---
title: "Take it further with traces | Grafana Labs"
description: "Exemplars link a metric spike to the exact trace without adding labels"
---

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

## Take it further with traces

If you also collect traces, the same pattern extends to a third signal using [exemplars](/docs/grafana/latest/fundamentals/exemplars/). An **exemplar** is a trace ID attached alongside a metric sample, not as a label, so the metric stays low-cardinality while a latency spike becomes one click away from the exact slow trace.

- **Attach the trace ID to the metric as an exemplar**, not a label.
- **Keep the trace ID on logs as structured metadata**, so logs link to the same trace.

Exemplars require a tracing backend such as Tempo, and exemplar support enabled on your metrics data source.