Google Cloud Trace

Set up Google Cloud Trace to capture distributed traces and analyze agent latency.

Set up Google Cloud Trace to capture distributed traces from your agents and analyze latency in the Google Cloud Console.

Before starting, complete the quickstart guide to have an agent running on Idun Agent Platform.

Set up GCP Trace observability

1. Prepare your Google Cloud project

   1. Create a Google Cloud project if you do not have one
   2. Enable the Cloud Trace API in your project
   3. Verify that the environment where your agent runs has credentials with permission to write traces (the Cloud Trace Agent role)

   Running on Google Cloud

   If running on Cloud Run, GKE, or Compute Engine, the default service account typically has the required permissions if scopes are configured.

   Running locally or elsewhere

   Set the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable to point to your service account key file, or configure application default credentials.

2. Create an observability configuration

   1. On the Idun Agent Platform main page, navigate to Observability
   2. Click Add configuration
   3. Select GCP Trace
   4. Enter a Configuration Name (for example, “GCP Trace Prod”)
   5. Fill in the required details:
      • Project ID: Your Google Cloud Project ID (for example, my-project-123)
      • Region: (Optional) Specific region if applicable
      • Trace Name: (Optional) Name for the trace session
      • Sampling Rate: A number between 0.0 and 1.0 (for example, 1.0 for 100% sampling)
      • Flush Interval: Time in seconds to wait before sending traces (default 5)
      • Ignore URLs: (Optional) Paths to exclude from tracing
   6. Click Create configuration
3. Attach GCP Trace to your agent

   1. Navigate to the agent you want to trace
   2. Click Edit Agent
   3. Click Next to reach the observability configuration step
   4. Select GCP Trace as the observability provider
   5. Select the configuration you created
   6. Click Next
   7. Click Save changes to finalize

   After saving, click Restart on your agent page to reload the configuration.

View trace data

Once your agent is running with observability enabled:

1. Interact with your agent
2. Open the Google Cloud Console
3. Navigate to Trace > Trace List

You will see traces from your agent’s execution. Use these to analyze latency and find bottlenecks.

Best practices

• Adjust sampling rate: For high-traffic agents, lower the sampling rate to reduce costs and noise
• Use meaningful trace names: This helps when filtering traces in the GCP Console

Troubleshooting

Traces not showing up?

1. Check API: Verify the Cloud Trace API is enabled in your project
2. Check permissions: Confirm the agent’s service account has the Cloud Trace Agent role
3. Wait for flush: Traces are sent in batches. Wait a few seconds (based on your flush interval) after execution before checking the console