| title | Merge Step Functions and Lambda Traces | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| further_reading |
|
This page describes how to merge your AWS Step Functions traces with related AWS Lambda traces and Step Functions traces. These instructions assume that you have already instrumented these AWS Step Functions and Lambda functions to send traces to Datadog.
JSONata to define your Step Function definitions for the most complete end-to-end tracing experience. This approach ensures that any context upstream to the Step Function is preserved and passed down.| Runtime | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Node.js | Datadog Lambda Library for Node.js layer v116+ |
| Python | Datadog Lambda Library for Python layer v103+ |
| Other | Datadog Extension v75+ |
Your State Machine definition must use JSONata as the query language. To enable this, set your definition's top-level QueryLanguage field to JSONata.
On the Lambda Task, set the Payload in the Arguments field as follows:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=7-7" >}}
"Lambda Invoke": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
"Output": "{% $states.result.Payload %}",
"Arguments": {
"FunctionName": "MyFunctionName",
"Payload": "{% ($ddctx := ($states.context.._datadog)[0]; $maybeSnsCtx := ($parse($parse(($states.context..body)[0]).**._datadog.Value))[0]; $ddctx := $exists($maybeSnsCtx) ? $maybeSnsCtx : $ddctx; $ddTraceContext := $exists($ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id) ? {'x-datadog-trace-id': $ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id, 'x-datadog-tags': $ddctx.x-datadog-tags} : {'RootExecutionId': $exists($ddctx.RootExecutionId) ? $ddctx.RootExecutionId : $states.context.Execution.Id}; $sfnContext := $merge([$states.context, {'Execution': $sift($states.context.Execution, function($v, $k) { $k != 'Input' })}]); $merge([$sfnContext, $ddTraceContext, {'serverless-version': 'v1'}])) %}"
}
}
{{< /highlight >}}
The JSONata expression merges the upstream service's context with the current Step Functions context object and the Lambda state's input payload.
Alternatively, if you have business logic defined in the payload, you can replace $states.input at the end of the JSONata expression with your intended value for the Payload key.
| Runtime | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Node.js | Datadog Lambda Library for Node.js layer v112+ |
| Python | Datadog Lambda Library for Python layer v95+ |
Your State Machine definition is using JSONPath. If your definition's top-level QueryLanguage field is omitted, it defaults to JSONPath.
{{< tabs >}} {{% tab "Serverless Framework" %}}
-
If you have not already, install the Datadog Serverless Framework Plugin v5.40.0+:
serverless plugin install --name serverless-plugin-datadog
-
Ensure you have deployed the Datadog Lambda Forwarder, a Lambda function that ships logs from AWS to Datadog, and that you are using v3.130.0+. You might need to update your Forwarder.
Take note of your Forwarder's ARN.
-
Add the following to your
serverless.yml:custom: datadog: site: <DATADOG_SITE> apiKeySecretArn: <DATADOG_API_KEY_SECRET_ARN> forwarderArn: <FORWARDER_ARN> enableStepFunctionsTracing: true propagateUpstreamTrace: true mergeStepFunctionAndLambdaTraces: true
- Replace
<DATADOG_SITE>with {{< region-param key="dd_site" code="true" >}} (ensure the correct SITE is selected on the right). - Replace
<DATADOG_API_KEY_SECRET_ARN>with the ARN of the AWS secret where your Datadog API key is securely stored. The key needs to be stored as a plaintext string (not a JSON blob). Thesecretsmanager:GetSecretValuepermission is required. For testing, you can instead useapiKeyand set the Datadog API key in plaintext. - Replace
<FORWARDER_ARN>with the ARN of your Datadog Lambda Forwarder. This step configures the log stream subscription for the Forwarder. Ensure that the Step Function log group name begins with/aws/vendedlogs/states/. If it does not, you must set it up manually.
For additional settings, see Datadog Serverless Framework Plugin - Configuration parameters.
