Follow the request.
Find the story.

See the request, its timing and the services behind it. Keep the thread from first signal to next move.

Explore the trace

An amber optical path passes through three graphite routing modules

01 / Follow the request02 / Isolate the interval03 / Keep the context

One request.
Nothing out of context.

Follow the same request from entry span to the next useful question.

GET /checkout/ request 4a7bc8184 ms

092 ms184 ms

Parent / child relationshipSample trace

SPAN INSPECTOR

api.gateway

service.namegateway

duration184 ms

starts at0 ms

The request enters the gateway. Keep its full path in view.

Read the full request

Less hunting.
More understanding.

Request timelines

Read the path before diving into the details.

Explore capability

Service context

Keep relationships visible as you investigate.

Explore capability

Amber light travels through connected optical fibers on a graphite laboratory bench

Focused handoffs

Share the question, the context and the next action.

Explore capability

Two engineers review a request timeline together at a studio worktable

A software engineer follows request traces at an evening workstation

Good tools leave room for judgment.

Bring the request, the service and the question together. Give the next person a clear place to begin.

Talk through your workflow

Anatomy of a requestEvery signal. In context.

The useful part
is the connection.

A span is useful when you know what came before it, what depends on it and who can act on it. Keep those relationships together.

Start a conversation

An investigation with a clear next step.

Start wide. Compare the evidence. Leave the next person with a question they can answer.

Begin with the whole request

Check the operation, environment and time window before investigating a single span. A slow dependency and a slow caller can require different next steps.

Inspect the evidence

Compare the span’s duration with its position in the request. Identify which service owns the operation, then note the measurements you would need to test your explanation.

Make the handoff useful

Share a request identifier, the relevant time window, what you observed and what remains uncertain. Keep secrets and customer payloads out of shared examples.

Make the next
request readable.

Prepare an enquiry

Follow the request.Find the story.

Follow the request.Find the story.

Follow the request.Find the story.

One request.Nothing out of context.

One request.Nothing out of context.

One request.Nothing out of context.

api.gateway

Less hunting.More understanding.

Less hunting.More understanding.