This page explains how to try out Axiom with sample data. It walks you through an example where you want to keep track of OpenTelemetry (OTel) traces with Axiom.

By following this page, you will:

  1. Explore the structure of sample data.
  2. Display a stream of incoming data.
  3. Analyze the data.
  4. Visualize the data by creating a simple dashboard.
  5. Set up a monitor that alerts you about internal server errors.

To try out Axiom without registration, see Explore Axiom Playground.

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1. Explore sample data

  1. Sign up for an Axiom account. All you need is an email address.
  2. Click the Datasets tab at the top of the page.
  3. In the list of datasets, click otel-demo-traces.

This displays the fields in the sample dataset otel-demo-traces.

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2. Display stream of incoming data

  1. Click the Stream tab at the top of the page.
  2. Click otel-demo-traces in the list.

You see the data that Axiom receives realtime.

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3. Analyze data

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Query data

  1. Click the Query tab at the top of the page, and then click Builder in the top left. This enables you to query your data with a visual query builder.
  2. In the Dataset section, select otel-demo-traces from the list of datasets.
  3. In the Where section, click +.
  4. Write service.name == frontend, and then press Enter.
  5. Click Run.

You see all the traces for the Frontend service.

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Run an APL query

  1. Click the Query tab at the top of the page, and then click APL in the top left. This enables you to query your data with the Axiom Processing Language (APL). For more information, see Introduction to APL.
  2. In the text field, enter the following: 
    ['otel-demo-traces']
| where duration > 5ms
| summarize count() by bin_auto(_time), ['service.name']
  3. Click Run.

You see the number of requests taking longer than 5 ms for each service over time.

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4. Visualize data

  1. Click the Dashboards tab at the top of the page.
  2. Click OpenTelemetry Traces (otel-demo-traces) in the list.

You see a dashboard that displays important information about the OTel traces.

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5. Create new dashboard

  1. Click the Dashboards tab at the top of the page, and then click New dashboard on the right.
  2. Name the dashboard and click Create.
  3. Click Add a chart, and then click Timeseries.
  4. In the Dataset section, select otel-demo-traces.
  5. In the Summarize section, click no group to the right of by, and then select service.name.
  6. Click Save.

You created a simple dashboard that displays the number of requests for each service over time.

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6. Monitor data for issues

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Create notifier

  1. Click the Monitors tab at the top of the page.
  2. In the top left, click Notifiers, and then click New notifier on the top right.
  3. In Name, enter Slow requests notifier.
  4. In Users, enter your email address, and then click + on the right.
  5. Click Create.

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Create monitor

  1. In the top left, click Monitors, and then click New monitor on the top right.
  2. Click Threshold monitor.
  3. In Check options, enter 10000 as the value.
  4. Click + Add notifier, and then select Email: Slow requests notifier.
  5. In the APL section, enter the following: 
    ['otel-demo-traces']
| where duration > 5ms
| summarize count() by bin(_time, 1m)
  6. Click Create.

You created a monitor that automatically sends a notification to your email address if the number of requests taking longer than 5 ms is higher than 10,000 during a one minute period.

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What’s next

To check out Axiom with a sample app, see Get started with example app.