This course develops practical skills in using Sentry Logs to investigate application issues and improve production observability. Participants will explore structured logging, contextual attributes, advanced log searches, and correlation between logs, errors, and traces. The course also covers log-based alerts, troubleshooting ingestion problems, and managing log quality, volume, and sensitive data.

The recommended duration allows participants with foundational Sentry knowledge to develop an advanced logging workflow and complete an integrated capstone project.

Duration 3 Days – 21 hrs. 

 

Objectives

• Implement structured application logging using a supported Sentry SDK.
• Design consistent log messages, severity levels, and contextual attributes.
• Search and filter logs to isolate application failures and operational patterns.
• Correlate logs with errors, traces, and application execution context.
• Configure log-based alerts for actionable application conditions.
• Troubleshoot missing logs, incomplete attributes, and correlation problems.
• Apply controls to reduce logging noise, unnecessary volume, and sensitive data exposure.
• Develop a repeatable investigation workflow for production incidents.

 

Target Audience 

• Software developers and application engineers.
• DevOps engineers and site reliability engineers.
• Application support and production support engineers.
• Platform engineers responsible for application observability.
• Technical leads responsible for debugging and application reliability.

 

Prerequisites 

• Familiarity with Sentry projects, error monitoring, and basic navigation.
• Working knowledge of application logging and severity levels.
• Basic understanding of traces, spans, and HTTP request flows.
• Ability to read and modify code in the programming language selected for the course.
• Access to a Sentry environment with Logs enabled and permissions to configure relevant features.
• A development environment with a supported Sentry SDK and a sample application.

 

 

Course Outline 

Day 1: Advanced Structured Logging and Integration

Module 1: Sentry Logs in Application Observability

• Roles of logs, errors, breadcrumbs, traces, and spans.
• Moving from basic log viewing to contextual investigation.
• Identifying useful logging points within application workflows.
• Understanding SDK support and environment requirements.

 Module 2: Designing Effective Structured Logs

• Consistent message formats and severity conventions.
• Structured attributes for services, environments, and business operations.
• Request identifiers and correlation context.
• Designing searchable attributes.
• Avoiding redundant messages and excessive attribute cardinality.

 Module 3: SDK Integration and Context Enrichment

• Enabling Logs in a supported Sentry SDK.
• Sending structured log messages with attributes.
• Integrating supported application logging libraries.
• Attaching application and execution context.
• Validating ingestion, severity, and attribute consistency.
• Distinguishing captured logs from breadcrumbs and error events.

 

Day 2: Advanced Investigation and Troubleshooting

Module 4: Advanced Log Search and Exploration

• Text searches and structured attribute filters.
• Combining search conditions to narrow investigations.
• Filtering by severity, environment, service, and time range.
• Exploring patterns through supported grouping and aggregation features.
• Creating reusable investigation queries.
• Using live log views to investigate reproducible problems.

 Module 5: Correlating Logs, Errors, and Traces

• Understanding trace and span identifiers.
• Navigating between logs and related errors or traces.
• Reconstructing an application request from its execution context.
• Investigating failures across service boundaries.
• Diagnosing slow requests and downstream dependency problems.
• Recognizing missing or incomplete correlation context.

 Module 6: Troubleshooting Logging and Ingestion

• Diagnosing missing or delayed log events.
• Checking SDK configuration and logging integrations.
• Identifying inconsistent attributes and severity mappings.
• Investigating duplicate logs and excessive logging.
• Resolving context propagation problems.
• Checking ingestion limits and configuration constraints.

  

Day 3: Operational Readiness and Capstone

Module 7: Log-Based Alerts and Operational Visibility

• Selecting actionable log conditions.
• Configuring supported log-based alert rules.
• Choosing thresholds, evaluation windows, and notification routing.
• Reducing repetitive and low-value notifications.
• Using supported visualizations to track log trends.
• Connecting alert conditions to investigation procedures.

 Module 8: Logging Governance and Production Optimization

• Preventing sensitive information from entering logs.
• Applying SDK filtering and preprocessing controls where supported.
• Managing log volume and severity policies.
• Reviewing retention, quotas, and usage requirements.
• Establishing shared logging conventions across teams.
• Preparing logging configurations for production rollout.

 Module 9: Capstone—Investigating a Multi-Service Application Incident

• Instrument a sample application with structured logs and consistent attributes.
• Generate a scenario involving a failed request and a slow dependency.
• Locate relevant logs using targeted searches.
• Correlate log evidence with related errors and traces.
• Identify the failure point and document the investigation findings.
• Configure an actionable log-based alert.
• Refine the logging configuration to improve diagnostic value and reduce noise.
• Produce a reusable incident investigation runbook.