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Asset Logging, Correlation, and Tracing

Summary​

This page documents the telemetry the asset-service emits: structured JSON console logging, request correlation via a middleware, and OpenTelemetry tracing for ASP.NET Core and outbound HttpClient calls. Trace exporters (console and OTLP) are config-gated. No metrics pipeline and no dashboards exist in source, so this telemetry supports investigation but not automated monitoring.

Audience​

  • DevOps engineers configuring log and trace collection.
  • Support and QA engineers tracing requests across services.
  • Solution architects assessing observability maturity.

Reference Content​

Structured logging​

Logging is configured through the shared observability extension with a JSON console provider (AddJsonConsole), producing structured log lines suitable for machine parsing by an external collector.

Correlation​

The correlation middleware reads the X-Correlation-Id header, stores it as the request item CorrelationId, and echoes it on both the request and the response. The service-information endpoint returns the current correlation id, allowing an operator to confirm propagation.

Correlation flow​

Tracing​

OpenTelemetry tracing is configured with ASP.NET Core and HttpClient instrumentation, so inbound requests and outbound calls to workflow-service and document-service participate in traces. An optional console exporter is gated by the Observability:EnableConsoleExporter flag, and an optional OTLP exporter is config-gated for export to an external backend.

Coverage boundaries​

  • No metrics pipeline is configured.
  • No dashboards are defined in source.
  • Trace and log destinations depend on externally configured collectors, which are Requires confirmation for any given environment.

Telemetry emission exists; automated observation of it does not. See monitoring and alerting for the verified absences.

Source References​

  • microservices/src/shared-kernel/Extensions/ObservabilityExtensions.cs
  • microservices/src/asset-service/Program.cs

See Also​

Keywords​

asset logging, correlation id, distributed tracing, opentelemetry, structured logs

Revision Information​

  • Status: Draft
  • Last reviewed: 2026-07-17
  • Review cycle: Quarterly