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Tempo 3.1 Release: Kafka, Trace Redaction, and TraceQL Metrics
Grafana Tempo 3.1 introduces query-based trace redaction and improved Kafka support, allowing operators to scrub sensitive data without managing individual trace IDs.
What: The release adds production-grade Kafka features including TLS, custom authentication, and rack-aware reads. It also includes redaction for sensitive spans and sampling-aware metrics via TraceQL to improve observability for incomplete telemetry.
Why it matters: Managing high-volume traces often forces teams to choose between data completeness and privacy; automated redaction shifts that burden from manual cleanup to infrastructure-level configuration.
Takeaway: Perform a dry-run of trace redaction rules in a non-production environment before deploying to ensure you don't inadvertently delete critical troubleshooting data.
Decoder
- Trace redaction: The automated process of removing or obfuscating sensitive information (like PII) from distributed trace spans.
- TraceQL: A query language specifically designed for filtering and analyzing distributed traces stored in Tempo.
Original article
Grafana Tempo 3.1 makes Kafka-backed tracing easier to run with TLS, additional authentication methods, rack-aware reads, and configurable producer compression. Query-based redaction can permanently remove sensitive trace data without enumerating trace IDs, while sampling-aware TraceQL metrics improve analysis of incomplete telemetry. Operators should use redaction dry-runs and complete the upgrade before applying time-bounded deletions.
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