Messages
Not available yet. The TracePath browser SDK is not published, so the message API described here cannot be used today. From a backend, an OpenTelemetry log record covers the same ground and works now.
A message is a non-error event: a line of text you send deliberately, with no exception behind it. Messages land in the same Issues feed as exceptions and can be filtered apart from them, which makes them useful for tracing a production flow that never throws.
Messages vs exceptions
| Send a message when | Capture an exception when |
|---|---|
| Tracking a user action | An error occurred |
| Logging a business event | You are inside a catch block |
| Following a production flow that does not throw | Something unexpected happened |
| Monitoring feature usage | An operation failed |
A message has no stack trace, so it is grouped by its text. Interpolating a unique value into the text — an order ID, a timestamp — creates a new group per event and floods the feed. Keep the text fixed and put the varying part in attributes.
Guidelines
- Be concise. The message text is the group key; short and stable is what you want.
- Move the variables out. Identifiers belong in attributes, not in the string.
- No sensitive data. Never put passwords, tokens or PII in a message.
- Use sparingly. Each message is an upload and a row; instrument the handful of flows you actually investigate, not every click.
Where messages appear
Messages show up in the dashboard alongside exceptions, and the Issues page can filter to messages only or exceptions only.
Related
- Exceptions: capturing real errors
- Logs: the log pipeline, which is where high-volume application logging belongs