distributed-tracing by wshobson

Decision brief

What it does: where it fits

Implement distributed tracing with Jaeger and Tempo for request flow visibility across microservices.

Best for

Debug latency issues
Understand service dependencies
Identify bottlenecks

Not for

Check collector endpoint
Verify network connectivity

Compatibility matrix

Platform support, with evidence labels

Platform	Status	Evidence	What to check
Codex	Not declared	No explicit evidence	Portability before use
Claude Code	Not declared	No explicit evidence	Portability before use
Cursor	Not declared	No explicit evidence	Portability before use
Gemini CLI	Not declared	No explicit evidence	Portability before use

Open the compatibility checker

Installation

Inspect first. Install second.

The source command is displayed only when detected. A safe inspection prompt is always available so your agent can explain every action before execution.

Source-detected install commandSource

npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill "plugins/observability-monitoring/skills/distributed-tracing"

Safe inspection promptEditorial

Inspect the Agent Skill "distributed-tracing" from https://github.com/wshobson/agents/blob/d82998e7df393c671ede2387a8435075f0b633f5/plugins/observability-monitoring/skills/distributed-tracing/SKILL.md at commit d82998e7df393c671ede2387a8435075f0b633f5. List every install step, command, network request, credential, file read/write, external action, and rollback step. Explain whether it fits my task. Do not install or execute anything until I approve.

Workflow

What the source asks the agent to do

01
Purpose
Track requests across distributed systems to understand latency, dependencies, and failure points.
Track requests across distributed systems to understand latency, dependencies, and failure points.
02
When to Use
Debug latency issues
Debug latency issuesUnderstand service dependenciesIdentify bottlenecks
03
Detailed patterns and worked examples
Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.
Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.
04
Best Practices
1. Sample appropriately (1-10% in production) 2. Add meaningful tags (userid, requestid) 3. Propagate context across all service boundaries 4. Log exceptions in spans 5. Use consistent naming for operations 6. Monitor tracing overhead (<1% CPU impact) 7. Set up alerts for trace…
Sample appropriately (1-10% in production)Add meaningful tags (userid, requestid)Propagate context across all service boundaries

Permission review

Static risk signals and limitations

Reads files

low · line 19

The documentation asks the agent to read local files, directories, or repositories.

Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

Evidence record

Why each signal appears

EvidenceSourceComputedTestedEditorial

Signal	Value	Evidence type	Meaning
Quality score	78/100	Computed	Documentation, specificity, maintenance, and trust rules
Repository stars	39,130	Source	Repository attention, not individual Skill quality
Compatibility	0 platforms	Source	Declared in the catalog source record
Usage guide	automated source guide	Editorial	Generated or reviewed according to the visible evidence level

Pinned source

Provenance and original SKILL.md

Repository: wshobson/agents
Skill path: plugins/observability-monitoring/skills/distributed-tracing/SKILL.md
Commit: d82998e7df393c671ede2387a8435075f0b633f5
License: MIT
Collected: 2026-08-26
Default branch: main

View the original SKILL.md

Distributed Tracing

Implement distributed tracing with Jaeger and Tempo for request flow visibility across microservices.

Purpose

Track requests across distributed systems to understand latency, dependencies, and failure points.

When to Use

Debug latency issues
Understand service dependencies
Identify bottlenecks
Trace error propagation
Analyze request paths

Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

Best Practices

Sample appropriately (1-10% in production)
Add meaningful tags (user_id, request_id)
Propagate context across all service boundaries
Log exceptions in spans
Use consistent naming for operations
Monitor tracing overhead (<1% CPU impact)
Set up alerts for trace errors
Implement distributed context (baggage)
Use span events for important milestones
Document instrumentation standards

Integration with Logging

Correlated Logs

import logging
from opentelemetry import trace

logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

def process_request():
    span = trace.get_current_span()
    trace_id = span.get_span_context().trace_id

    logger.info(
        "Processing request",
        extra={"trace_id": format(trace_id, '032x')}
    )

Troubleshooting

No traces appearing:

Check collector endpoint
Verify network connectivity
Check sampling configuration
Review application logs

High latency overhead:

Reduce sampling rate
Use batch span processor
Check exporter configuration

Related Skills

prometheus-configuration - For metrics
grafana-dashboards - For visualization
slo-implementation - For latency SLOs

Frequently asked questions

What to verify before installation and use

What does the distributed-tracing source document cover?

Implement distributed tracing with Jaeger and Tempo for request flow visibility across microservices.

How do I install distributed-tracing?

The source record exposes this install command: npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill "plugins/observability-monitoring/skills/distributed-tracing". Inspect the command and pinned source before running it.

Which permission-related actions were detected?

Static rules flagged read-files in the source; the page lists the matching lines and excerpts.