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Applies to:


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Summary

Issue: BTQL query using traces returns spans that don’t match the filter conditions specified in the filter clause. Cause: The traces keyword returns all spans within any trace that contains at least one span matching the filter, not just the matching spans. Resolution: Use spans instead of traces in the from clause to filter individual span records.

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Resolution Steps

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If you want to filter individual spans

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Step 1: Replace traces with spans

Change the from clause to use spans instead of traces. 
from: project_logs('<PROJECT_ID>') spans
| filter: created >= day('XXX') AND created < day('XXX')
and span_attributes.name = "XXX"
select: *
limit: 10

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Step 2: Verify results

Results will now only include spans that match all filter conditions.

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If you want complete trace context

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Keep traces in the query - the traces keyword is working as designed and returns all spans in traces where at least one span matches your filter.

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Technical Details

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Behavior difference: traces vs spans

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traces

  • Returns complete traces (all spans within a trace)
  • Filter conditions select which traces to include
  • If any span in a trace matches the filter, all spans in that trace are returned

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spans

  • Returns individual span records
  • Filter conditions select which spans to include
  • Only spans matching all filter conditions are returned