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Query tracing data

The Tempo data source’s query editor helps you query and display traces from Tempo in Explore.

This topic explains configuration and queries specific to the Tempo data source. For general documentation on querying data sources in Grafana, see Query and transform data.

To add TraceQL panels to your dashboard, refer to the Traces panel documentation.

To learn more about Grafana dashboards, refer to the Use dashboards documentation.

Write TraceQL queries in Grafana

You can compose TraceQL queries in Grafana and Grafana Cloud using Explore and a Tempo data source. You can use either the Query type > Search (the TraceQL query builder) or the TraceQL tab (the TraceQL query editor). Both of these methods let you build queries and drill-down into result sets.

To learn more about how to query by TraceQL, refer to the TraceQL documentation.

TraceQL query builder

The TraceQL query builder, located on the Explore > Query type > Search in Grafana, provides drop-downs and text fields to help you write a query.

Refer to the Search using the TraceQL query builder documentation to learn more about creating queries using convenient drop-down menus.

The TraceQL query builder

TraceQL query editor

The TraceQL query editor, located on the Explore > TraceQL tab in Grafana, lets you search by trace ID and write TraceQL queries using autocomplete.

Refer to the TraceQL query editor documentation to learn more about constructing queries using a code-editor-like experience.

The TraceQL query editor

Query by search (deprecated)

Caution

Starting with Grafana v10.2, this query type has been deprecated. It will be removed in Grafana v10.3.

Use this to search for traces by service name, span name, duration range, or process-level attributes that are included in your application’s instrumentation, such as HTTP status code and customer ID.

To configure Tempo and the Tempo data source for search, refer to Configure the data source.

To search for traces:

  1. Select Search from the Query type selector.
  2. Fill out the search form:
NameDescription
Service NameReturns a list of services.
Span NameReturns a list of span names.
TagsSets tags with values in the logfmt format, such as error=true db.statement="select * from User".
Min DurationFilters all traces with a duration higher than the set value. Possible values are 1.2s, 100ms, 500us.
Max DurationFilters all traces with a duration lower than the set value. Possible values are 1.2s, 100ms, 500us.
LimitLimits the number of traces returned.
Screenshot of the Tempo search feature with a trace rendered in the right panel
Screenshot of the Tempo search feature with a trace rendered in the right panel

Search recent traces

You can search recent traces held in Tempo’s ingesters. By default, ingesters store the last 15 minutes of tracing data.

To configure your Tempo data source to use this feature, refer to the Tempo documentation.

Search the backend datastore

Tempo includes the ability to search the entire backend datastore.

To configure your Tempo data source to use this feature, refer to the Tempo documentation.

Query by TraceID

To query a particular trace:

  1. Select the TraceQL query type.
  2. Enter the trace’s ID into the query field.
Screenshot of the Tempo TraceID query type
Screenshot of the Tempo TraceID query type