docs: show field precedence with executable Quick Start examples

docs/changelog.md

@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## Unreleased
+
+### Changed
+- Add runnable Quick Start examples and JSON outputs explaining defaults, static fields, and field precedence. [#36](https://github.com/nhairs/python-json-logger/issues/36)
+
 ## [4.2.0](https://github.com/nhairs/python-json-logger/compare/v4.1.0...v4.2.0) - 2026-08-15
 
 ### Changed

docs/quickstart.md

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import logging
 from pythonjsonlogger.json import JsonFormatter
 
 logger = logging.getLogger()
+logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
 
 logHandler = logging.StreamHandler()
 formatter = JsonFormatter()
@@ -98,25 +99,79 @@ Finally, any non-standard attributes added to a `LogRecord` will also be include
 
 #### Default Fields
 
-Default fields that are added to every log record prior to any other field can be set using the `default` argument.
+Default fields that are added to every log record prior to any other field can be set using the `defaults` argument.
 
 ```python
 formatter = JsonFormatter(
     defaults={"environment": "dev"}
 )
-# ...
+logHandler.setFormatter(formatter)
 logger.info("this message will have environment=dev by default")
 logger.info("this overwrites the environment field", extra={"environment": "prod"})
 ```
 
+Output:
+
+```json
+{"environment": "dev", "message": "this message will have environment=dev by default"}
+{"environment": "prod", "message": "this overwrites the environment field"}
+```
+
 #### Static Fields
 
 Static fields that are added to every log record can be set using the `static_fields` argument.
 
 ```python
 formatter = JsonFormatter(
-    static_fields={"True gets logged on every record?": True}
+    static_fields={"service": "billing"}
 )
+logHandler.setFormatter(formatter)
+logger.info("processing a request")
+```
+
+Output:
+
+```json
+{"message": "processing a request", "service": "billing"}
+```
+
+Despite the name, static fields can be overridden by message fields and `extra` fields, as described below.
+
+#### Field Precedence
+
+These field sources are added in the following order. A later source replaces an earlier value for the same output key:
+
+1. `defaults`
+2. Fields selected by `fmt`
+3. `static_fields`
+4. Fields from a dictionary message
+5. Non-reserved `LogRecord` attributes, including those supplied through `extra`
+
+Fields selected by `fmt` are handled in step 2 and are not merged again in step 5. This is why `static_fields` can override a field selected by `fmt`, even when that field was supplied through `extra`. All five sources are subject to `rename_fields`.
+
+The following example shows a static value overriding both a default and the record's `levelname`, while dictionary messages and `extra` can override the static `environment`:
+
+```python
+formatter = JsonFormatter(
+    ["message", "levelname"],
+    defaults={"environment": "dev", "levelname": "DEFAULT"},
+    static_fields={"environment": "test", "levelname": "STATIC"},
+)
+logHandler.setFormatter(formatter)
+logger.info("static fields win over defaults and fmt")
+logger.info({"message": "dictionary message wins", "environment": "staging"})
+logger.info(
+    {"message": "extra wins", "environment": "staging"},
+    extra={"environment": "prod"},
+)
+```
+
+Output:
+
+```json
+{"environment": "test", "levelname": "STATIC", "message": "static fields win over defaults and fmt"}
+{"environment": "staging", "levelname": "STATIC", "message": "dictionary message wins"}
+{"environment": "prod", "levelname": "STATIC", "message": "extra wins"}
 ```
 
 ### Excluding fields

tests/test_quickstart.py

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+"""Keep the Quick Start's displayed JSON output in sync with its examples."""
+
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("section", ["Default Fields", "Static Fields", "Field Precedence"])
+def test_output_field_examples(section: str) -> None:
+    quickstart = (Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "docs" / "quickstart.md").read_text(
+        encoding="utf-8"
+    )
+    setup = re.search(
+        r"### Integrating with Python's logging framework.*?```python\n(.*?)```",
+        quickstart,
+        re.DOTALL,
+    )
+    assert setup is not None
+    example = quickstart.split(f"#### {section}\n", 1)[1].split("\n###", 1)[0]
+    code = re.search(r"```python\n(.*?)```", example, re.DOTALL)
+    output = re.search(r"```json\n(.*?)```", example, re.DOTALL)
+    assert code is not None
+    assert output is not None
+
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-c", setup.group(1) + "\n" + code.group(1)],
+        capture_output=True,
+        text=True,
+        check=True,
+        timeout=10,
+    )
+    actual = [json.loads(line) for line in result.stderr.splitlines()]
+    expected = [json.loads(line) for line in output.group(1).splitlines()]
+    assert actual == expected
+    return None