Ruby on Rails structured event analytics

Test the integration

Send and verify events with Ruby on Rails structured event analytics

Use Ruby on Rails structured event analytics where your app knows the final result. Collect only the fields you need, then verify a test event before building charts.

1
Choose the outcome
Rails request monitoring
2
Define the contract
controller_action, method, and observed status_code
3
Log the final result
This subscriber observes process_action.action_controller. It does not instrument Active Job, static files, middleware-only responses, or the whole Rack request.
4
Check the stored event
Exercise a known fixture, then inspect api_request_completed for one correctly typed terminal row.

Before you start

A server-side TELEMETRY_API_KEY with write access
Put this example in config/initializers/telemetry_requests.rb, once per process
Rails with ActiveSupport::Notifications.monotonic_subscribe

Delivery setup

Install and initialize server-side

Use a small Net::HTTP wrapper with a server-side key plus explicit open and read timeouts. Keep ingestion credentials out of browser bundles, client-visible environment variables, source control, logs, and exception messages.

1Create one reusable server-side client. Set its timeout and retry limit.
2Log an event when the operation succeeds, fails, retries, or times out.
3Send test events with known results and inspect the stored rows before enabling an alert.

Snippet

Start with one structured event

Add this shape where the workflow completes, fails, or retries. Then build the dashboard from real fields.

ruby-rails

Ruby on Rails structured event analytics event

ruby

# config/initializers/telemetry_requests.rb
require "json"
require "net/http"
require "uri"

module TelemetryRailsRequests
  def self.delivery_failed
    warn "Telemetry request event delivery failed."
  rescue StandardError
    # Diagnostics must not change the application result either.
  end

  def self.log(fields)
    key = ENV["TELEMETRY_API_KEY"]
    return if key.nil? || key.empty?

    uri = URI("https://api.telemetry.sh/log")
    request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
    request["Authorization"] = key
    request["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
    request.body = { table: "api_request_completed", data: fields }.to_json

    http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
    http.use_ssl = true
    http.open_timeout = 1
    http.read_timeout = 1
    http.write_timeout = 1
    http.max_retries = 0
    response = http.start { |client| client.request(request) }
    delivery_failed unless response.is_a?(Net::HTTPSuccess)
  rescue StandardError
    delivery_failed
  end
end

ActiveSupport::Notifications.monotonic_subscribe(
  "process_action.action_controller"
) do |_name, started, finished, _id, payload|
  status = payload[:status]
  status = nil unless status.is_a?(Integer) && (100..599).cover?(status)

  TelemetryRailsRequests.log({
    controller_action: "#{payload[:controller]}##{payload[:action]}",
    method: payload[:method],
    status_code: status,
    status: status ? "http_#{status / 100}xx" : "unknown",
    exception_observed: !!payload[:exception],
    latency_ms: ((finished - started) * 1000).round(2)
  })
rescue StandardError
  TelemetryRailsRequests.delivery_failed
end

Event schema

controller_action, method, and observed status_code

HTTP status class, exception_observed, and controller latency_ms

No request parameters, raw paths, headers, user identifiers, or exception messages

Check your setup

Checkpoint 1

This subscriber observes process_action.action_controller. It does not instrument Active Job, static files, middleware-only responses, or the whole Rack request.

Checkpoint 2

HTTP status classes describe observed controller responses, not business success or delivery to the user. An absent status stays unknown.

Checkpoint 3

Latency uses the controller notification's monotonic interval and excludes this subscriber's HTTP export time.

Checkpoint 4

Export is synchronous and best effort with one-second open, read, and write timeouts. These socket timeouts are not a hard total deadline; the send adds request latency.

Checkpoint 5

Transport, non-2xx, encoding, and diagnostic failures are contained so they do not replace the controller result or original exception. A missing key skips export.

Checkpoint 6

There is no queue, durable delivery, exporter retry, or shutdown drain. Use an application-owned outbox when loss is unacceptable.

Verification

Prove the event arrived

Run this after exercising known success and failure cases. Replace the fallback table name if your final event contract differs from the snippet.

ruby-rails-verification

Ruby on Rails structured event analytics verification query

sql

SELECT *
FROM api_request_completed
ORDER BY timestamp_utc DESC
LIMIT 20;

Confirm one terminal row per logical outcome, with the expected status, identifiers, units, and UTC time.

Inspect the inferred schema and verify that retries do not change field types or generate a new logical event ID.

Search the stored fields for credentials, raw payloads, prompts, private content, and unbounded error messages.

Exercise a provider timeout, ingestion rejection, and process shutdown before treating the dashboard as complete.

Implementation references

Review the event contract, data-safety guidance, and upstream primary documentation before enabling a new production path.

Ruby HTTP guide Redacting sensitive data Rails Active Support instrumentation

Where to log

Keep the outcome event small and recoverable

This pattern provides

Record the outcome as an event you can query with SQL.
Stable fields for dashboards, alerts, and cross-event correlation.
Test events for checking success, failure, retries, and timeouts.

This pattern does not provide

An OTLP exporter, automatic collection pipeline, or replacement for detailed traces and diagnostic logs.
Exactly-once delivery merely because the payload contains an event ID.
Permission to collect raw provider payloads, user content, credentials, or regulated data.

Delivery and idempotency Batching and shutdown Troubleshoot ingestion

Example event schemas

Check what each event records, when to send it, and which field types it needs. Review the example payload and privacy checklist before using it in production.

Product lifecycle7 fields