Debugging playbook

Orphan Spans

Use when a span references a parent that Trace has not received.

Linked toolsok
4
Source: playbook registry
Updated: 5/25/2026, 5:11:09 PM
Evidence/query
Commandsok
2
Source: playbook registry
Updated: 5/25/2026, 5:11:09 PM
Evidence/query
TraceAgentUIBrowserOpsMCP
Symptoms
  • Completion contains has_orphans.
  • Span has parentSpanId but the parent is absent.
  • Service map has a dangling edge.
Likely Causes
  • Parent span was never ingested.
  • Trace IDs were mixed across service boundaries.
  • A client generated a new traceparent instead of propagating the existing one.
Checks
  • Open /api/v1/spans/orphans.
  • Compare traceparent and X-PlatPhorm-Trace-Id across source and target logs.
  • Search for the missing parent span ID.
Evidence To Collect
  • orphan span ID
  • missing parentSpanId
  • source service
  • target service
  • trace headers
platphormctl Commands
platphormctl trace spans <traceId>
platphormctl trace propagate --service agentui