Custom Context

What is Custom Context?

Custom Context adds business metadata to traces, enabling filtering in Trace Explorer. It helps answer questions like: - How many users are impacted by slow requests? - How are slow requests affecting high-paying customers? - What’s the performance for trial vs. paid customers?

How do I add context in Ruby?

User context:

ScoutApm::Context.add_user(id: @user.id)

General context:

ScoutApm::Context.add(monthly_spend: @account.monthly_spend)
ScoutApm::Context.add(plan_type: "enterprise")

How do I add context in Python?

import scout_apm.api

scout_apm.api.Context.add("user_id", request.user.id)
scout_apm.api.Context.add("plan_type", "premium")

What types of values can context contain?

• Strings
• Numbers
• Booleans
• Time/Date (Ruby)
• Any JSON-serializable type (Python)

What are the naming restrictions?

Context keys must: - Use alphanumeric characters, dashes, and underscores - NOT contain spaces

Invalid context is ignored without error.

What context does Scout collect by default?

• Request URI
• Client IP address (can be disabled via collect_remote_ip: false)

Should I include personally identifiable information (PII)?

We recommend using IDs instead of explicit names or emails. For example, use user_id: 12345 rather than user_email: "user@example.com".

How do I use context in Trace Explorer?

Context fields appear as filterable dimensions in Trace Explorer. You can: - Filter traces by any context field - See distribution of traces across context values - Correlate performance issues with specific user segments