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Complete List of Sentry Terminology

Here’s a table with each Sentry terminology and a one-liner explanation:

TerminologyExplanation
EventA single occurrence of an error or performance issue captured by Sentry.
IssueA collection of related events grouped based on shared characteristics like stack trace similarity.
Stack TraceThe sequence of function calls that led to an error, pointing to the exact line of code.
BreadcrumbsA timeline of events leading to the error, providing context like user actions and API calls.
TransactionRepresents an end-to-end user request, tracking performance across services and operations.
SpanAn individual operation within a transaction, such as an API call or database query.
ReleaseA specific version of your application tracked for errors and performance issues.
EnvironmentThe deployment context (e.g., Production, Staging, Development) where the event occurred.
SessionRepresents a user session, used to track metrics like crash rate and error-free sessions.
DSN (Data Source Name)A unique URL that connects your application to Sentry for error reporting.
TagCustom key-value pairs attached to events for filtering and categorization.
Transaction TraceTracks the performance journey of a request, highlighting latency and bottlenecks.
AttachmentAdditional data sent with an event, like log files or screenshots.
ProjectA logical grouping of errors and performance data for a specific application.
User ContextProvides details about the affected user, such as ID, email, device, and location.
Severity LevelIndicates the impact of an issue (Info, Warning, Error, Fatal).
Performance MetricTracks key performance indicators like latency, throughput, and error rate.
Cron MonitoringTracks and alerts on failed or flaky scheduled jobs (e.g., cron jobs).
Sample RateControls the percentage of events sent to Sentry to manage volume.
Source MapMaps minified production code back to original source code for accurate debugging.
OrganizationThe top-level entity in Sentry, managing multiple projects and teams.
TeamA group of users working on specific projects within an organization.
Rate LimitingLimits the number of events sent to Sentry to prevent exceeding quotas.
QuotaDefines how many events can be processed within a specific billing plan.
Event FingerprintDetermines how events are grouped into issues, based on stack trace or custom logic.
Session ReplayReplays real user sessions to visually see what happened before an error occurred.
Code CoverageShows whether the faulty code is partially or fully covered by tests.
Uptime MonitoringMonitors uptime and alerts on outages for websites and APIs.
IntegrationsSeamless integration with tools like GitHub, Jira, Slack, and CI/CD pipelines.

Here’s a complete list of Sentry terminologies along with detailed descriptions for each:


1. Event

An Event in Sentry represents a single error or performance issue captured from your application.

  • It contains all relevant information like the stack trace, error message, timestamp, user data, and environment.
  • Events are grouped into Issues based on similarities in their stack traces.

Example:
A TypeError: Cannot read property 'foo' of undefined in a React app is an event.


2. Issue

An Issue in Sentry is a collection of related events grouped together.

  • Issues help developers focus on fixing a recurring problem rather than individual occurrences.
  • Each issue is assigned a level (e.g., error, fatal, warning) for prioritization.

Example:
All 404 errors on the /login page are grouped into a single Issue.


3. Stack Trace

A stack trace shows the sequence of function calls and code execution paths that led to the error.

  • Helps developers trace the exact line of code where the error occurred.
  • Sentry provides annotated stack traces with local variables for deeper context.

4. Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are a timeline of events that happened before the error occurred.

  • They provide context about user actions, API calls, navigation events, and console logs.
  • Helps recreate the steps that caused the issue.

Example:

  • User clicks a button → API call fails → Error occurs → Breadcrumbs capture the whole process.

5. Transaction

A Transaction in Sentry is a performance monitoring event that tracks the end-to-end journey of a user request.

  • Includes API calls, database queries, and user interactions.
  • Helps pinpoint which part of the request is causing latency.

Example:
A transaction trace for a GET /profile request might show:

  • Database Query → 100ms
  • API Call → 300ms
  • Template Rendering → 500ms

6. Release

A Release in Sentry represents a specific version of your application.

  • Sentry tracks errors and performance issues per release, helping you monitor new deployments.
  • You can link releases to commits and deployment history.

Example:
Release 1.0.3 shows 3 new errors compared to Release 1.0.2.


