diff --git a/cmd/cmd_controller.js b/cmd/cmd_controller.js
index 27785a35e..47da1639a 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd_controller.js
+++ b/cmd/cmd_controller.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class EmbarkController {
     let Config = require('../lib/core/config.js');
 
     this.events = new Events();
-    this.logger = new Logger({logLevel: Logger.logLevels.debug, events: this.events});
+    this.logger = new Logger({logLevel: Logger.logLevels.debug, events: this.events, context: this.context});
 
     this.config = new Config({env: env, logger: this.logger, events: this.events, context: this.context});
     this.config.loadConfigFiles(options);
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ class EmbarkController {
     });
 
     let platform;
-    
+
     async.waterfall([
       function initEngine(callback) {
         engine.init({}, () => {
diff --git a/lib/core/engine.js b/lib/core/engine.js
index 9fd9b8373..6bf9684cc 100644
--- a/lib/core/engine.js
+++ b/lib/core/engine.js
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class Engine {
 
     let options = _options || {};
     this.events = options.events || this.events || new Events();
-    this.logger = options.logger || new Logger({logLevel: options.logLevel || this.logLevel || 'debug', events: this.events, logFile: this.logFile});
+    this.logger = options.logger || new Logger({context: this.context, logLevel: options.logLevel || this.logLevel || 'debug', events: this.events, logFile: this.logFile});
     this.config = new Config({env: this.env, logger: this.logger, events: this.events, context: this.context, webServerConfig: this.webServerConfig});
     this.config.loadConfigFiles({embarkConfig: this.embarkConfig, interceptLogs: this.interceptLogs});
     this.plugins = this.config.plugins;
diff --git a/lib/core/fs.js b/lib/core/fs.js
index 84ff83c56..65a941285 100644
--- a/lib/core/fs.js
+++ b/lib/core/fs.js
@@ -145,6 +145,10 @@ function copyPreserve(sourceFilePath, targetFilePath) {
   fs.copySync(sourceFilePath, targetFilePath);
 }
 
+function outputFileSync(){
+  return fs.outputFileSync.apply(fs.outputFile, arguments);
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   mkdirpSync,
   mkdirp,
@@ -172,6 +176,13 @@ module.exports = {
   dappPath,
   pkgPath,
   createWriteStream,
+<<<<<<< HEAD
   tmpDir,
   copyPreserve
+||||||| merged common ancestors
+  tmpDir
+=======
+  tmpDir,
+  outputFileSync
+>>>>>>> Overwrite log file so .embark doesn’t bloat
 };
diff --git a/lib/core/logger.js b/lib/core/logger.js
index 0d0624b36..7e45f0067 100644
--- a/lib/core/logger.js
+++ b/lib/core/logger.js
@@ -9,16 +9,16 @@ class Logger {
     this.logLevel = options.logLevel || 'info';
     this.logFunction = options.logFunction || console.log;
     this.logFile = options.logFile;
+    this.context = options.context;
     this.dateFormat = 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss:SSS';
     this.logRegex = /\[(?<date>\d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d \d\d:\d\d:\d\d:\d\d\d)\] (?:\[(?<logLevel>\w*)\]:?)?\s?\s?(?<msg>.*)/gmi;
 
     // Use a default logFile if none is specified in the cli,
-    // in the format .embark/embark-log__YYYY-MM-DD_HH-mm-ss.log.
-    // This logFile is needed so that when the backend tab starts,
-    // the initial logs of Embark can be displayed.
+    // in the format .embark/logs/embark_<context>.log.
     if (!this.logFile) {
-      const now = new Date();
-      this.logFile = fs.dappPath(`.embark/embark-log__${date.format(now, 'YYYY-MM-DD_HH-mm-ss')}.log`);
+      this.logFile = fs.dappPath(`.embark/logs/embark_${this.context}.log`);
+      // creates log dir if it doesn't exist, and overwrites existing log file if it exists
+      fs.outputFileSync(this.logFile, '');
     }
   }
 }
@@ -80,9 +80,6 @@ Logger.prototype.parseLogFile = function () {
 };
 
 Logger.prototype.writeToFile = function (_txt) {
-  if (!this.logFile) {
-    return;
-  }
   const formattedDate = [`[${date.format(new Date(), this.dateFormat)}]`]; // adds a timestamp to the logs in the logFile
   fs.appendFileSync(this.logFile, "\n" + formattedDate.concat(Array.from(arguments)).join(' '));
 };
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index f8b5c3313..66d781c74 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class Embark {
     let Config = require('./core/config.js');
 
     this.events = new Events();
-    this.logger = new Logger({logLevel: 'debug', events: this.events});
+    this.logger = new Logger({logLevel: 'debug', events: this.events, context: this.context});
 
     this.config = new Config({env: env, logger: this.logger, events: this.events, context: this.context});
     this.config.loadConfigFiles(options);