Issue Grouping
A
By default, Sentry will run one of our built-in grouping algorithms to generate an event fingerprint based on information available within the event. The available information and the grouping algorithms vary by event type. Sentry fingerprints error events based on information like stacktrace
, exception
, and message
. Transaction events are fingerprinted by their spans
.
If the way that Sentry is grouping issues for your organization is already ideal, you don't need to make any changes. However, you may find that Sentry is either creating too many similar groups, or is grouping disparate events into groups that should be separate. If this is the case, for error issues, you can extend and change the default grouping behavior. Error grouping can be extended and changed completely according to your needs. Transaction grouping currently cannot be customized.
You can customize error grouping using a combination of the following options, listed from least to most complex:
- In your projectRepresents your service in Sentry and allows you to scope events to a distinct application., by Merging Issues
Merges together similar issues that have already been created. No settings or configuration changes are required for this.
- In your project, using Fingerprint Rules
Sets a new fingerprint for incoming events based on matchers. This doesn't affect already existing issues.
- In your project, using Stack Trace Rules
Sets rules for how incoming events should be treated based on matchers. This doesn't affect already existing issues.
- In your SDK, using SDK Fingerprinting
Sets a new fingerprint for incoming events based on matchers in the SDK. This doesn't affect already existing issues. Note that is not supported in WebAssembly.
Stack trace rules can work as a combination of both SDK and project settings. As a result, we maintain the documentation in one location.
You can see a fingerprint by opening an issue, clicking the JSON link, and finding the fingerprint property in that file. If the default grouping was used, you'll see "default" written there. If a different grouping was used, you'll see the actual fingerprint value itself.
Error Grouping Algorithms
Each time default error grouping behavior is modified, Sentry releases it as a new version. As a result, modifications to the default behavior do not affect the grouping of existing issues.
When you create a Sentry
To upgrade an existing project to a new error grouping algorithm version, navigate to Settings > Projects > [project] > Issue Grouping > Upgrade Grouping. After upgrading to a new error grouping algorithm, you will very likely see new groups being created.
All versions consider the stack trace
first, the exception
next, and then finally the message
.
Grouping by Stack Trace
When Sentry detects a stack trace in the event data (either directly or as part of an exception), the grouping is effectively based entirely on the stack trace.
The first and most crucial part is that Sentry only groups by stack trace frames that the SDK reports and associates with your application. Not all SDKs report this, but when that information is provided, it’s used for grouping. This means that if two stack traces differ only in parts of the stack that are unrelated to the application, those stack traces will still be grouped together.
Depending on the information available, the following data can be used for each stack trace frame:
- Module name
- Normalized filename (with revision hashes, and so forth, removed)
- Normalized context line (essentially a cleaned up version of the source code of the affected line, if provided)
This grouping usually works well, but two specific situations can throw it off:
- Minimized JavaScript source code will destroy the grouping in detrimental ways. To avoid this, ensure that Sentry can access your Source Maps.
- Modifying your stack trace by introducing a new level through decorators changes your stack trace, so the grouping will also change. To handle this, many SDKs support hiding irrelevant stack trace frames. For example, the Python SDK will skip all stack frames with a local variable called
__traceback_hide__
set to True.
Grouping By Exception
If the stack trace is not available, but exception information is, then the grouping will consider the type
and value
of the exception if both pieces of data are present on the event. This grouping is a lot less reliable because of changing error messages.
Fallback Grouping
Grouping falls back to messages if the stack trace, type
, and value
are not available. When this happens, the grouping algorithm will try to use the message without any parameters. If that is not available, the grouping algorithm will use the full message attribute.
Transaction Grouping Algorithms
Sentry groups transactions with performance problems into performance issues using the transaction's spans
. We
Learn More
Our documentation is open source and available on GitHub. Your contributions are welcome, whether fixing a typo (drat!) or suggesting an update ("yeah, this would be better").