Cloudflare Traces enters open beta with broader request tracing

Cloudflare Traces enters open beta

Cloudflare Traces extends automatic tracing beyond Workers to the rest of the request path. A single trace can show supported security rules, transformations, cache decisions, routing, Worker execution and origin handling, then continue through services running on Cloudflare, at an origin or elsewhere in the stack.

Each supported step is recorded as a span with timing, outcome and relevant attributes. The dashboard provides request timelines and span details, including the rule behind a block or challenge, URL changes made by Transform Rules, matched Worker routes, and nested cache, upstream and origin activity.

Sampling and trace context

Tracing requires no special instrumentation, configuration or plugins. Once enabled for a domain, Cloudflare generates spans automatically. A baseline sampling rate balances visibility, data volume and cost, while Trace Rules can override it for selected traffic. The rules use Cloudflare Rules language and can target paths, methods, headers, IP addresses and geographies.

Cloudflare's examples include keeping normal sampling at 1% while tracing 100% for a customer's hostname, source IP or identifying request header. An incoming propagation policy controls acceptance of W3C traceparent headers, and Cloudflare can forward a new traceparent header to the origin so instrumented services can continue the trace through APIs, databases and other services.

OpenTelemetry export and agent access

Cloudflare spans can be exported over OTLP to a compatible observability platform. An account-level destination can be configured, and domains can be selected to send traces there. Cloudflare and application spans sent to the same OpenTelemetry-compatible backend appear as one connected trace.

The Cloudflare Observability MCP server also lets coding agents query traces and other observability data through Cloudflare's SQL API. Agents can compare failed and successful traces, identify where spans diverge and inspect the repository to connect production findings with relevant code.

Pricing and planned features

Cloudflare Traces will use unified Cloudflare Observability pricing based on data ingested and retention, rather than span or event counts. The model takes effect across Cloudflare Tracing and Workers Tracing on December 1, 2026. The free plan includes 0.5 GB of ingestion per day and seven days of retention. Paid and Enterprise plans include 50 GB of ingestion and 10 GB-month of storage per billing cycle, with retention up to one year coming soon. Additional usage is $0.25 per GB ingested and $0.10 per GB-month stored.

After open beta, Cloudflare plans broader instrumentation for areas including DDoS rules, Access, Workflows, Queues and Pipelines. It also plans authenticated context propagation, ad hoc tracing, OpenTelemetry API support in Workers and trace retention of up to 365 days. Open beta access is available from the dashboard, through the API or with Terraform, including OTLP export.