DOCS-9775 (#27328)

* remove request flow map page and move content to span viz * Update visualize.md * add aliases for deleted page * Apply suggestions from code review Co-authored-by: Jen Gilbert <[email protected]> * Update content/en/tracing/trace_explorer/visualize.md --------- Co-authored-by: Jen Gilbert <[email protected]>
DataDog · Jan 30, 2025 · 1e8b36b · 1e8b36b
1 parent c6c5a46
commit 1e8b36b
Show file tree

Hide file tree

Showing 3 changed files with 36 additions and 62 deletions.
diff --git a/config/_default/menus/main.en.yaml b/config/_default/menus/main.en.yaml
@@ -3546,11 +3546,6 @@ menu:
       url: tracing/trace_explorer/trace_queries/
       parent: trace_explorer
       weight: 606
-    - name: Request Flow Map
-      identifier: tracing_trace_explorer_request_flow_map
-      url: tracing/trace_explorer/request_flow_map/
-      parent: trace_explorer
-      weight: 607
     - name: Service Observability
       url: tracing/services/
       parent: tracing

diff --git a/content/en/tracing/trace_explorer/request_flow_map.md b/content/en/tracing/trace_explorer/request_flow_map.md
diff --git a/content/en/tracing/trace_explorer/visualize.md b/content/en/tracing/trace_explorer/visualize.md
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
 ---
 title: Span Visualizations
 description: 'View spans in a list, or aggregate spans into timeseries, top lists and more.'
+aliases:
+ - /tracing/trace_search_and_analytics/request_flow_map
+ - /tracing/trace_explorer/request_flow_map/
 further_reading:
     - link: 'tracing/trace_explorer/'
       tag: 'Documentation'
       text: 'Trace Explorer'
+    - link: 'https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/apm-request-flow-map-datadog'
+      tag: 'Blog'
+      text: 'Learn more about Request Flow Maps'
 ---
 
 ## Overview
@@ -89,6 +95,31 @@ The following table shows the error spans count by `Env`, `Service`, and `Error
 
 {{< img src="tracing/trace_explorer/visualize/table_view.png" alt="Table view" style="width:100%;">}}
 
+## Request Flow Map
+
+[Request flow maps][6] combine APM's [service map][7] and [live exploring][8] features to illustrate request paths through your stack. Scope your traces to any combination of tags and generate a dynamic map that represents the flow of requests between every service.
+
+{{< img src="tracing/live_search_and_analytics/request_flow_map/Overview.png" style="width:100%; background:none; border:none; box-shadow:none;" alt="Request flow map showing the flow of requests between services, as well as request times and error rates" >}}
+
+For example, you can use request flow maps to identify high-traffic services or track the number of database calls generated by a request to a specific endpoint. If you use [shadow deployments][9] or feature flags set as custom span tags, you can use request flow maps to compare request latencies between requests and anticipate how code changes will impact perforamnce. 
+
+### Navigating the request flow map
+
+- Hover over the edge that connects two services to see metrics for requests, errors, and latencies between those services. **Note**: Highlighted edges represent the highest throughput connections, or the most common paths.
+
+- Click **Export** to save a PNG image of the current request flow map. Use this feature to generate a live architecture diagram or one scoped to a specific user flow.
+
+- Click any service on the map to view health, performance, infrastructure, and runtime metrics for that service.
+
+{{< img src="tracing/live_search_and_analytics/request_flow_map/ServicePanel.png" style="width:100%; background:none; border:none; box-shadow:none;" alt="Request flow map side panel with metrics and metadata for the selected service" >}}
+
+- The map automatically selects an appropriate layout based on the number of services present. Click **Cluster** or **Flow** to switch between the layouts.
+
+- RUM Applications are represented on the request flow map if you have [connected RUM and Traces][10].
+
+{{< img src="tracing/live_search_and_analytics/request_flow_map/RUMService.mp4" alt="A video showing how to navigate into the service details of a RUM application in the request flow map" video=true style="width:100%;">}}
+
+
 ## Further Reading
 
 {{< partial name="whats-next/whats-next.html" >}}
@@ -98,3 +129,8 @@ The following table shows the error spans count by `Env`, `Service`, and `Error
 [3]: /tracing/trace_explorer/facets/#quantitative-facets-measures
 [4]: /tracing/trace_explorer/?tab=timeseriesview#live-search-for-15-minutes
 [5]: /tracing/error_tracking/
+[6]: https://app.datadoghq.com/apm/flow-map
+[7]: /tracing/services/services_map/
+[8]: /tracing/trace_explorer/
+[9]: /tracing/services/deployment_tracking/#shadow-deploys
+[10]: /real_user_monitoring/platform/connect_rum_and_traces?tab=browserrum