docs(span-links): Add develop docs for span links

develop-docs/sdk/telemetry/traces/span-links.mdx

@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+---
+title: Span Links
+---
+
+Span links associate one span with one or more other spans. The most important application of linking traces are frontend applications.
+It can also be useful in settings with producer/consumer patterns or batch operations.
+By using span links, we are able to display a user journey in our tracing views to make debugging of issues easier as developers get more context on what happened before a specific issue.
+
+A span link can store the context of (a.k.a. link to) any other span. When necessary, a special link type can be added (see [Link Types](#link-types)).
+
+Learn more about Span Links in [the RFC 141](https://github.com/getsentry/rfcs/blob/main/text/0141-linking-traces.md) or in the [OpenTelemetry docs](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/concepts/signals/traces/#span-links).
+
+## SDK Implementation Guideline
+
+- Links are added on a span level, as defined and specified by [OpenTelemetry](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/otel/trace/api/#link).
+- In addition to linking to span IDs, a span link also holds meta information about the link, collected via attributes.
+- Span links MUST only link to other spans. We do not support linking a span to an error or other Sentry events.
+- For SDKs still having public APIs around transactions, their respective Transaction interface and `startTransaction` function(s) should support the same APIs.
+
+### Type Definitions
+
+SDKs should follow the OpenTelemetry spec for the Link interface as defined by the platform.
+Non-OTel SDKs should orient themselves on OTel, resulting in the interface below, or a related version that applies to the terminology and philosophy of the respective SDK:
+
+```ts {tabTitle:Types}
+// see https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/blob/main/api/src/trace/link.ts
+// or interface of respective platform
+interface Link {
+  // contains the SpanContext of the span to link to
+  context: SpanContext;
+  // key-value pair with primitive values
+  attributes?: Attributes;
+}
+
+
+// see https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/blob/main/api/src/trace/span_context.ts
+// or interface of respective platform
+interface SpanContext {
+  traceId: string,
+  spanId: string,
+  traceFlags: number,
+}
+
+type Attributes = Record<string, AttributeValues>
+type AttributeValues = string | boolean | number | Array<string> | Array<boolean> | Array<number>
+```
+
+
+### Required Span API
+
+Ideally, the link is added when starting a span. An optional `links` attribute is added to the `startSpan` options.
+SDKs that don't offer span-centric APIs but e.g. transaction APIs, should ensure that their respective `start...` APIs (e.g. `startTransaction`) also offer a possibility to add links.
+
+```ts {tabTitle:Span Options}
+function startSpan(options: StartSpanOptions);
+
+interface StartSpanOptions: {
+  //... other options (name, attributes, etc)
+  links?: Link[];
+}
+```
+
+Furthermore, the SDKs need to expose at least an `addLink` method on their respective Span interface. For completeness with OpenTelemetry, ideally they also expose `addLinks`:
+
+```ts {tabTitle:Span API}
+interface Span {
+  // return value can differ depending on platform
+  addLink(link: Link): this;
+  addLinks(links: Link[]): this;
+}
+```
+
+## Envelope Item Payload
+
+Span trees are serialized to transaction event envelopes in all Sentry SDKs. Therefore, the envelope item needs to accommodate span links
+in its payload. If the `links` entry is an empty array, it can be omitted from the envelope.
+
+The serialized `links` objects should always contain:
+
+- `span_id: string` - id of the span to link to
+- `trace_id: string` - trace id of the span to link to
+- `sampled: boolean` - required if sampling decision of the span to link to (corresponds to `traceFlags` in Otel span context converted to `boolean`) is available
+- `attributes:` - required if attributes were added to the link
+
+Optionally, the serialized link object can contain further fields from OTel like `traceState`, `isRemote` or `droppedAttributesCount` which will be just forwarded unless we find a use case for them.
+
+The OTel fields `spanId`, `traceId`, and `traceFlags` should be excluded from the links objects in the envelope to avoid duplicate data (e.g. `trace_id` vs. `traceId`).
+
+If the root span (previously known as transaction) has span links, the links are stored in the trace context.
+
+```ts {tabTitle:Example Trace Context}
+// event envelope item
+{
+  type: "transaction";
+  transaction: string;
+  contexts: {
+    trace: {
+      span_id: string;
+      parent_span_id: string;
+      trace_id: string;
+      // new field for links:
+      links?: Array<{
+        "span_id": string,
+        "trace_id": string,
+        sampled?: boolean, // traceFlags from Otel converted to boolean
+        attributes?: Record<string, AttributeValue>,
+        // + potentially more fields 1:1 from Otel. e.g. (traceState, droppedAttributesCount, isRemote)
+      }>
+      // ...
