What Are Timespans?

Timespans are individual events within a trace, such as SQL statements, controller calls, and rendering of templates. By clicking on a timespan, you can view its details, as you can see in the screenshot below.

For example:

  • SQL statement spans contain anonymized queries

  • Template spans (View) contain the template’s name

  • App spans contain the HTTP host, method, URL, and response code.

A timespan with details panel visible
Figure 1. Timespan with details panel visible

As of PHP Extension 5.36.0, framework events such as event listeners, view rendering, and lifecycle hooks are also tracked as full-featured spans with the same level of detail. Previously these were stored as lightweight span-events with fewer details. See What Are Events? for more information.

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