Trace
Also called Execution trace
A trace records the operations involved in an execution so their sequence and relationships can be inspected. In distributed tracing, individual operations are represented as spans with timing and other recorded attributes.
[OpenTelemetry]In practice · hypothetical example
A support request has a model-call span and a database-lookup span. Their timings show that the lookup caused most of the delay.
[OpenTelemetry]A little deeper
A parent operation can contain child spans for downstream work. A trace helps locate where time or errors occurred; a successful operation status is not a judgment that an AI answer was useful. [OpenTelemetry]
A common mix-up
A trace is automatically a quality score.
Recorded operations describe execution; quality needs separate criteria. [OpenTelemetry]
A trace shows a slow database span. What does that reveal?
Sources & editorial notes
Evidence: supported. Primary-source support for this scoped entry; publication approved by the project owner.
- Traces ↗ (opens in new tab)OpenTelemetry · Publication date unknown
Relevant section: Spans; Span Status
Last editorial review: 2026-09-13 by project-owner.
First observed in this corpus: Unknown.
Revision history
Revision 2 · Created 2026-09-13 · Updated 2026-09-13
Project owner approved the current content for publication. Existing evidence scope and limitations remain applicable.