The following `tip` changes can be tested by building VictoriaLogs from the latest commit of [VictoriaMetrics](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/) repository
* FEATURE: support the ability to limit the number of returned log entries from [HTTP querying API](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/querying/#http-api) by passing `limit` query arg. Previously all the matching log entries were returned until closing the response stream. See [this feature request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5674). Thanks to @dmitryk-dk for [the pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5778).
* BUGFIX: do not panic on incorrect regular expression in [stream filter](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/logsql/#stream-filter). Thanks to @XLONG96 for [the bugfix](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5897).
* BUGFIX: properly determine when the assisted merge is needed. Previously the logs for determining whether the assisted merge is needed was broken. This could lead to too big number of parts under high data ingestion rate. Thanks to @lujiajing1126 for [the fix](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5447).
* BUGFIX: properly stop execution of aborted query when the query doesn't contain [`_stream` filter](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/logsql/#stream-filter). Previously such a query could continue consuming resources after being aborted by the client. Thanks to @z-anshun for [the fix](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5400).
* BUGFIX: properly locate logs for the [requested streams](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/LogsQL.html#stream-filter). Previously logs for some streams may be missing in query results. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4856). Thanks to @XLONG96 for [the fix](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5295)!
* BUGFIX: [web UI](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/querying/#web-ui): properly sort found logs by time. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5300).
* BUGFIX: fix the free space verification process in VictoriaLogs that was erroneously shifting to read-only mode, despite there being sufficient free space available. See [this](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5112) issue.
* FEATURE: add `-elasticsearch.version` command-line flag, which can be used for specifying Elasticsearch version returned by VictoriaLogs to Filebeat at [elasticsearch bulk API](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/data-ingestion/#elasticsearch-bulk-api). This helps resolving [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4777).
* FEATURE: expose the following metrics at [/metrics](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/#monitoring) page:
*`vl_data_size_bytes{type="storage"}` - on-disk size for data excluding [log stream](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/keyConcepts.html#stream-fields) indexes.
*`vl_data_size_bytes{type="indexdb"}` - on-disk size for [log stream](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/keyConcepts.html#stream-fields) indexes.
* FEATURE: add `-insert.maxFieldsPerLine` command-line flag, which can be used for limiting the number of fields per line in logs sent to VictoriaLogs via ingestion protocols. This helps to avoid issues like [this](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4762).
* FEATURE: expose `vl_http_request_duration_seconds` histogram at the [/metrics](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/#monitoring) page. Thanks to @crossoverJie for [this pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/4934).
* FEATURE: add support of `-storage.minFreeDiskSpaceBytes` command-line flag to allow switching to read-only mode when running out of disk space at `-storageDataPath`. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4737).
* BUGFIX: fix possible panic when no data is written to VictoriaLogs for a long time. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4895). Thanks to @crossoverJie for filing and fixing the issue.
* BUGFIX: add `/insert/loky/ready` endpoint, which is used by Promtail for healthchecks. This should remove `unsupported path requested: /insert/loki/ready` warning logs. See [this comment](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4762#issuecomment-1690966722).
* BUGFIX: prevent from panic during background merge when the number of columns in the resulting block exceeds the maximum allowed number of columns per block. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4762).
* FEATURE: add support for data ingestion via Promtail (aka default log shipper for Grafana Loki). See [these](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/data-ingestion/Promtail.html) and [these](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/data-ingestion/#loki-json-api) docs.
* FEATURE: support short form of `_time` filters over the last X minutes/hours/days/etc. For example, `_time:5m` is a short form for `_time:(now-5m, now]`, which matches logs with [timestamps](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/keyConcepts.html#time-field) for the last 5 minutes. See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/LogsQL.html#time-filter) for details.
* FEATURE: add ability to specify offset for the selected time range. For example, `_time:5m offset 1h` is equivalent to `_time:(now-5m-1h, now-1h]`. See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/LogsQL.html#time-filter) for details.
* FEATURE: [LogsQL](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/LogsQL.html): replace `exact_prefix("...")` with `exact("..."*)`. This makes it consistent with [i()](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/LogsQL.html#case-insensitive-filter) filter, which can accept phrases and prefixes, e.g. `i("phrase")` and `i("phrase"*)`. See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/VictoriaLogs/LogsQL.html#exact-prefix-filter).