- Replace
{{% /tab %}} {{% tab "Datadog CLI" %}}
-
If you have not already, install the Datadog CLI v2.18.0+.
npm install -g @datadog/datadog-ci
-
Ensure you have deployed the Datadog Lambda Forwarder, a Lambda function that ships logs from AWS to Datadog, and that you are using v3.130.0+. You may need to update your Forwarder.
Take note of your Forwarder's ARN.
-
Instrument your Step Function.
datadog-ci stepfunctions instrument \ --step-function <STEP_FUNCTION_ARN> \ --forwarder <FORWARDER_ARN> \ --env <ENVIRONMENT> \ --propagate-upstream-trace \ --merge-step-function-and-lambda-traces
- Replace
<STEP_FUNCTION_ARN>with the ARN of your Step Function. Repeat the--step-functionflag for each Step Function you wish to instrument. - Replace
<FORWARDER_ARN>with the ARN of your Datadog Lambda Forwarder, as noted previously. This step configures the log stream subscription for the Forwarder. Ensure that the Step Function log group name begins with "/aws/vendedlogs/states/". If it does not, you will need to set it up manually. - Replace
<ENVIRONMENT>with the environment tag you would like to apply to your Step Functions.
For more information about the
datadog-ci stepfunctionscommand, see the Datadog CLI documentation. - Replace
{{% /tab %}} {{% tab "AWS CDK" %}}
Modify your Lambda task payload or Step Function task input.
Example:
{{< code-block lang="python" disable_copy="false" >}} from aws_cdk import ( aws_lambda, aws_stepfunctions as sfn, aws_stepfunctions_tasks as tasks, ) from datadog_cdk_constructs_v2 import DatadogStepFunctions, DatadogLambda
lambda_function = aws_lambda.Function(...) lambda_task = tasks.LambdaInvoke( self, "MyLambdaTask", lambda_function=lambda_function, payload=sfn.TaskInput.from_object( DatadogStepFunctions.build_lambda_payload_to_merge_traces( {"custom-key": "custom-value"} ) ), )
child_state_machine = sfn.StateMachine(...) invoke_child_state_machine_task = tasks.StepFunctionsStartExecution( self, "InvokeChildStateMachineTask", state_machine=child_state_machine, input=sfn.TaskInput.from_object( DatadogStepFunctions.build_step_function_task_input_to_merge_traces( {"custom-key": "custom-value"} ) ), )
state_machine = sfn.StateMachine( self, "CdkPythonTestStateMachine", definition_body=sfn.DefinitionBody.from_chainable( lambda_task.next(invoke_child_state_machine_task) ), )
datadog_lambda = DatadogLambda(...) datadog_lambda.add_lambda_functions([lambda_function])
datadog_sfn = DatadogStepFunctions(...) datadog_sfn.add_state_machines([child_state_machine, state_machine]) {{< /code-block >}}
For additional code examples in TypeScript and Go, see CDK Examples for Instrumenting AWS Step Functions.
{{% /tab %}} {{% tab "Custom" %}}
On the Lambda Task, set the Parameters key as follows:
"Parameters": {
"Payload.$": "States.JsonMerge($$, $, false)",
...
}The JsonMerge intrinsic function merges the Step Functions context object ($$) with the original Lambda's input payload ($). Fields of the original payload overwrite the Step Functions context object if their keys are the same.
Example:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=5-5" >}}
"Lambda Read From DynamoDB": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke",
"Parameters": {
"Payload.$": "States.JsonMerge($$,
Alternatively, if you have business logic defined in the payload, you can also use the following format:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=7-9" >}} "Lambda Read From DynamoDB": { "Type": "Task", "Resource": "arn:aws:states:::lambda:invoke", "Parameters": { "Payload": { ... "Execution.$": "$$.Execution", "State.$": "$$.State", "StateMachine.$": "$$.StateMachine" }, "FunctionName": "${lambdaArn}" }, "End": true } {{< /highlight >}}
{{% /tab %}} {{< /tabs >}}
Requests between Step Functions and Lambdas can be traced through many AWS managed services, including SNS, SQS, and EventBridge. To trace through another managed AWS service, contact Datadog Support to open a feature request.
| Runtime | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Python | Datadog Lambda Library for Python layer v107+ |
| Node.js | Datadog Lambda Library for Node.js layer v128+ |
Your State Machine definition must use JSONata as the query language. To enable this, set your definition's top-level QueryLanguage field to JSONata.