7. Environment

An Environment helps you segment issues by deployment context, such as Production, Staging, or Development.

  • Allows developers to test error behavior in different environments without mixing results.

Example:

  • Error in Production: High priority
  • Error in Staging: Lower priority, but should be fixed before deployment

8. Session

A Session in Sentry represents a single user session within your app.

  • Used to track session-based metrics like crash rate and error-free sessions.
  • Helps identify how stable your app is for real users.

9. DSN (Data Source Name)

A DSN is a unique URL provided by Sentry to connect your application to the Sentry service.

  • It tells your application where to send error and performance data.

Example DSN:
https://examplePublicKey@sentry.io/12345


10. Tag

Tags are custom key-value pairs attached to events for filtering and categorization.

  • Tags help group and search for related errors based on specific criteria like feature, device, browser, user role, etc.

Example Tags:
feature: login, browser: Chrome, user_role: admin


11. Transaction Span

A Transaction Span represents an individual operation within a transaction.

  • Spans help break down performance traces into smaller components like HTTP requests, SQL queries, etc.
  • Each transaction can contain multiple spans.

12. Traces Sample Rate

The Traces Sample Rate determines how many performance events (transactions) are sent to Sentry.

  • Set between 0 and 1. 1 means capture all events, 0.5 means capture 50% of events.

Example:
In a high-traffic app, set tracesSampleRate = 0.1 to reduce the volume of performance data.


13. Attachment

An Attachment is any file or data sent along with an event.

  • Can include log files, user-uploaded files, screenshots, or other debugging data.

Example:
A crash report might include a log file as an attachment.


14. Project

A Project in Sentry is a logical grouping of errors and performance data for a specific application or service.

  • Each project has a unique DSN and settings.

Example:

  • Frontend Project: Tracks React errors.
  • Backend Project: Tracks Node.js errors.

15. User Context

User Context provides details about the user who experienced the error, such as:

  • User ID
  • Email
  • Device Info
  • Location

Helps developers see how specific users are affected by an issue.


16. Severity Level

Every issue in Sentry has a severity level to indicate its impact.

  • Info: Minor log information.
  • Warning: Potential issues but not critical.
  • Error: Recoverable error that needs attention.
  • Fatal: Non-recoverable crash or failure.

17. Performance Metric

Performance Metrics track how your application performs over time, including:

  • Latency
  • Throughput
  • Error Rate

Helps you optimize your app for better user experience.


18. Cron Monitoring

A feature that tracks scheduled tasks (like cron jobs) and alerts you when they fail.

  • Provides insights into why and where the cron job failed.

19. Sample Rate

The Sample Rate controls how many error events are captured by Sentry.

  • Error sample rate: Controls error events.
  • Trace sample rate: Controls performance events.

20. Source Map

Source Maps are used to map minified code back to its original source for better stack traces.

  • Essential for debugging JavaScript applications in production.

21. Organization

An Organization is the top-level entity in Sentry, under which multiple projects and teams are managed.

  • Organizations can have multiple users with different roles and permissions.

22. Team

A Team in Sentry is a group of users working on specific projects.

  • Teams can be assigned to specific issues and receive targeted alerts.

23. Rate Limiting

Controls the number of events sent to Sentry to avoid overwhelming the system or exceeding quotas.


24. Quota

A Quota defines how many events (errors, transactions) can be processed within a specific billing plan.


25. Event Fingerprint

A Fingerprint determines how Sentry groups related events into a single issue.

  • By default, Sentry groups events based on stack trace similarity.

Custom Fingerprint Example:
Group errors based on the user’s role or feature rather than stack trace.


Want Visual Examples or Workflow for Each Term?

Let’s break it down with visuals and real-world examples for each key terminology in Sentry to make it super clear.


1️⃣ Event (Visualized)

Definition:

An event represents a single occurrence of an error or performance issue in your application. It contains a stack trace, user details, and related metadata.

Example:

  • A user visits your React app and gets an error:
    TypeError: Cannot read property 'email' of undefined.

