Link a Textract async operation with downstream process

[Erry91]

I have a simple setup with one Lambda function that starts a Textract analysis of a document via StepFunctions.
The textract task in the StepFunction definition sends a notification on an SQS which triggers another lambda. I have little to no control on what message is sent in the SQS by textract since it's a predefined aws task.

Everything is patched with Xray and what it's seen from console is essentially this:
(client) -> LambdaA -> StepFunction -> Textract
(client) -> LambdaB (this one has been triggered by the SQS message)

However I was wondering if it is possible at all to link the two flows in Xray and see them as one trace_id or linked traces.

Can two traces be linked manually with the SDK?

[wangzlei]

Thanks for reaching X-Ray. we are working a feature "custom defined links" which can be used in creating a process segment handling a batch of upstream traces. The underlying data model please refer to

• https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/blob/main/specification/overview.md#links-between-spans
• https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/messaging/messaging-spans/#batch-processing

We don't have exact timeline for this feature. To be noticed this feature only apply for ADOT(AWS Distro for OpenTelemetry Java), not support xray SDK. Please see https://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/xray-java.html