Slide 3 of 5

TraceQL: when you're ready for precision

TraceQL: when you’re ready for precision

Reading a trace someone found for you is one thing. Sometimes you need to go the other way and find every trace that matches a precise condition, for example “checkout requests slower than two seconds that returned an error.” Clicking through a visual explorer gets slow when your question is that specific.

For questions like that, Tempo has a query language built just for traces, called TraceQL. You describe the traces you want, and Tempo returns the ones that match, ready to open in the same trace view you already know how to read.

When to graduate to it

  • Start queryless: explore traces visually to answer most questions.
  • Reach for TraceQL: when you know exactly what you’re hunting for and want to pin it down precisely.

You don’t need it to read a trace, and this journey doesn’t teach its syntax. Just know it’s there for when your questions get sharper.

Script

Reading a trace that someone handed you is one thing. Sometimes you need the opposite, to find every trace that matches a precise condition, like checkout requests slower than two seconds that returned an error. Clicking through a visual explorer gets slow once the question is that specific.

For that, Tempo has a query language built just for traces, called TraceQL. You describe the traces you want, Tempo hands back the matches, and they open in the same trace view you already read.

The rule of thumb is simple. Explore visually while you’re still poking around and answering broad questions. Reach for TraceQL when you know exactly what you’re hunting and want to pin it down.

You don’t need it to read a trace, and this journey won’t teach its syntax. Just know it’s there for when your questions sharpen.

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