---
title: Errors in Elastic APM
description: An error event contains at least information about the original exception that occurred or about a log created when the exception occurred. For simplicity,...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/errors
products:
- APM
- Elastic Observability
applies_to:
- Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available
- Elastic Stack: Generally available
---
# Errors in Elastic APM
An error event contains at least information about the original `exception` that occurred or about a `log` created when the exception occurred. For simplicity, errors are represented by a unique ID.
An Error contains:
- Both the captured `exception` and the captured `log` of an error can contain a `stack trace`, which is helpful for debugging.
- The `culprit` of an error indicates where it originated.
- An error might relate to the [transaction](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/transactions) during which it happened, via the `transaction.id`.
- Data about the environment in which the event is recorded:
- Service - environment, framework, language, etc.
- Host - architecture, hostname, IP, etc.
- Process - args, PID, PPID, etc.
- URL - full, domain, port, query, etc.
- [User](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/metadata#apm-data-model-user) - (if supplied) email, ID, username, etc.
In addition, agents provide options for users to capture custom [metadata](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/metadata). Metadata can be indexed - [`labels`](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/metadata#apm-data-model-labels), or not-indexed - [`custom`](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/metadata#apm-data-model-custom).
Most agents limit keyword fields (e.g. `error.id`) to 1024 characters, non-keyword fields (e.g. `error.exception.message`) to 10,000 characters.
Errors are stored in error indices.
## Data streams
Errors are stored in the following data streams:
- APM error/exception logging: `logs-apm.error-`
- Applications UI logging: `logs-apm.app.-`
See [Data streams](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/data-streams) to learn more.
## Example error document
This example shows what error documents can look like when indexed in Elasticsearch.
```json
[
{
"@timestamp": "2017-05-09T15:04:05.999Z",
"agent": {
"name": "elastic-node",
"version": "3.14.0"
},
"container": {
"id": "container-id"
},
"ecs": {
"version": "1.12.0"
},
"error": {
"grouping_key": "d6b3f958dfea98dc9ed2b57d5f0c48bb",
"grouping_name": "Cannot read property 'baz' of undefined",
"id": "0f0e9d67c1854d21a6f44673ed561ec8",
"log": {
"level": "custom log level",
"message": "Cannot read property 'baz' of undefined"
}
},
"event": {
"ingested": "2020-04-22T14:52:08.436124Z"
},
"host": {
"architecture": "x64",
"ip": ["127.0.0.1"],
"os": {
"platform": "darwin"
}
},
"kubernetes": {
"namespace": "namespace1",
"pod": {
"name": "pod-name",
"uid": "pod-uid"
}
},
"labels": {
"tag1": "one",
"tag2": 2
},
"message": "Cannot read property 'baz' of undefined",
"observer": {
"hostname": "ix.lan",
"type": "apm-server",
"version": "8.0.0"
},
"process": {
"args": [
"node",
"server.js"
],
"parent": {
"pid": 7788
},
"pid": 1234,
"title": "node"
},
"processor": {
"event": "error",
"name": "error"
},
"service": {
"environment": "staging",
"framework": {
"name": "Express",
"version": "1.2.3"
},
"language": {
"name": "ecmascript",
"version": "8"
},
"name": "1234_service-12a3",
"node": {
"name": "myservice-node"
},
"runtime": {
"name": "node",
"version": "8.0.0"
},
"version": "5.1.3"
},
"timestamp": {
"us": 1494342245999000
}
},
{
"@timestamp": "2017-05-09T15:04:05.999Z",
"agent": {
"name": "python",
"version": "4.3"
},
"client": {
"geo": {
"continent_name": "North America",
"country_iso_code": "US",