Only Python and Node.js runtimes are supported for merging Step Functions with Lambda traces through managed services.
If an EventBridge rule has a Lambda function as a target, edit your EventBridge PutEvents Task to set _datadog in the Detail field as follows:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=10-10" >}}
"EventBridge PutEvents": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::events:putEvents",
"Arguments": {
"Entries": [
{
"Detail": {
"Message": "Hello from Step Functions!",
"TaskToken": "{% $states.context.Task.Token %}",
"_datadog": "{% ($ddctx := ($states.context.._datadog)[0]; $maybeSnsCtx := ($parse($parse(($states.context..body)[0]).**._datadog.Value))[0]; $ddctx := $exists($maybeSnsCtx) ? $maybeSnsCtx : $ddctx; $ddTraceContext := $exists($ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id) ? {'x-datadog-trace-id': $ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id, 'x-datadog-tags': $ddctx.x-datadog-tags} : {'RootExecutionId': $exists($ddctx.RootExecutionId) ? $ddctx.RootExecutionId : $states.context.Execution.Id}; $sfnContext := $merge([$states.context, {'Execution': $sift($states.context.Execution, function($v, $k) { $k != 'Input' })}]); $merge([$sfnContext, $ddTraceContext, {'serverless-version': 'v1'}])) %}"
},
"DetailType": "MyDetailType",
"EventBusName": "MyEventBusName",
"Source": "MySource"
}
]
}
}
{{< /highlight >}}
If an SQS queue has a Lambda trigger, edit your SQS SendMessage Task to set _datadog in the MessageAttributes field as follows:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=8-11" >}}
"SQS SendMessage": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::sqs:sendMessage",
"Arguments": {
"MessageBody": "{% $states.input %}",
"QueueUrl": "https://sqs..amazonaws.com/<ACCOUNT_ID>/<QUEUE_NAME>",
"MessageAttributes": {
"_datadog": {
"DataType": "String",
"StringValue": "{% ($ddctx := ($states.context.._datadog)[0]; $maybeSnsCtx := ($parse($parse(($states.context..body)[0]).**._datadog.Value))[0]; $ddctx := $exists($maybeSnsCtx) ? $maybeSnsCtx : $ddctx; $ddTraceContext := $exists($ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id) ? {'x-datadog-trace-id': $ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id, 'x-datadog-tags': $ddctx.x-datadog-tags} : {'RootExecutionId': $exists($ddctx.RootExecutionId) ? $ddctx.RootExecutionId : $states.context.Execution.Id}; $sfnContext := $merge([$states.context, {'Execution': $sift($states.context.Execution, function($v, $k) { $k != 'Input' })}]); $merge([$sfnContext, $ddTraceContext, {'serverless-version': 'v1'}])) %}"
}
}
}
}
{{< /highlight >}}
If there is a Lambda subscription on the topic, edit the SNS Publish Task to set _datadog in the MessageAttributes field as follows:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=8-11" >}}
"SNS Publish": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::sns:publish",
"Arguments": {
"TopicArn": "arn:aws:sns::<ACCOUNT_ID>:<TOPIC_NAME>",
"Message": "{% $states.input %}",
"MessageAttributes": {
"_datadog": {
"DataType": "String",
"StringValue": "{% ($ddctx := ($states.context.._datadog)[0]; $maybeSnsCtx := ($parse($parse(($states.context..body)[0]).**._datadog.Value))[0]; $ddctx := $exists($maybeSnsCtx) ? $maybeSnsCtx : $ddctx; $ddTraceContext := $exists($ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id) ? {'x-datadog-trace-id': $ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id, 'x-datadog-tags': $ddctx.x-datadog-tags} : {'RootExecutionId': $exists($ddctx.RootExecutionId) ? $ddctx.RootExecutionId : $states.context.Execution.Id}; $sfnContext := $merge([$states.context, {'Execution': $sift($states.context.Execution, function($v, $k) { $k != 'Input' })}]); $merge([$sfnContext, $ddTraceContext, {'serverless-version': 'v1'}])) %}"