Visual Representation:

Event Details:
---------------
- Error: TypeError
- Stack Trace: login.js:123
- User: John Doe (ID: 101)
- Browser: Chrome 110
- Device: MacBook Pro
- Environment: Production

2️⃣ Issue (Grouped Events)

Definition:

An issue is a group of related events (errors) with the same root cause.

Example:

You see 200 events grouped into an issue called TypeError in login.js, indicating the same error has occurred multiple times for different users.

Visual Representation:

Issue: "TypeError: Cannot read property 'email'"
---------------------------------------------------
- Total Events: 200
- First Seen: 2 days ago
- Last Seen: 1 hour ago
- Affected Users: 150

3️⃣ Stack Trace (Code-Level Insight)

Definition:

A stack trace shows the sequence of function calls that led to the error, pointing to the exact lines of code.

Example:

Error in your Node.js app:

TypeError: Cannot read property 'email' of undefined  
    at /app/routes/login.js:123:45

Visual:

Stack Trace:
-------------
1. loginHandler (/app/routes/login.js:123)
2. validateInput (/app/utils/validator.js:45)
3. main (/app/index.js:10)

4️⃣ Breadcrumbs (User Actions Leading to Error)

Definition:

Breadcrumbs provide a trail of events that happened before the error—like user clicks, API calls, or console logs.

Example:

Error occurred after the following actions:

  • User navigated to /login.
  • API Request: GET /api/user/profile → 500 Internal Server Error.
  • User clicked the login button.

Visual:

Breadcrumbs:
-------------
1. Navigation: /login
2. Console Error: Failed to fetch profile data
3. API Call: GET /api/user/profile → 500
4. User Action: Clicked "Login"

5️⃣ Transaction & Spans (Performance Monitoring)

Definition:

A transaction tracks the entire journey of a user request across multiple services, while spans represent individual operations (like API calls or database queries).

Example:

Request to /user/profile:

  • Transaction Trace shows:
    • API Request → 100ms
    • Database Query → 300ms
    • Rendering → 200ms

Visual Representation:

Transaction Trace:
------------------
/user/profile (600ms total)
   ├── API Call (100ms)
   ├── DB Query (300ms)
   └── Rendering (200ms)

6️⃣ Release Tracking

Definition:

A release is a specific version of your application. Sentry tracks errors and performance issues per release.

Example:

Release v2.1.0 introduced 5 new errors and a regression that affected 20% of users.

Visual:

Release: v2.1.0
-----------------
- New Issues: 5
- Performance Regression: Yes
- Affected Users: 20%

7️⃣ Session Replay (User Session Video)

Definition:

Watch real user sessions to visually see what happened before an error occurred.

  • Helps reduce time spent reproducing bugs.

Example:

The session replay shows:

  • User clicked loginForm validation failedAPI request failed → Error.

8️⃣ Cron Monitoring

Definition:

Tracks scheduled jobs (cron jobs) and notifies you when they fail.

Example:

Your daily report generation job failed due to a timeout. Sentry alerts you with the error details.

Visual:

Cron Job: Daily Report Generator
---------------------------------
- Status: Failed
- Error: Timeout
- Suggested Fix: Increase timeout to 10s

9️⃣ Tag (Custom Filters for Error Events)

Definition:

Tags are key-value pairs that help categorize events.

Example:

Tags:

  • feature: checkout
  • browser: Chrome
  • user_role: admin

Use Case:

Filter all errors in the checkout feature for Chrome users.


1️⃣0️⃣ User Context

Definition:

Provides details about the user affected by the error.

Example:

User Info:
-----------
- User ID: 101
- Name: John Doe
- Email: john@example.com
- Browser: Chrome 110

Visual Workflow of Sentry in Action

Here’s a simple end-to-end workflow diagram:

1. User Action → 2. Error Occurs → 3. Sentry Captures Event 
       ↓                        ↓
4. Stack Trace + Breadcrumbs → 5. Sentry Dashboard
       ↓                        ↓
6. Alerts & Notifications   →  7. Developer Fixes Issue
       ↓                        ↓
8. Code Deployed (New Release) → 9. Monitor for Regression

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