In a microservices-based application, mapping distributed error stacks across multiple dimensions

1. A method of tracking errors in a system comprising microservices, the method comprising:

ingesting a plurality of spans generated by the microservices during a first duration of time;

consolidating the plurality of spans associated with the first duration of time into a plurality of traces, wherein each trace comprises a subset of the plurality of spans that comprise a common trace identifier;

for each trace of the plurality of traces:

mapping a respective trace to one or more error stacks computed for the respective trace and to one or more attributes determined for the respective trace; and

emitting each error stack computed from the respective trace with an associated pair of attributes; and

reducing duplicate pairs of error stack and associated attributes and maintaining a count value for each pair of error stack and associated attributes.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time; and

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with a summary metric in the database, and wherein the database is operable to be queried by a client.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

repeating the ingesting, the consolidating, the mapping, the emitting and the reducing for each subsequent duration of time.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ingesting is performed in real-time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ingesting comprises ingesting all of the spans generated by the microservices during the first duration of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to the ingesting, excluding spans that are associated with probe data from the plurality of spans.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more attributes determined for the respective trace pertain to a user request.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more error stacks computed for the respective trace comprises an ordered list of span error frames, wherein the top-most frame in the ordered list is associated with a root cause error span, wherein each subsequent span error frame is associated with a parent span of a prior span in the ordered list, wherein a root cause error span comprises an error span associated with a microservice that originated an error, and wherein each span error frame in the ordered list comprises summary information associated with a respective span.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time; and

providing a user a graphical user interface (GUI) to query the database.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time; and

providing a user a graphical user interface (GUI) to query the database, wherein the GUI provides a user options to filter error information for each stored error stack across the associated attributes.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to the ingesting, flagging spans, from the plurality of spans, that are associated with probe data;

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time;

rendering a user a graphical user interface (GUI) operable to submit a query to the database; and

responsive to a user selection of an exclude option in the GUI, excluding the probe data from a result set displayed in response to the query.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to the ingesting, excluding spans from the plurality of spans that are associated with probe data, wherein the probe data is defined based on user-specified criteria.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to the ingesting, excluding spans from the plurality of spans that are associated with probe data, wherein the probe data is defined based on user-specified criteria entered using a GUI.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to perform a method for tracking errors in a system comprising microservices, the method comprising:

ingesting a plurality of spans generated by the microservices during a first duration of time;

consolidating the plurality of spans associated with the first duration of time into a plurality of traces, wherein each trace comprises a subset of the plurality of spans that comprise a common trace identifier;

for each trace of the plurality of traces:

mapping a respective trace to one or more error stacks computed for the respective trace and to one or more attributes determined for the respective trace; and

emitting each error stack computed from the respective trace with an associated pair of attributes; and

reducing duplicate pairs of error stack and associated attributes and maintaining a count value for each pair of error stack and associated attributes.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time, and wherein the database is operable to be queried by a client.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

repeating the ingesting, the consolidating, the mapping, the emitting and the reducing for each subsequent duration of time.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the ingesting is performed in real-time.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the ingesting comprises ingesting all of the spans generated by the microservices during the first duration of time.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

prior to the ingesting, excluding spans that are associated with probe data from the plurality of spans.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the one or more attributes determined for the respective trace pertain to a user request.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the one or more error stacks computed for the respective trace comprises an ordered list of span error frames, wherein the top-most frame in the ordered list is associated with a root cause error span, wherein each subsequent span error frame is associated with a parent span of a prior span in the ordered list, wherein a root cause error span comprises an error span associated with a microservice that originated an error, and wherein each span error frame in the ordered list comprises summary information associated with a respective span.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time; and

providing a user a graphical user interface (GUI) to query the database.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time;

providing a user a graphical user interface (GUI) to query the database, wherein the GUI provides a user options to filter error information for each stored error stack across the associated attributes.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

prior to the ingesting, flagging spans, from the plurality of spans, that are associated with probe data;

storing each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time;

rendering a user a graphical user interface (GUI) operable to submit a query to the database; and

responsive to a user selection of an exclude option in the GUI, excluding the probe data from a result set displayed in response to the query.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

prior to the ingesting, excluding spans from the plurality of spans that are associated with probe data, wherein the probe data is defined based on user-specified criteria.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:

prior to the ingesting, excluding spans from the plurality of spans that are associated with probe data, wherein the probe data is defined based on user-specified criteria entered using a GUI.

27. A system for tracking errors in a network comprising microservices, the system comprising:

a processing device communicatively coupled with a memory and configured to:

ingest a plurality of spans generated by the microservices during a first duration of time;

consolidate the plurality of spans associated with the first duration of time into a plurality of traces, wherein each trace comprises a subset of the plurality of spans that comprise a common trace identifier;

for each trace of the plurality of traces:

map a respective trace to one or more error stacks computed for the respective trace and to one or more attributes determined for the respective trace; and

emit each error stack computed from the respective trace with an associated pair of attributes; and

reduce duplicate pairs of error stack and associated attributes and maintaining a count value for each pair of error stack and associated attributes.

28. The system of claim 23 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

store each pair of error stack and associated attributes with the count value in a database, wherein the count value is associated with a number of times each pair occurred during the first duration of time, and wherein the database is operable to be queried by a client.

29. The system of claim 23 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

repeat the ingesting, the consolidating, the mapping, the emitting and the reducing for each subsequent duration of time.

30. The system of claim 23 , wherein the processor is further configured to ingest the plurality of spans in real-time.