---
title: "The decision framework | Grafana Labs"
description: "When log data belongs in a label, in structured metadata, or in the log line"
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

## The decision framework

For any piece of log data, ask where it belongs.

- **If you filter by it in almost every query, and it’s bounded,** make it a label. Example: `env`, `app`.
- **It’s high-cardinality but you query it often,** attach it as [**structured metadata**](/docs/loki/latest/get-started/labels/structured-metadata/). It’s queryable with a label filter expression, such as `{job="example"} | pod="myservice-abc1234-56789"`, without being indexed or creating streams. Examples: pod names, process IDs, trace IDs.
- **Everything else,** leave it in the log line and extract it at query time with parsers like `json` or `logfmt`, or search it with filter expressions.

[Decision tree routing a piece of log data to a label, structured metadata, or the log line, based on how often it's queried and whether it's bounded](label-decision-framework.svg "Decision tree routing a piece of log data to a label, structured metadata, or the log line, based on how often it's queried and whether it's bounded")