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APM Explorer

The APM Explorer provides a comprehensive, real-time view of trace data collected across your registered services. It helps you understand how requests flow through your system, identify performance bottlenecks, and diagnose errors efficiently.

The Explorer enables you to drill down into traces and spans for in-depth analysis, helping teams pinpoint issues and resolve them faster. Whether you're troubleshooting application errors, identifying slow services, or tracking key performance metrics, APM Explorer allows you to visualize the data and gain actionable insights.

Understanding APM Explorer​

The APM Explorer section in Motadata AIOps allows you to visualize and analyze traces by filtering with Trace and Span.

Once your APM agent is set up and tracing data begins to flow in, you can start analyzing through different graphical methods:

  • Trace Count: The total number of traces recorded.
  • Trace Duration: The total duration of each trace.
  • Trace with Errors: Displays traces that have encountered errors.

Switching Between Trace View and Span View​

In the APM Explorer, you can select options between Trace and Span views at the left side top of the screen. This allows you to drill down into data at different levels of granularity.

  • Trace View: Displays root spans and their aggregated data.
  • Span View: Displays individual spans and their metrics for more detailed analysis.

By selecting either view, the entire interface dynamically adjusts to show data relevant to the chosen mode.

Key Features in APM Explorer​

Trace Visualization​

In Trace View, the APM Explorer displays aggregated metrics for traces, such as:

  • Trace Count: The total number of traces within the selected time window.
  • Trace Duration: A graph showing how long each trace takes to complete, helping you identify any performance issues.
  • Trace with Errors: A graph showing traces that encountered errors, which helps you identify problem areas.

Each service tile in the APM Explorer displays the relevant trace data and allows you to click on the timestamp to investigate deeper.

Span-Level Details​

In Span View, individual spans are listed with more detailed information. Each row represents a single span, with the following metrics:

  • Service: The service to which the span belongs.
  • Duration: The time taken by the span.
  • Status: The HTTP status or result of the span (e.g., 200, 404, 500).
  • Resource: The resource (endpoint or operation) associated with the span.
  • Spans: The number of spans tied to a specific trace.

Search and Filtering​

You can use the search bar and filters at the top of the APM Explorer to narrow down your results. The filters allow you to refine your analysis by selecting In criteria. You can select options such as Service, Span, and Event Source from the In drop-down. Depending on this selection the search bar allows you to select counters for the pre-filters.

Exploring Trace Information​

The APM Explorer displays a detailed grid with information about each trace:

FieldDescription
TimestampThe time when the trace was recorded.
ServicesThe services involved in the trace (e.g., java-app, node-app).
DurationThe total duration of the trace.
StatusThe HTTP status or response code of the span (e.g., 200, 500).
ResourceThe operation or resource name (e.g., GET /products).
SpansThe number of spans tied to the trace.

You can use Free Text Search to filter specific results in the displayed grid. From the displayed grid, you can click on the Timestamp of a span to view the complete journey of the Trace. It will display all the child spans, methods used for the spans, and a lot more information. To learn more about it head to the Analyze Root Span Using Scattered Plot Chart section.