﻿---
title: Explore traces in Discover
description: Explore trace data in Discover.
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/observability/apm/discover-traces
products:
  - Elastic Observability
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Preview
  - Elastic Stack: Preview since 9.1
---

# Explore traces in Discover
<important>
  This functionality is experimental. It may change or be removed at anytime.
</important>

**Discover** offers a dedicated experience for exploring trace data. When **Discover** detects data in `traces-*` indices, it automatically enables features that help you investigate distributed traces more effectively. The traces experience includes a pre-selected set of trace fields in the data grid, a structured overview of each document's key attributes, latency comparisons for similar spans, and a waterfall visualization of the full trace timeline.
If you're just getting started with **Discover** and want to learn its main principles, you should get familiar with the [default experience](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/explore-analyze/discover).
![Discover showing trace data with the traces profile active, including pre-selected columns for service name, transaction name, span name, and duration.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-main.png)


## Requirements


### Data recognition

Data stored in `traces-*` indices is automatically recognized as trace data and triggers the **Discover** experience described on this page.

### Required Kibana privileges

Viewing trace data in **Discover** requires at least `read` privileges for **Discover**.
For more information, refer to [Kibana privileges](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/deploy-manage/users-roles/cluster-or-deployment-auth/kibana-privileges).

## Load trace data

The traces experience is available in:
- **Data view mode**: Select a data view that matches a `traces-*` index pattern from the **Discover** main page.
- **ES|QL mode**: Switch to **ES|QL** mode and use the `FROM` command to query your trace data:
  ```esql
  FROM traces-*
  ```
  You can also query a specific index:
  ```esql
  FROM traces-apm-default
  ```


## Traces-specific features

When **Discover** recognizes trace data, it pre-selects a set of relevant fields as columns in the data grid: `service.name`, `transaction.name`, `span.name`, `transaction.duration.us`, `span.duration.us`, and `event.outcome`. You can [reorder or resize these columns](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/explore-analyze/discover/document-explorer#document-explorer-columns), or add new ones, using the standard **Discover** column controls.

### Overview charts (ES|QL)

In ES|QL mode, **Discover** displays three summary charts above the results:
- **Latency**: Average response time over the selected time range.
- **Error Rate**: Percentage of failed trace events over time.
- **Throughput**: Number of trace events per unit of time.

![ES|QL mode showing Latency, Error Rate, and Throughput summary charts above the trace results.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-esql-charts.png)


### Trace document overview

Select `expand` in any row to open the document detail panel. The **Overview** tab shows the key attributes of the selected trace document:
- **Span ID** and **Span name**: Identify the specific operation.
- **Trace ID**: Links all documents that belong to the same trace.
- **Service name**: The service that generated this span.
- **Duration**: How long the operation took, and what percentage of the total trace duration it represents.
- **Start time**: When the operation started.
- **Type** and **Subtype**: The category of the operation, for example `db` / `postgresql` or `external` / `http`.

![The Overview tab in the document detail panel showing span attributes including Trace ID, Service name, Duration as a percentage of trace, and a latency chart in the Similar spans section.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-document-overview.png)


### Similar spans

The **Similar spans** section shows a latency chart for spans with the same type and name across your data. Use this view to compare the selected span's performance against historical samples and identify outliers.
![The Similar spans section in the document detail panel showing a latency chart for spans with the same type and name, with an Open in Discover link.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-document-similar-spans.png)

Select **Open in Discover** to open a filtered view of all similar spans.

### Trace summary

The **Trace summary** section shows a condensed waterfall of the trace the selected document belongs to. Each row represents a span or transaction, positioned on a timeline to show when it started and how long it took.
<applies-switch>
  <applies-item title="{"stack": "preview 9.4+", "serverless": "preview"}" applies-to="Elastic Cloud Serverless: Preview, Elastic Stack: Planned">
    ![The Trace summary section in the document detail panel showing a condensed waterfall with spans and links to expand the trace timeline and open in Discover.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-document-trace-serverless.png)
  </applies-item>

  <applies-item title="{"stack": "preview 9.1-9.3"}" applies-to="Elastic Stack: Preview from 9.1 to 9.3">
    ![The Trace section in the document detail panel showing a mini waterfall with spans and a link to expand the full trace timeline.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-document-trace.png)
  </applies-item>
</applies-switch>

Select **Expand trace timeline** to open the expanded waterfall view.

#### Expanded trace timeline

The expanded trace timeline shows all spans and transactions in a trace in a dedicated flyout waterfall view. A color-coded legend identifies which service each span belongs to. Failed spans are highlighted to help you quickly locate errors.
<tip>
  <applies-to>
    - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Preview
    - Elastic Stack: Planned
  </applies-to>
  Toggle **Show critical path** to highlight the sequence of spans that determined the trace's total duration.
</tip>

<applies-switch>
  <applies-item title="{"stack": "preview 9.4+", "serverless": "preview"}" applies-to="Elastic Cloud Serverless: Preview, Elastic Stack: Planned">
    ![The expanded trace timeline showing a waterfall visualization with spans from multiple services, a Show critical path toggle, service legend, and failure badges.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-timeline-serverless.png)
  </applies-item>

  <applies-item title="{"stack": "preview 9.1-9.3"}" applies-to="Elastic Stack: Preview from 9.1 to 9.3">
    ![The expanded trace timeline showing a waterfall visualization with spans from multiple services, including duration labels and failure badges.](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/2979/solutions/images/discover-traces-timeline.png)
  </applies-item>
</applies-switch>


### Logs

The **Logs** section shows log entries correlated with the selected trace. Select **Open in Discover** to explore those logs in context.