Request Tracing Specification (CTA-5010)

This document defines a tracing model for observability in streaming media and an HTTP implementation of that model for interoperable tracing. It seeks to address observability gaps in the delivery of real-time streaming media experiences, over HTTP, across content providers and third-party services. Request tracing spans the spectrum of HTTP requests made by client applications and other services on clients’ behalf. This specification takes into consideration modern streaming media delivery protocols and conventions in addition to complex request flows such as 304 redirects and Content Delivery Network (CDN) request collapsing. To this end, in contrast to other tracing specifications and conventions, this specification organizes information based on the set of requests required to fulfill a single intent (e.g., retrieval of a single media object from one or more CDNs).