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Observability events on Cloudflare are telemetry records—logs, metrics, and traces—captured from Workers and edge services to provide real‑time insight into system behavior.
- Workers generate per‑request execution logs and performance metrics.
- Events can be queried via the Workers Observability dashboard.
- Alerts are triggered when thresholds on these events are breached.
What Are Observability Events on Cloudflare?
Observability events are discrete telemetry data points that Cloudflare records across its platform. They give developers and operators a window into what is happening inside the edge network, allowing them to monitor performance, debug issues, and enforce security policies.
Core Types of Events
| Event Category | What It Captures | Where It’s Used |
|---|---|---|
| Logs | Detailed request/response records, error stack traces, custom console output | Workers runtime, API gateway, security logs |
| Metrics | Time‑series data such as latency, CPU time, request counts, error rates | Dashboard charts, alert rules |
| Traces | Distributed tracing of a request across multiple services | End‑to‑end performance analysis |
These three pillars are described in Cloudflare’s official Workers Observability docs and the broader observability vision blog 149.
Where the Events Come From
- Workers Runtime Events – Every invocation produces start/end timestamps, CPU usage, sub‑request counts, and any thrown exceptions. This is the primary source for per‑function insight 34.
- Network & Security Events – Cloudflare One logs traffic flows, DNS queries, and policy decisions (allow/block). These help troubleshoot connectivity and security issues 5.
- API Events – For APIs managed by Cloudflare, events track request rates, error rates, and latency, giving visibility into API health 6.
- Alert Events – When a metric crosses a predefined threshold, an alert event is emitted, driving on‑call notifications and reducing burnout 10.
How to Access and Query Events
Cloudflare provides a Workers Observability dashboard where you can:
- Search and filter raw log events across all Workers.
- Visualize metrics in real‑time charts.
- Run ad‑hoc queries using the built‑in query language.
The dashboard aggregates the events from the sources above, enabling a single pane of glass for operational insight 9.
Practical Uses
- Debugging – Pinpoint runtime errors or performance bottlenecks in a specific Worker.
- Performance Monitoring – Track latency trends and resource consumption over time.
- Security Auditing – Review policy enforcement events to detect anomalies.
- On‑Call Efficiency – Configure alerts based on event thresholds to reduce noise and focus on critical incidents.
Summary
Observability events are the building blocks of Cloudflare’s telemetry system, encompassing logs, metrics, and traces from Workers, network, API, and security layers. By aggregating and exposing these events, Cloudflare equips developers with the data needed to maintain reliable, performant, and secure edge applications.