Combine multiple queries to perform sophisticated analysis that single queries cannot achieve.
Formulas and multiple queries are available in the SigNoz Query Builder across: Metrics Explorer, Logs Explorer (Time Series and Table views), and Traces Explorer (Time Series and Table views).
Advanced Comparisons
Use Cases for Multiple Queries
Error Rate Calculation
- Query A: Count of error requests
- Query B: Count of all requests
- Formula:
(A/B) * 100(error percentage)
SLA Monitoring
- Query A: Requests under 200ms
- Query B: Total requests
- Formula:
(A/B) * 100(SLA compliance percentage)
Available Mathematical Functions in Formula
- Basic Operations:
+,-,*,/ - Logarithmic:
log,ln,log2,log10 - Exponential:
exp,exp2,exp10 - Trigonometric:
sin,cos,tan,asin,acos,atan - Mathematical:
sqrt,cbrt,abs - Utility:
now,degrees,radians
Multi-Query Best Practices
- Align time ranges: Ensure all queries use the same time window
- Consistent grouping: Use identical
Group Byclauses for meaningful comparisons
Trace Matching
Trace matching lets you combine multiple trace queries to analyze parent-child span relationships within a trace. It is available in the Traces Explorer across Trace View, List View, Table View, and Time Series views. For an overview of the Traces Explorer and its views, see the Traces user guide.
Available Operators
| Operator | Syntax | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Descendant | A => B | B is an immediate child span of A |
| Indirect Descendant | A -> B | B appears anywhere below A in the trace tree (any depth) |
| AND | A && B | Both A and B exist within the same trace |
| OR | A || B | Either A or B exists within the trace |
| NOT | NOT A | Excludes traces containing spans matching A |
Use Cases
Direct Descendants (=>) — Find spans where one service directly calls another.
- Query A: Span with
service.name = 'frontend'being the root span - Query B: Span with
service.name = 'customer'as the direct child of the frontend span - Trace Matching:
A => B
Use this when you need to verify that a specific service-to-service call is happening as expected, or to measure latency at a specific call boundary.
Indirect Descendants (->) — Find spans where one service eventually calls another, regardless of how many intermediate services are in between.
- Query A: Span with
service.name = 'frontend'as the root span - Query B: Span with
service.name = 'customer'andhas_error = trueanywhere below A in the trace tree - Trace Matching:
A -> B
Use this to find error propagation paths or to trace a request through multiple service hops.
AND (&&) — Find traces that contain both matching span patterns, regardless of their parent-child relationship.
- Query A: Span with
service.name = 'cartservice' - Query B: Any span in the same trace with
status_code != 200 - Trace Matching:
A && B
Use this to correlate spans across services within the same trace — for example, finding all cart service traces that also contain a non-200 status code somewhere.
OR (||) — Find traces that contain either of the matching span patterns.
NOT — Exclude traces that contain spans matching the specified query.
Expression Syntax
- Identifiers: Query labels like
A,B,C(letters followed by optional digits) - Parentheses: Use
()to group sub-expressions, e.g.,(A => B) && (C -> D) - Max operators: Up to 10 operators per expression
Operator precedence (lowest to highest): ->, =>, &&, ||, NOT
Unlike standard Boolean logic where AND binds tighter than OR, trace operators give || higher precedence than &&. Use parentheses to make your intent explicit when combining these operators.
For example, A => B && C is parsed as A => (B && C) because && has higher precedence than =>. Use parentheses to override precedence when combining multiple operators.