}
}
}
}
{{< /highlight >}}
Edit the Step Functions Task to set _datadog in the Input field as follows:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=7-7" >}}
"Step Functions StartExecution": {
"Type": "Task",
"Resource": "arn:aws:states:::states:startExecution.sync:2",
"Arguments": {
"StateMachineArn": "arn:aws:states::<ACCOUNT_ID>:stateMachine:<STATE_MACHINE_NAME>",
"Input": {
"_datadog": "{% ($ddctx := ($states.context.._datadog)[0]; $maybeSnsCtx := ($parse($parse(($states.context..body)[0]).**._datadog.Value))[0]; $ddctx := $exists($maybeSnsCtx) ? $maybeSnsCtx : $ddctx; $ddTraceContext := $exists($ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id) ? {'x-datadog-trace-id': $ddctx.x-datadog-trace-id, 'x-datadog-tags': $ddctx.x-datadog-tags} : {'RootExecutionId': $exists($ddctx.RootExecutionId) ? $ddctx.RootExecutionId : $states.context.Execution.Id}; $sfnContext := $merge([$states.context, {'Execution': $sift($states.context.Execution, function($v, $k) { $k != 'Input' })}]); $merge([$sfnContext, $ddTraceContext, {'serverless-version': 'v1'}])) %}"
}
}
}
{{< /highlight >}}
Configure your task according to the following example:
{{< highlight json "hl_lines=8-12" >}} "Step Functions StartExecution": { "Type": "Task", "Resource": "arn:aws:states:::states:startExecution", "Parameters": { "StateMachineArn": "${stateMachineArn}", "Input": { "StatePayload": "Hello from Step Functions!", "CONTEXT": { "Execution.$": "$$.Execution", "State.$": "$$.State", "StateMachine.$": "$$.StateMachine" } } }, "End": true } {{< /highlight >}}
Traces can be connected downstream from Lambda functions when called directly using StartExecution or StartSyncExecution, or when called indirectly through managed services like SNS, SQS, or EventBridge.
| Runtime | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Node.js | Datadog Lambda Library for Node.js layer v112+ or dd-trace-js v3.58.0, v4.37.0, or v5.13.0+ |
| Python | Datadog Lambda Library for Python layer v99+ or dd-trace-py v2.13.0+ |
| Java | dd-trace-java v1.47.0+ |
| .NET | dd-trace-dotnet v3.11.0+ |
If the layer or tracer version requirements are fulfilled, no further setup is required.
For services not covered in this guide, you can merge traces by manually propagating Datadog trace context.
Include trace context in the Step Function input payload as JSON under the _datadog key, which can be located anywhere in the payload.
- The context object must contain the
x-datadog-trace-idandx-datadog-parent-idkeys. - The
x-datadog-tagskey is optional and is used to pass additional tags.
{{< highlight json >}} "_datadog": { "x-datadog-trace-id": "280166049706551372", "x-datadog-parent-id": "611647714644695775", "x-datadog-tags": "_dd.p.tid=66bcb5eb00000000,_dd.p.dm=-0" } {{< /highlight >}}
Add Step Function execution context to your task definitions using the patterns described above in the propagating traces to Lambda via Managed Services section. Additional configuration of the downstream service may be required.
For assistance with custom integrations, contact Datadog Support.
{{< partial name="whats-next/whats-next.html" >}}