distributed-tracing

Distributed Tracing

Implement distributed tracing with Jaeger and Tempo for request flow visibility across microservices.

Do not use this skill when

• The task is unrelated to distributed tracing
• You need a different domain or tool outside this scope

Instructions

• Clarify goals, constraints, and required inputs.
• Apply relevant best practices and validate outcomes.
• Provide actionable steps and verification.
• If detailed examples are required, open resources/implementation-playbook.md.

Purpose

Track requests across distributed systems to understand latency, dependencies, and failure points.

Use this skill when

• Debug latency issues
• Understand service dependencies
• Identify bottlenecks
• Trace error propagation
• Analyze request paths

Distributed Tracing Concepts

Trace Structure

Trace (Request ID: abc123)
  ↓
Span (frontend) [100ms]
  ↓
Span (api-gateway) [80ms]
  ├→ Span (auth-service) [10ms]
  └→ Span (user-service) [60ms]
      └→ Span (database) [40ms]

Key Components

• Trace - End-to-end request journey
• Span - Single operation within a trace
• Context - Metadata propagated between services
• Tags - Key-value pairs for filtering
• Logs - Timestamped events within a span

Jaeger Setup

Kubernetes Deployment

# Deploy Jaeger Operator
kubectl create namespace observability
kubectl crea