"country_name": "United States",
"location": {
"lat": 37.751,
"lon": -97.822
}
},
"ip": "8.8.8.8"
},
"container": {
"id": "container-id"
},
"ecs": {
"version": "1.12.0"
},
"error": {
"culprit": "my.module.function_name",
"custom": {
"and_objects": {
"foo": [
"bar",
"baz"
]
},
"my_key": 1,
"some_other_value": "foo bar"
},
"exception": [
{
"attributes": {
"foo": "bar"
},
"code": "42",
"handled": false,
"message": "The username root is unknown",
"module": "__builtins__",
"stacktrace": [
{
"abs_path": "/real/file/name.py",
"context": {
"post": [
"line4",
"line5"
],
"pre": [
"line1",
"line2"
]
},
"exclude_from_grouping": false,
"filename": "file/name.py",
"function": "foo",
"library_frame": true,
"line": {
"column": 4,
"context": "line3",
"number": 3
},
"module": "App::MyModule",
"vars": {
"key": "value"
}
},
{
"abs_path": "/Users/watson/code/node_modules/elastic/lib/instrumentation/index.js",
"context": {
"post": [
" ins.currentTransaction = prev",
" return result",
"}",
"}",
"",
"Instrumentation.prototype._recoverTransaction = function (trans) {",
" if (this.currentTransaction === trans) return"
],
"pre": [
" var trans = this.currentTransaction",
"",
" return instrumented",
"",
" function instrumented () {",
" var prev = ins.currentTransaction",
" ins.currentTransaction = trans"
]
},
"exclude_from_grouping": false,
"filename": "lib/instrumentation/index.js",
"function": "instrumented",
"line": {
"context": " var result = original.apply(this, arguments)",
"number": 102
},
"vars": {
"key": "value"
}
}
],
"type": "DbError"
}
],
"grouping_key": "50f62f37edffc4630c6655ba3ecfcf46",
"grouping_name": "My service could not talk to the database named foobar",
"id": "5f0e9d64c1854d21a6f44673ed561ec8",
"log": {
"level": "warning",
"logger_name": "my.logger.name",
"message": "My service could not talk to the database named foobar",
"param_message": "My service could not talk to the database named %s",
"stacktrace": [
{
"abs_path": "/real/file/name.py",
"context": {
"post": [
"line4",
"line5"
],
"pre": [
"line1",
"line2"
]
},
"exclude_from_grouping": false,
"filename": "/webpack/file/name.py",
"function": "foo",
"line": {
"column": 4,
"context": "line3",
"number": 3
},
"module": "App::MyModule",
"vars": {
"key": "value"
}
},
{
"abs_path": "/Users/watson/code/node_modules/elastic/lib/instrumentation/index.js",
"context": {
"post": [
" ins.currentTransaction = prev",
" return result",
"}",
"}",
"",
"Instrumentation.prototype._recoverTransaction = function (trans) {",
" if (this.currentTransaction === trans) return"
],
"pre": [
" var trans = this.currentTransaction",
"",
" return instrumented",
"",
" function instrumented () {",
" var prev = ins.currentTransaction",
" ins.currentTransaction = trans"
]
},
"exclude_from_grouping": false,
"filename": "lib/instrumentation/index.js",
"function": "instrumented",
"line": {
"context": " var result = original.apply(this, arguments)",
"number": 102
},
"vars": {
"key": "value"
}
}
]
}
},
"event": {
"ingested": "2020-04-22T14:52:08.384032Z"
},
"host": {
"architecture": "x64",
"ip": "127.0.0.1",
"os": {
"platform": "darwin"
}
},
"http": {
"request": {
"body": {
"original": "Hello World"
},
"cookies": {
"c1": "v1",
"c2": "v2"
},
"env": {
"GATEWAY_INTERFACE": "CGI/1.1",
"SERVER_SOFTWARE": "nginx"
},
"headers": {
"Array": [
"foo",
"bar",
"baz"
],
"Content-Type": [
"text/html"
],
"Cookie": [
"c1=v1,c2=v2"
],
"Some-Other-Header": [
"foo"
],
"User-Agent": [
"Mozilla Chrome Edge"
]
},
"method": "POST",
"referrer": "http://localhost:8000/test/e2e/"
},
"response": {
"finished": true,
"headers": {
"Content-Type": [
"application/json"
]
},
"headers_sent": true,
"status_code": 200
},
"version": "1.1"
},
"kubernetes": {
"namespace": "namespace1",
"pod": {
"name": "pod-name",
"uid": "pod-uid"
}
},
"labels": {
"organization_uuid": "9f0e9d64-c185-4d21-a6f4-4673ed561ec8",
"tag1": "one",
