Observability analyzes queried behavior from instrumented systems and environments to identify root causes of problems that could not be anticipated beforehand. Unlike monitoring, which tracks predefined metrics, dashboards, and alerts, observability supports investigation beyond preset conditions. Telemetry—event data and logs collected from running systems—can be analyzed and queried to provide visibility into system performance and health. section 1.2
Observability
Observability is the ability to query and analyze instrumented system behavior to determine the causes of previously unanticipated problems.
How Automating API Delivery covers it
- How deep it goes
- Defines observability and distinguishes it from predefined monitoring, without detailing instrumentation or tool setup.
- Examples
- Uses event data and logs as telemetry, alongside predefined metrics, dashboards, and alerts as monitoring artifacts.
- What you can do after
- Diagnose previously unanticipated production problems by querying and analyzing instrumented system behavior.
- How it connects
- Connects observability with monitoring, telemetry, metrics, and logs in production measurement.
Also explained in
-
Effective Platform EngineeringObservability is the ability to determine and explain a software system’s internal state and usefulness from its output data.
-
Secure APIsAPI observability is the ability to infer the health, behavior, and security-relevant activity of APIs from their telemetry.
-
Grokking AI ApplicationsThe capability to understand an application's internal behavior from its outputs, telemetry, logs, traces, and related runtime signals.
-
Cloud Observability in ActionObservability is the capability to infer and continuously discover a system’s internal state from externally available signals in order to influence that system.
-
Architecting an Apache Iceberg LakehouseObservability is the capability to infer a system's internal behavior and resource usage from its emitted telemetry and operational data.
-
Generative AI in ActionObservability is the practice of monitoring, logging, and tracing a system to understand its internal behavior and diagnose problems from its outputs and operational data.
-
Machine Learning Platform EngineeringObservability is the ability to infer the internal state and behavior of a deployed system from its outputs and telemetry, including application-specific information flows.
-
Troubleshooting Java, Second EditionObservability is the ability to infer a system's internal behavior from its emitted telemetry and other external outputs.
-
AI Agents in Action, Second EditionObservability is the practice of inferring and diagnosing a software system's internal state from its externally emitted telemetry.
-
Logs and TelemetryObservability is the ability to understand a system's internal state from externally emitted telemetry such as logs, metrics, and traces.
-
Digital Twins in ActionObservability is the ability to understand a system's internal condition and behavior from its externally generated outputs and operational signals.
-
Google Anthos in ActionObservability is the ability to understand a system's internal state from the outputs it produces, such as metrics, logs, and traces.
-
AI Agents in ActionObservability is the collection and analysis of execution signals that reveal an agent system's behavior, performance, and failures.
-
Bootstrapping Microservices, Second Edition: With Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and TerraformObservability is the practice of exposing and analyzing detailed telemetry to understand a system's internal behavior from its external outputs.
-
Building Distributed Applications that WorkObservability is the capability to infer the internal behavior and condition of a system from its externally emitted telemetry.
Compare how 16 books explain observability →
Related concepts
- trajectoryhas part · A trajectory is an ordered sequence of states, actions, events, or operations that records or describes progression through successive steps or over time.
- monitoringhas part · Monitoring is the ongoing observation and measurement of a system’s behavior, state, or operational signals to assess its condition and detect changes or problems.
- telemetryuses · Telemetry is automatically generated or collected operational data describing a system’s activity, state, behavior, or performance.
- OpenTelemetryimplemented by · OpenTelemetry is an open, vendor-neutral observability standard and framework for instrumenting software and generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry such as traces, metrics, and logs.
- performanceuses · Performance is the measurable effectiveness or operational behavior of a system under specified conditions, assessed through relevant qualities such as task results, speed, responsiveness, throughput, or resource use.
- metricuses · A metric is a quantitative measure used to characterize or assess a property, condition, behavior, performance, or outcome.
This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Automating API Delivery. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.