[role="xpack"]
[[traces]]
=== Traces

TIP: Traces link together related transactions to show an end-to-end performance of how a request was served
and which services were part of it.
In addition to the Traces overview, you can view your application traces in the <<spans,trace sample timeline waterfall>>.

*Traces* displays your application's entry (root) transactions.
Transactions with the same name are grouped together and only shown once in this table.
If you're using <<distributed-tracing,distributed tracing>>,
this view is key to finding the critical paths within your application.

By default, transactions are sorted by _Impact_.
Impact helps show the most used and slowest endpoints in your service -- in other words,
it's the collective amount of pain a specific endpoint is causing your users.
If there's a particular endpoint you're worried about, select it to view its
<<transaction-details,transaction details>>.

[role="screenshot"]
image::apm/images/apm-traces.png[Example view of the Traces overview in APM app in Kibana]

[float]
[[trace-explorer]]
==== Trace explorer

preview::[]

**Trace explorer** is an experimental top-level search tool that allows you to query your traces using <<kuery-query,Kibana Query Language (KQL)>> or {ref}/eql.html[Event Query Language (EQL)].

Curate your own custom queries, or use the <<service-maps,**Service Map**>> to find and select edges to automatically generate queries based on your selection:

[role="screenshot"]
image::apm/images/trace-explorer.png[Trace explorer]

Enable **Trace explorer** in <<apm-labs,APM Labs>> or in <<observability-apm-trace-explorer-tab,{kib} advanced settings>>.