"tag2": 2
},
"message": "My service could not talk to the database named foobar",
"observer": {
"ephemeral_id": "f1838cde-80dd-4af5-b7ac-ffc2d3fccc9d",
"hostname": "ix.lan",
"id": "5d4dc8fe-cb14-47ee-b720-d6bf49f87ef0",
"type": "apm-server",
"version": "8.0.0"
},
"process": {
"args": [
"node",
"server.js"
],
"pid": 1234,
"parent": {
"pid": 7788
},
"title": "node"
},
"processor": {
"event": "error",
"name": "error"
},
"service": {
"environment": "staging",
"framework": {
"name": "Express",
"version": "1.2.3"
},
"language": {
"name": "ecmascript",
"version": "8"
},
"name": "abc",
"node": {
"name": "myservice-xz"
},
"runtime": {
"name": "node",
"version": "1.2"
},
"version": "5.1.3"
},
"source": {
"ip": "8.8.8.8"
},
"timestamp": {
"us": 1494342245999999
},
"url": {
"domain": "www.example.com",
"fragment": "#hash",
"full": "https://www.example.com/p/a/t/h?query=string#hash",
"original": "/p/a/t/h?query=string#hash",
"path": "/p/a/t/h",
"port": 8080,
"query": "?query=string",
"scheme": "https"
},
"user": {
"email": "foo@example.com",
"id": "99",
"name": "foo"
},
"user_agent": {
"device": {
"name": "Other"
},
"name": "Other",
"original": "Mozilla Chrome Edge"
}
},
{
"@timestamp": "2017-05-09T15:04:05.000Z",
"agent": {
"name": "elastic-node",
"version": "3.14.0"
},
"container": {
"id": "container-id"
},
"ecs": {
"version": "1.12.0"
},
"error": {
"exception": [
{
"type": "connection error"
}
],
"grouping_key": "18f82051862e494727fa20e0adc15711",
"grouping_name": null,
"id": "7f0e9d68c1854d21a6f44673ed561ec8"
},
"event": {
"ingested": "2020-04-22T14:52:08.435669Z"
},
"host": {
"architecture": "x64",
"ip": "127.0.0.1",
"os": {
"platform": "darwin"
}
},
"kubernetes": {
"namespace": "namespace1",
"pod": {
"name": "pod-name",
"uid": "pod-uid"
}
},
"labels": {
"tag1": "one",
"tag2": 2
},
"observer": {
"ephemeral_id": "f1838cde-80dd-4af5-b7ac-ffc2d3fccc9d",
"hostname": "ix.lan",
"id": "5d4dc8fe-cb14-47ee-b720-d6bf49f87ef0",
"type": "apm-server",
"version": "8.0.0"
},
"process": {
"args": [
"node",
"server.js"
],
"pid": 1234,
"parent": {
"pid": 7788
},
"title": "node"
},
"processor": {
"event": "error",
"name": "error"
},
"service": {
"environment": "staging",
"framework": {
"name": "Express",
"version": "1.2.3"
},
"language": {
"name": "ecmascript",
"version": "8"
},
"name": "1234_service-12a3",
"node": {
"name": "myservice-node"
},
"runtime": {
"name": "node",
"version": "8.0.0"
},
"version": "5.1.3"
},
"timestamp": {
"us": 1494342245000000
}
},
{
"@timestamp": "2017-05-09T15:04:05.000Z",
"agent": {
"name": "elastic-node",
"version": "3.14.0"
},
"container": {
"id": "container-id"
},
"ecs": {
"version": "1.12.0"
},
"error": {
"exception": [
{
"code": "35",
"message": "foo is not defined"
}
],
"grouping_key": "f6b5a2877d9b00d5b32b44c9db039f11",
"grouping_name": "foo is not defined",
"id": "8f0e9d68c1854d21a6f44673ed561ec8"
},
"event": {
"ingested": "2020-04-22T14:52:08.435117Z"
},
"host": {
"architecture": "x64",
"ip": "127.0.0.1",
"os": {
"platform": "darwin"
}
},
"kubernetes": {
"namespace": "namespace1",
"pod": {
"name": "pod-name",
"uid": "pod-uid"
}
},
"labels": {
"tag1": "one",
"tag2": 2
},
"message": "foo is not defined",
"observer": {
"ephemeral_id": "f1838cde-80dd-4af5-b7ac-ffc2d3fccc9d",
"hostname": "ix.lan",
"id": "5d4dc8fe-cb14-47ee-b720-d6bf49f87ef0",
"type": "apm-server",
"version": "8.0.0"
},
"process": {
"args": [
"node",
"server.js"
],
"pid": 1234,
"parent": {
"pid": 7788
},
"title": "node"
},
"processor": {
"event": "error",
"name": "error"
},
"service": {
"environment": "staging",
"framework": {
"name": "Express",
"version": "1.2.3"
},
"language": {
"name": "ecmascript",
"version": "8"
},
"name": "1234_service-12a3",
"node": {
"name": "myservice-node"
},
"runtime": {
"name": "node",
"version": "8.0.0"
},
"version": "5.1.3"
},
"timestamp": {
"us": 1494342245000000
}
}
]
```