+    }
+  }
+  // ...
+}
+```
+
+Links that are stored in child spans are serialized in `spans[i].links`.
+
+```ts {tabTitle:Example Span Link Data}
+// event envelope item
+{
+  type: "transaction";
+  transaction: string;
+  spans: Array<{
+    span_id: string;
+    parent_span_id: string;
+    trace_id: string;
+    // new field for links:
+    links?: Array<{
+      "span_id": string,
+      "trace_id": string,
+      sampled?: boolean,
+      attributes?: Record<string, AttributeValue>,
+    }>
+    // ...
+  }>
+  // ...
+}
+```
+
+## Link Types
+
+Links don't require a special meaning or type but if necessary (e.g. for identifying special links in the product), set the `sentry.link.type` attribute on the link to define the link type.
+Any string can be used, but these types have predefined meanings:
+
+| `sentry.link.type` | Usage                                                          | UI Implications                                                                                   |
+|--------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| "previous_trace"   | Linking e.g. a navigation span to the previous page load span. | Used to query linked traces. Shows a button to go to linked previous trace in the trace explorer. |
+| "next_trace"       | Linking e.g. a page load span to the next navigation span.     | Used to query linked traces. Shows a button to go to linked next trace in the trace explorer.     |
+
+### `previous_trace`
+
+Frontend traces can be linked by adding span links between root spans. For example, a navigation span includes a link to the previous page load span.
+
+The span context inside the link object should be stored in a storage mechanism of choice (e.g. in-memory or `sessionStorage` in the browser).
+
+Therefore, on root span start:
+- Check if there is a previous span context stored. If yes, add the span link with the `'sentry.link.type': 'previous_trace'` attribute
+- Store the root span context as the previous root span in a storage mechanism of choice (e.g. in-memory or `sessionStorage` in the browser)
+
+SDKs are free to implement heuristics around how long a previous trace span context should be considered (max time) and store additional necessary data.
+
+![](./span-links-previous-trace-100.png)
+
+#### Negatively Sampled Traces
+
+In many cases, with lower sample rates, we will not be able to provide a full trace link chain, due to some or many traces being negatively sampled.
+
+- Sampled root spans should still include a link to the previous, negatively sampled root span (`traceFlags` on the spanContext() carry
+  the information that the previous trace root span was negatively sampled).
+
+This helps our product to hint that there would have been a previous trace, but it was negatively sampled.
+
+We will not link to the previous positively sampled trace if a negatively sampled trace is in-between (see Traces 2-4 in the diagram below).
+Furthermore, we will not show how many traces were negatively sampled in between two trace chains; only that there was at least one trace in between (see Trace 5-8).
+
+![](./span-links-previous-trace-negative-sample.png)
+
+## Usage Example
+
+Adding span links should be possible at span start time, as well as when holding a reference to the span.
+
+In the example below, by adding span links, we can link from the last navigation trace all the way back to the initial pageload trace.
+By passing the `'sentry.link.type': 'previous_trace'` attribute, we can identify the link as a previous trace link in Sentry and display the spans accordingly.
+
+```ts {tabTitle:TypeScript}
+// 1st trace starts
+const pageloadSpan = startInactiveSpan(...)
+
+// 2nd trace starts
+const navigation1Span = startInactiveSpan({
+  name: '/users',
+  links: [{
+    context: pageloadSpan.spanContext(),
+    attributes: {
+      'sentry.link.type': 'previous_trace'
+    }
+  }]
+});
+
+// 3rd trace starts
+const navigation2Span = startSpan({name: '/users/:id'}, (span) => {
+  span.addLink({
+    context: navigation1Span.spanContext(),
+    attributes: {
+      'sentry.link.type': 'previous_trace'
+    }
+  })
+})
+```
+
+## Ingest/Relay
+
+Relay forwards the span links in the format that is required for further processing and storage.
+Importantly, Relay doesn't require span links to be defined. They are completely optional.
+Relay handles passing span links in the root span as well as in any child span (see [envelope item payload](#envelope-item-payload)).
+
+The expected type and structure of the links array and its contents is [specified in Relay](https://github.com/getsentry/relay/blob/master/relay-event-schema/src/protocol/span.rs#L753).