VictoriaTraces Query

Query VictoriaTraces Jaeger-compatible HTTP API directly via curl. Covers service/operation discovery, trace search, trace retrieval by ID, and dependency mapping.

Environment

# $VM_TRACES_URL - base URL including /select/jaeger prefix
#   Example: export VM_TRACES_URL="https://vtselect.example.com/select/jaeger"
# $VM_AUTH_HEADER - auth header (set for prod, empty for local)

IMPORTANT: The Jaeger API lives under /select/jaeger/api/..., NOT root /api/.... The $VM_TRACES_URL env var already includes the /select/jaeger prefix, so all endpoints below use $VM_TRACES_URL/api/....

Auth Pattern

All curl commands use conditional auth:

curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/services" | jq .

When VM_AUTH_HEADER is empty, -H flag is omitted automatically.

Critical Rules

• Trace search start/end use Unix MICROSECONDS (16 digits, e.g., 1709769600000000)
• Dependencies endTs/lookback use Unix MILLISECONDS (13 digits, e.g., 1709769600000)
• service is required for trace search — you must know the service name first
• minDuration/maxDuration are string durations (e.g., "1s", "500ms")
• Trace IDs not found return 404 in the errors array, not an HTTP 404
• Trace search with time ranges outside retention returns plain text error, not JSON — handle gracefully
• Always discover services first, then operations, then search traces

Core Endpoints

List Services

curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/services" | jq '.data[]'

No parameters. Returns all traced service names. Always start here to discover what's available.

Service Operations

curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/services/my-service/operations" | jq '.data[]'

service is a PATH parameter. Returns operation names for the given service.

Search Traces

# Basic search (last hour, limit 20) — timestamps in microseconds (16 digits)
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces?service=my-service&start=$(($(date +%s%6N) - 3600000000))&end=$(date +%s%6N)&limit=20" | jq .

# With operation and duration filter
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces?service=my-service&operation=GET+/api/health&start=$(($(date +%s%6N) - 3600000000))&end=$(date +%s%6N)&minDuration=100ms&limit=20" | jq .

# With tag filter (Jaeger JSON format)
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces?service=my-service&start=$(($(date +%s%6N) - 3600000000))&end=$(date +%s%6N)&tags=%7B%22http.status_code%22%3A%22500%22%7D&limit=20" | jq .

# With tag filter (VictoriaTraces extended format — key=value pairs, space-separated)
curl -s -G ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  --data-urlencode 'tags=http.status_code=500 resource_attr:service.namespace=production' \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces?service=my-service&start=$(($(date +%s%6N) - 3600000000))&end=$(date +%s%6N)&limit=20" | jq .

Parameters: service (required), operation, start (Unix µs), end (Unix µs), limit, minDuration (e.g., 1s), maxDuration, tags (URL-encoded JSON object or VictoriaTraces key=value format)

Get Trace by ID

curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces/abc123def456789" | jq .

Returns full trace with all spans. If trace not found, response contains "errors": [{"code": 404, "msg": "trace not found"}].

Service Dependencies

# Dependencies for the last hour
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/dependencies?endTs=$(date +%s%3N)&lookback=3600000" | jq '.data[]'

Parameters: endTs (Unix ms, required), lookback (duration in ms, required). Returns edges between services showing call relationships.

Timestamp Format

Trace search and dependencies use DIFFERENT timestamp units:

Endpoint	Parameter	Unit	Digits	Example
/api/traces	start, end	Microseconds	16	1709769600000000
/api/dependencies	endTs	Milliseconds	13	1709769600000
/api/dependencies	lookback	Milliseconds	13	3600000 (1 hour)

# Current time in microseconds (for trace search)
date +%s%6N

# 1 hour ago in microseconds
echo $(($(date +%s%6N) - 3600000000))

# Specific time to microseconds (GNU date)
date -d "2026-03-07T09:00:00Z" +%s%6N

# Current time in milliseconds (for dependencies)
date +%s%3N

# Duration values for minDuration/maxDuration are strings: "1s", "500ms", "100us"
# Duration value for lookback is ms number: 3600000 = 1 hour

Response Parsing (jq)

# List service names
... | jq '.data[]'

# Extract trace IDs from search results
... | jq '.data[] | .traceID'

# Get span count per trace
... | jq '.data[] | {traceID: .traceID, spans: (.spans | length)}'

# Extract spans with duration > 1s (duration is in microseconds)
... | jq '.data[].spans[] | select(.duration > 1000000) | {operation: .operationName, duration_ms: (.duration / 1000)}'

# Get root span of each trace
... | jq '.data[] | .spans[] | select(.references == null or (.references | length) == 0) | {traceID: .traceID, operation: .operationName, service: .processID}'

# Extract service-to-service calls from dependencies
... | jq '.data[] | "\(.parent) -> \(.child) (\(.callCount) calls)"'

# Get all tags from a span
... | jq '.data[].spans[] | {operation: .operationName, tags: [.tags[] | {(.key): .value}] | add}'

# Find error spans
... | jq '.data[].spans[] | select(.tags[] | select(.key == "error" and .value == true)) | {traceID: .traceID, operation: .operationName}'

Common Patterns

# Full discovery workflow: services -> operations -> traces
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/services" | jq '.data[]'
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/services/my-service/operations" | jq '.data[]'
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces?service=my-service&start=$(($(date +%s%6N) - 3600000000))&end=$(date +%s%6N)&limit=10" | jq '.data[] | .traceID'

# Find slow traces (> 5 seconds)
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces?service=my-service&start=$(($(date +%s%6N) - 3600000000))&end=$(date +%s%6N)&minDuration=5s&limit=20" | jq '.data[] | {traceID: .traceID, spans: (.spans | length)}'

# Look up a trace ID found in logs
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/traces/abc123def456789" | jq '.data[].spans[] | {operation: .operationName, duration_ms: (.duration / 1000), service: .processID}'

# Map service dependencies (last 24 hours) — dependencies use milliseconds
curl -s ${VM_AUTH_HEADER:+-H "$VM_AUTH_HEADER"} \
  "$VM_TRACES_URL/api/dependencies?endTs=$(date +%s%3N)&lookback=86400000" | jq '.data[]'

Environment Switching

# Check current environment
echo "VM_TRACES_URL: $VM_TRACES_URL"
if [ -n "${VM_AUTH_HEADER-}" ]; then
  echo "VM_AUTH_HEADER: (set)"
else
  echo "VM_AUTH_HEADER: (unset)"
fi

Important Notes

• The Jaeger API prefix /select/jaeger is included in $VM_TRACES_URL — do NOT add it again
• tags parameter supports both Jaeger JSON format ({"key":"value"}) and VictoriaTraces extended format (key=value resource_attr:key=value scope_attr:key=value)
• Span durations in responses are in MICROSECONDS (not milliseconds)
• Process info is referenced by processID in spans, mapped in the trace's processes object
• GET is sufficient for all endpoints — POST also works for trace search
• For full endpoint details, parameters, and response formats, see references/api-reference.md