diff --git a/selfdrive/debug/dump.py b/selfdrive/debug/dump.py
index db18f4c622..514a415577 100755
--- a/selfdrive/debug/dump.py
+++ b/selfdrive/debug/dump.py
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-import os
 import sys
 import argparse
 import json
 import codecs
-import cereal.messaging as messaging
 
 from hexdump import hexdump
 from cereal import log
 from cereal.services import SERVICE_LIST
+from openpilot.tools.lib.logreader import raw_live_logreader
+
 
 codecs.register_error("strict", codecs.backslashreplace_errors)
 
@@ -22,32 +22,20 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
   parser.add_argument('--no-print', action='store_true')
   parser.add_argument('--addr', default='127.0.0.1')
   parser.add_argument('--values', help='values to monitor (instead of entire event)')
-  parser.add_argument("socket", type=str, nargs='*', help="socket names to dump. defaults to all services defined in cereal")
+  parser.add_argument("socket", type=str, nargs='*', default=list(SERVICE_LIST.keys()), help="socket names to dump. defaults to all services defined in cereal")
   args = parser.parse_args()
 
-  if args.addr != "127.0.0.1":
-    os.environ["ZMQ"] = "1"
-    messaging.context = messaging.Context()
-
-  poller = messaging.Poller()
-
-  for m in args.socket if len(args.socket) > 0 else SERVICE_LIST:
-    messaging.sub_sock(m, poller, addr=args.addr)
+  lr = raw_live_logreader(args.socket, args.addr)
 
   values = None
   if args.values:
     values = [s.strip().split(".") for s in args.values.split(",")]
 
-  while 1:
-    polld = poller.poll(100)
-    for sock in polld:
-      msg = sock.receive()
-      with log.Event.from_bytes(msg) as log_evt:
-        evt = log_evt
-
+  for msg in lr:
+    with log.Event.from_bytes(msg) as evt:
       if not args.no_print:
         if args.pipe:
-          sys.stdout.write(msg)
+          sys.stdout.write(str(msg))
           sys.stdout.flush()
         elif args.raw:
           hexdump(msg)
diff --git a/tools/lib/logreader.py b/tools/lib/logreader.py
index 4d76f2a38f..24dfc75d47 100755
--- a/tools/lib/logreader.py
+++ b/tools/lib/logreader.py
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import warnings
 from typing import Dict, Iterable, Iterator, List, Type
 from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlparse
 
-from cereal import log as capnp_log
+from cereal import log as capnp_log, messaging
+from cereal.services import SERVICE_LIST
 from openpilot.common.swaglog import cloudlog
 from openpilot.tools.lib.comma_car_segments import get_url as get_comma_segments_url
 from openpilot.tools.lib.openpilotci import get_url
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ from openpilot.tools.lib.route import Route, SegmentRange
 
 LogMessage = Type[capnp._DynamicStructReader]
 LogIterable = Iterable[LogMessage]
+RawLogIterable = Iterable[bytes]
 
 
 class _LogFileReader:
@@ -292,6 +294,31 @@ are uploaded or auto fallback to qlogs with '/a' selector at the end of the rout
     return next(self.filter(msg_type), None)
 
 
+ALL_SERVICES = list(SERVICE_LIST.keys())
+
+def raw_live_logreader(services: List[str] = ALL_SERVICES, addr: str = '127.0.0.1') -> RawLogIterable:
+  if addr != "127.0.0.1":
+    os.environ["ZMQ"] = "1"
+    messaging.context = messaging.Context()
+
+  poller = messaging.Poller()
+
+  for m in services:
+    messaging.sub_sock(m, poller, addr=addr)
+
+  while True:
+    polld = poller.poll(100)
+    for sock in polld:
+      msg = sock.receive()
+      yield msg
+
+
+def live_logreader(services: List[str] = ALL_SERVICES, addr: str = '127.0.0.1') -> LogIterable:
+  for m in raw_live_logreader(services, addr):
+    with capnp_log.Event.from_bytes(m) as evt:
+      yield evt
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
   import codecs
   # capnproto <= 0.8.0 throws errors converting byte data to string