Improve Logic Apps (Standard) Workflows Observability with Application Insights

Write for InfoQ

Microsoft recently announced the release of the Public Preview Enhancements for Logic Apps Standard in Application Insights. These enhancements provide developers with more in-depth insights into the performance and health of their standard Logic Apps, making it easier to diagnose issues and optimize performance.

Logic Apps are Microsoft’s automated workflow offering, and its Logic App Standard tier allows developers to run workflows anywhere. Standard has generally been available since June 2021.

Application Insights is an Azure service that allows users to monitor the performance and usage of their applications. With the Public Preview Enhancements for Logic Apps (Standard), developers can gain deeper insights into the performance of their Logic Apps, including the ability to monitor and analyze the execution of individual actions within a Logic App.

With the new feature, developers can enable Application Insights integration for their Logic Apps (Standard) projects from the Azure Portal or by modifying the Application Settings. The feature requires the Functions V4 runtime, automatically enabled for new Logic Apps (Standard) instances.

Once enabled, developers can view various metrics and logs for their Logic Apps (Standard) workflows, such as the number of runs, failures, triggers, actions, and custom events. In addition, they can also use the Application Insights query language (Kusto) to analyze and visualize the data.

Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/integrations-on-azure-blog/application-insights-enhancements-for-azure-logic-apps-standard/ba-p/3758909

Furthermore, users can leverage the distributed tracing feature of Application Insights to track the end-to-end flow of their Logic Apps (Standard) workflows across multiple services and components. This feature provides a graphical representation of the workflow execution and each step's duration, status, and dependencies.

Kent Weare, a principal program manager of Logic Apps at Microsoft, told InfoQ:

We have enhanced how Azure Logic Apps (Standard) emit telemetry based on customer feedback. Customers are looking for more control over how events are emitted and the schema used to do so. Application Insights storage is a cost that customers have to absorb, so we wanted to be as efficient as possible and give them control over what telemetry is filtered at source.

In addition, he added:

One feature I am particularly excited about is including connector metadata within our events that are being emitted. Connectors are a big part of our value proposition, and organizations want to understand what connectors are being used and by which workflows. Providing this type of inventory data in a simple query makes governance and maintenance much more straightforward for customers.

The new feature is currently in public preview and is available for all regions that support Logic Apps (Standard). In addition, Microsoft encourages developers to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement through the Logic Apps User Voice.

Related Topics:

• Development
• Architecture & Design
• DevOps
• Azure
• Automation
• Microsoft Azure
• Microsoft
• LogicApps
• Workflow / BPM
• Cloud

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