| name | datadog |
| description | Full-stack observability with Datadog APM, logs, metrics, synthetics, and RUM. Use when implementing monitoring, tracing, alerting, or cost optimization for production systems. |
| user-invocable | false |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| category | platform |
| author | Claude MPM Team |
| license | MIT |
| progressive_disclosure | {"entry_point":{"summary":"Unified observability platform for APM, logs, metrics, synthetics, and RUM with 1000+ integrations.","when_to_use":"When implementing production monitoring, distributed tracing, log aggregation, custom metrics, or cost optimization.","quick_start":"1. Install Datadog Agent. 2. Enable APM with automatic instrumentation. 3. Configure log collection. 4. Set up alerts."},"references":["agent-installation.md","apm-instrumentation.md","log-management.md","custom-metrics.md","alerting.md","cost-optimization.md","kubernetes.md"]} |
| context_limit | 800 |
| tags | ["observability","monitoring","apm","logging","metrics","tracing","datadog","alerting"] |
| requires_tools | [] |
Datadog Observability
Overview
Datadog is a SaaS observability platform providing unified monitoring across infrastructure, applications, logs, and user experience. It offers AI-powered anomaly detection, 1000+ integrations, and OpenTelemetry compatibility.
Core Capabilities:
- APM: Distributed tracing with automatic instrumentation for 8+ languages
- Infrastructure: Host, container, and cloud service monitoring
- Logs: Centralized collection with processing pipelines and 15-month retention
- Metrics: Custom metrics via DogStatsD with cardinality management
- Synthetics: Proactive API and browser testing from 29+ global locations
- RUM: Frontend performance with Core Web Vitals and session replay
When to Use This Skill
Activate when:
- Setting up production monitoring and observability
- Implementing distributed tracing across microservices
- Configuring log aggregation and analysis pipelines
- Creating custom metrics and dashboards
- Setting up alerting and anomaly detection
- Optimizing Datadog costs
Do not use when:
- Building with open-source stack (use Prometheus/Grafana instead)
- Cost is primary concern and budget is limited
- Need maximum customization over managed solution
Quick Start
1. Install Datadog Agent
Docker (simplest):
docker run -d --name dd-agent \
-e DD_API_KEY=<YOUR_API_KEY> \
-e DD_SITE="datadoghq.com" \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
-v /proc/:/host/proc/:ro \
-v /sys/fs/cgroup/:/host/sys/fs/cgroup:ro \
gcr.io/datadoghq/agent:7
Kubernetes (Helm):
helm repo add datadog https://helm.datadoghq.com
helm install datadog-agent datadog/datadog \
--set datadog.apiKey=<YOUR_API_KEY> \
--set datadog.apm.enabled=true \
--set datadog.logs.enabled=true
2. Instrument Your Application
Python:
ddtrace tracer, patch_all
patch_all()
tracer.trace(, service=) span:
span.set_tag(, user_id)