# Telemetry
The library emits `:telemetry` events for every Polar API request, giving
you observability into latency, error rates, retry behavior, and more.
## Events
| Event | Measurements | Metadata |
|-------|-------------|----------|
| `[:polar_express, :request, :start]` | `system_time` | `method`, `path`, `server` |
| `[:polar_express, :request, :stop]` | `duration` | `method`, `path`, `server`, `http_status`, `num_retries`, `request_id`, `error` (on failure) |
### Metadata Fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `method` | `atom` | HTTP method (`:get`, `:post`, etc.) |
| `path` | `String.t()` | Request path (e.g. `"/v1/orders"`) |
| `server` | `atom` | `:production` or `:sandbox` |
| `http_status` | `integer \| nil` | HTTP status code, or `nil` for connection errors |
| `num_retries` | `integer` | Number of retries before the final response (0 = first attempt succeeded) |
| `request_id` | `String.t() \| nil` | Polar's request ID header — useful for support tickets |
| `error` | `%PolarExpress.Error{} \| nil` | Only present on failure |
### Measurements
- `system_time` — `:start` event wall-clock time (from `System.system_time()`)
- `duration` — elapsed time in native units (use `System.convert_time_unit/3`)
## Logging
Attach a handler to log every PolarExpress request:
```elixir
# lib/my_app/telemetry.ex
defmodule MyApp.Telemetry do
require Logger
def setup do
:telemetry.attach("polar-logger", [:polar_express, :request, :stop], &handle_event/4, nil)
end
defp handle_event(_event, %{duration: duration}, meta, _config) do
ms = System.convert_time_unit(duration, :native, :millisecond)
retries = if meta.num_retries > 0, do: " (#{meta.num_retries} retries)", else: ""
if meta[:error] do
Logger.warning(
"PolarExpress #{meta.method} #{meta.path} #{meta.http_status} in #{ms}ms#{retries}: #{meta.error.message}"
)
else
Logger.info(
"PolarExpress #{meta.method} #{meta.path} #{meta.http_status} in #{ms}ms#{retries} [#{meta.request_id}]"
)
end
end
end
```
Call `MyApp.Telemetry.setup()` in your application's `start/2`.
## StatsD / Prometheus
Route telemetry to your metrics backend:
```elixir
:telemetry.attach("polar-metrics", [:polar_express, :request, :stop], fn
_event, %{duration: duration}, meta, _config ->
ms = System.convert_time_unit(duration, :native, :millisecond)
# Normalize high-cardinality path segments
resource =
meta.path
|> String.split("/")
|> Enum.map(fn seg ->
if String.match?(seg, ~r/^[a-z_]+$/) do seg else ":id" end
end)
|> Enum.join("/")
:telemetry.execute([:my_app, :polar_express, :request], %{duration_ms: ms}, %{
method: meta.method,
resource: resource,
status: meta.http_status,
retries: meta.num_retries
})
end, nil)
```
## Dashboard Queries
Common things to track:
- **P99 latency** by endpoint — group by `resource`, measure `duration_ms`
- **Error rate** — count events where `error` is non-nil
- **Retry rate** — count events where `num_retries > 0`
- **Status code distribution** — group by `http_status`
The `request_id` field is especially useful for debugging — include it in
error logs so you can reference it in Polar support.