datadog-cli

name

datadog-cli

description

Datadog CLI for debugging and triaging. Use this skill when you need to: search Datadog logs, query metrics, tail logs in real-time, trace distributed requests, investigate errors, compare time periods, find log patterns, check service health, or export observability data. Trigger phrases include "search logs", "tail logs", "query metrics", "check Datadog", "find errors", "trace request", "compare errors", "what services exist", "log patterns", "CPU usage", "service health".

Datadog CLI Reference

A CLI tool for AI agents to debug and triage using Datadog logs, metrics, and APM traces.

Setup

Running the CLI

# Via npx (no install needed)
npx @ctdio/datadog-cli <command>

# Via bunx
bunx @ctdio/datadog-cli <command>

# Or create an alias for convenience
alias datadog="npx @ctdio/datadog-cli"

Environment Variables (Required)

export DD_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export DD_APP_KEY="your-app-key"

Get keys from: https://app.datadoghq.com/organization-settings/api-keys

For Non-US Datadog Sites

Use --site flag:

npx @ctdio/datadog-cli logs search --query "*" --site datadoghq.eu

Commands

Log Search

datadog logs search --query "<query>" [--from <time>] [--to <time>] [--limit <n>] [--sort <order>]

Examples:

datadog logs search --query "status:error" --from 1h
datadog logs search --query "service:api status:error @http.status_code:500" --from 1h

Live Tail (Real-time Streaming)

Stream logs as they arrive. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

datadog logs tail --query "<query>" [--interval <seconds>]

Examples:

datadog logs tail --query "status:error"
datadog logs tail --query "service:api" --interval 5

Trace Correlation

Find all logs for a distributed trace across services.

datadog logs trace --id "<trace-id>" [--from <time>] [--to <time>]

Example:

datadog logs trace --id "abc123def456" --from 24h

Log Context

Get logs before and after a specific timestamp to understand what happened.

datadog logs context --timestamp "<iso-timestamp>" [--before <time>] [--after <time>] [--service <svc>]

Examples:

datadog logs context --timestamp "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z" --before 5m --after 2m
datadog logs context --timestamp "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z" --service api --before 10m

Error Summary

Quick breakdown of errors by service, type, and message.

datadog errors [--from <time>] [--to <time>] [--service <svc>]

Examples:

datadog errors --from 1h
datadog errors --service payment-api --from 24h

Period Comparison

Compare log counts between current period and previous period.

datadog logs compare --query "<query>" --period <time>

Examples:

datadog logs compare --query "status:error" --period 1h
datadog logs compare --query "service:api status:error" --period 6h

Log Patterns

Group similar log messages to find patterns (replaces UUIDs, numbers, etc.).

datadog logs patterns --query "<query>" [--from <time>] [--limit <n>]

Examples:

datadog logs patterns --query "status:error" --from 1h
datadog logs patterns --query "service:api" --from 6h --limit 1000

Service Discovery

List all services with recent log activity.

datadog services [--from <time>] [--to <time>]

Example:

datadog services --from 24h

Log Aggregation

datadog logs agg --query "<query>" --facet <facet> [--from <time>]

Common facets: status, service, host, @http.status_code, @error.kind

Examples:

datadog logs agg --query "*" --facet status --from 1h
datadog logs agg --query "status:error" --facet service --from 24h

Multiple Queries

Run multiple queries in parallel.

datadog logs multi --queries "name1:query1,name2:query2" [--from <time>]

Example:

datadog logs multi --queries "errors:status:error,warnings:status:warn" --from 1h

Metrics Query

datadog metrics query --query "<metrics-query>" [--from <time>] [--to <time>]

Query format: <aggregation>:<metric>{<tags>}

Examples:

datadog metrics query --query "avg:system.cpu.user{*}" --from 1h
datadog metrics query --query "avg:system.cpu.user{service:api}" --from 1h
datadog metrics query --query "sum:trace.http.request.errors{service:api}.as_count()" --from 1h

APM Traces & Spans

Span Search

Search APM spans/traces with query filters.

datadog spans search --query "<query>" [--from <time>] [--to <time>] [--limit <n>] [--min-duration <duration>]

Examples:

datadog spans search --query "env:prod service:api" --from 1h
datadog spans search --query "service:api" --min-duration 1s --from 1h  # Slow requests
datadog spans search --query "resource_name:POST" --from 1h

Span Aggregation

Aggregate spans by facet.

datadog spans agg --query "<query>" --facet <facet> [--from <time>]

Common facets: service, resource_name, status, env, operation_name

Examples:

datadog spans agg --query "env:prod" --facet service --from 24h
datadog spans agg --query "service:api" --facet resource_name --from 1h

Trace Hierarchy View

View all spans in a trace with parent-child relationships.

datadog spans trace --id "<trace-id>" [--from <time>]

Example:

datadog spans trace --id "abc123def456" --from 24h

Span Error Summary

Get breakdown of span errors by service and resource.

datadog spans errors [--from <time>] [--service <svc>]

Examples:

datadog spans errors --from 1h
datadog spans errors --service api --from 24h

APM Service Discovery

List all services with APM trace activity.

datadog spans services [--from <time>]

Example:

datadog spans services --from 24h

Global Flags

Flag	Description
--pretty	Human-readable output with colors
--output <file>	Export results to JSON file
--site <site>	Datadog site (e.g., datadoghq.eu)

Time Formats

• Relative: 30m, 1h, 6h, 24h, 7d
• ISO 8601: 2024-01-15T10:30:00Z

Common Workflows

Incident Triage

# 1. Quick error overview (logs and spans)
datadog errors --from 1h
datadog spans errors --from 1h

# 2. Is this new? Compare to previous period
datadog logs compare --query "status:error" --period 1h

# 3. What patterns are we seeing?
datadog logs patterns --query "status:error" --from 1h

# 4. Narrow down by service
datadog logs search --query "status:error service:payment-api" --from 1h

# 5. Find slow requests
datadog spans search --query "service:api" --min-duration 1s --from 1h

# 6. Get context around a specific timestamp
datadog logs context --timestamp "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z" --service api --before 5m --after 2m

# 7. Follow the distributed trace (logs and spans)
datadog logs trace --id "TRACE_ID"
datadog spans trace --id "TRACE_ID"

Real-time Debugging

# Stream errors as they happen
datadog logs tail --query "status:error"

# Watch specific service
datadog logs tail --query "service:api status:error"

Service Health Check

# List services
datadog services --from 24h

# Check error distribution
datadog logs agg --query "service:api" --facet status --from 1h

# Check CPU/memory
datadog metrics query --query "avg:system.cpu.user{service:api}" --from 1h

Export for Sharing

# Save search results
datadog logs search --query "status:error" --from 1h --output errors.json

# Save error summary
datadog errors --from 24h --output error-report.json

Datadog Query Syntax

Operator	Example	Description
AND	service:api status:error	Both conditions
OR	status:error OR status:warn	Either condition
-	-status:info	Exclude
*	service:api-*	Wildcard
>= <=	@http.status_code:>=400	Numeric comparison
[TO]	@duration:[1000 TO 5000]	Range

Common Attributes

• service - Service name
• status - Log level (error, warn, info, debug)
• host - Hostname
• @http.status_code - HTTP status code
• @error.kind - Error type
• @trace_id / @dd.trace_id - Trace ID