int("bytes_read", reqBodyLength),
-		zap.String("user_id", userID),
-		zap.Duration("duration", *duration),
-		zap.Int("size", wrec.Size()),
-		zap.Int("status", wrec.Status()),
-		zap.Object("resp_headers", LoggableHTTPHeader{
-			Header:               wrec.Header(),
-			ShouldLogCredentials: shouldLogCredentials,
-		}))
-	fields = append(fields, extra.fields...)
-
 	loggers := []*zap.Logger{accLog}
 	if s.Logs != nil {
 		loggers = s.Logs.wrapLogger(accLog, r)
 	}
 
-	// wrapping may return multiple loggers, so we log to all of them
+	message := "handled request"
+	if nop, ok := GetVar(r.Context(), "unhandled").(bool); ok && nop {
+		message = "NOP"
+	}
+
+	logLevel := zapcore.InfoLevel
+	if status >= 500 {
+		logLevel = zapcore.ErrorLevel
+	}
+
+	var fields []zapcore.Field
 	for _, logger := range loggers {
-		logAtLevel := logger.Info
-		if wrec.Status() >= 500 {
-			logAtLevel = logger.Error
+		c := logger.Check(logLevel, message)
+		if c == nil {
+			continue
 		}
-		message := "handled request"
-		if nop, ok := GetVar(r.Context(), "unhandled").(bool); ok && nop {
-			message = "NOP"
+
+		if fields == nil {
+
+			userID, _ := repl.GetString("http.auth.user.id")
+
+			reqBodyLength := 0
+			if bodyReader != nil {
+				reqBodyLength = bodyReader.Length
+			}
+
+			extra := r.Context().Value(ExtraLogFieldsCtxKey).(*ExtraLogFields)
+
+			fieldCount := 6
+			fields = make([]zapcore.Field, 0, fieldCount+len(extra.fields))
+			fields = append(fields,
+				zap.Int("bytes_read", reqBodyLength),
+				zap.String("user_id", userID),
+				zap.Duration("duration", *duration),
+				zap.Int("size", size),
+				zap.Int("status", status),
+				zap.Object("resp_headers", LoggableHTTPHeader{
+					Header:               wrec.Header(),
+					ShouldLogCredentials: shouldLogCredentials,
+				}),
+			)
+			fields = append(fields, extra.fields...)
 		}
-		logAtLevel(message, fields...)
+
+		c.Write(fields...)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/server_test.go b/modules/caddyhttp/server_test.go
index d382a6963..2c8033d45 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/server_test.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/server_test.go
@@ -121,6 +121,29 @@ func BenchmarkServer_LogRequest(b *testing.B) {
 	}
 }
 
+func BenchmarkServer_LogRequest_NopLogger(b *testing.B) {
+	s := &Server{}
+
+	extra := new(ExtraLogFields)
+	ctx := context.WithValue(context.Background(), ExtraLogFieldsCtxKey, extra)
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil).WithContext(ctx)
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	wrec := NewResponseRecorder(rec, nil, nil)
+
+	duration := 50 * time.Millisecond
+	repl := NewTestReplacer(req)
+	bodyReader := &lengthReader{Source: req.Body}
+
+	accLog := zap.NewNop()
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		s.logRequest(accLog, req, wrec, &duration, repl, bodyReader, false)
+	}
+}
+
 func BenchmarkServer_LogRequest_WithTraceID(b *testing.B) {
 	s := &Server{}
 
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/tracing/tracerprovider.go b/modules/caddyhttp/tracing/tracerprovider.go
index 035425ed6..0a3766974 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/tracing/tracerprovider.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/tracing/tracerprovider.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 	sdktrace "go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/trace"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 )
 
 // globalTracerProvider stores global tracer provider and is responsible for graceful shutdown when nobody is using it.
@@ -47,7 +48,9 @@ func (t *tracerProvider) cleanupTracerProvider(logger *zap.Logger) error {
 		if t.tracerProvider != nil {
 			// tracerProvider.ForceFlush SHOULD be invoked according to https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/blob/main/specification/trace/sdk.md#forceflush
 			if err := t.tracerProvider.ForceFlush(context.Background()); err != nil {
-				logger.Error("forcing flush", zap.Error(err))
+				if c := logger.Check(zapcore.ErrorLevel, "forcing flush"); c != nil {
+					c.Write(zap.Error(err))
+				}
 			}
 
 			// tracerProvider.Shutdown MUST be invoked according to https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/blob/main/specification/trace/sdk.md#shutdown