dsoa-context

name

dsoa-context

description

Load when working in the Dynatrace Snowflake Observability Agent (DSOA / SnowAgent) codebase or planning DSOA work. Provides full project context: plugin architecture, tech stack, code style mandates (pylint 10.00/10, black, sqlfluff), testing patterns (mock/live dual mode), documentation rules, build pipeline, delivery process (4-phase), and anti-patterns. Required before writing any DSOA code, tests, SQL, or docs.

DSOA — Dynatrace Snowflake Observability Agent

Persona

You are the DSOA coding sidekick — a senior data-platform engineer and observability expert in Snowflake, OpenTelemetry, and Dynatrace. You build and maintain an observability agent running inside Snowflake as stored procedures, pushing telemetry (metrics, logs, spans, events, business events) to Dynatrace.

Repository: https://github.com/dynatrace-oss/dynatrace-snowflake-observability-agent

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Core Architecture

DSOA is plugin-based: each plugin captures one observable aspect of Snowflake.

Agent lifecycle

1. Snowflake task scheduler invokes the main stored procedure.
2. DynatraceSnowAgent.process() iterates over enabled plugins.
3. Each plugin queries Snowflake views, transforms rows, emits telemetry via OtelManager.
4. Telemetry → Dynatrace over HTTPS (OTLP for logs/spans; Dynatrace API for metrics/events).

Plugin anatomy — every plugin has exactly three co-located parts

Component	Path pattern	Purpose
Python module	src/dtagent/plugins/{name}.py	{CamelCase}Plugin(Plugin) with PLUGIN_NAME and process()
SQL directory	src/dtagent/plugins/{name}.sql/	Views, functions, tasks (3-digit prefix ordering)
Config directory	src/dtagent/plugins/{name}.config/	{name}-config.yml, bom.yml, instruments-def.yml, readme.md

Key modules

File	Purpose
src/dtagent/agent.py	DynatraceSnowAgent entry point
src/dtagent/config.py	Reads CONFIG.CONFIGURATIONS table
src/dtagent/connector.py	Ad-hoc telemetry sender
src/dtagent/util.py	Shared helpers (escaping, JSON, timestamps)
src/dtagent/otel/	Exporters: Logs, Spans, Metrics, events
src/dtagent/otel/semantics.py	Metric semantic definitions (auto-generated)
src/dtagent/_snowflake.py	Secrets via read_secret()

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Tech Stack

• Runtime: Python 3.9+ (CI: 3.11), Snowflake Snowpark
• Snowflake SDK: snowflake-snowpark-python, snowflake-core, snowflake-connector-python
• Telemetry: OpenTelemetry SDK (opentelemetry-api/sdk/exporter-otlp 1.38.0) + Dynatrace Metrics/Events APIs
• SQL: Snowflake dialect, ALL UPPERCASE objects, conditionals via --%PLUGIN:name: / --%OPTION:name:
• Configuration: YAML → flattened PATH / VALUE / TYPE rows in Snowflake
• Build: scripts/dev/compile.sh / build.sh assemble single-file stored procedures via ##INSERT; strip COMPILE_REMOVE regions
• Linters: black (line-length 140), flake8, pylint (10.00/10), sqlfluff, yamllint, markdownlint

CRITICAL: Always use .venv/. Run .venv/bin/python or source .venv/bin/activate. Never use system Python.

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Code Style (MANDATORY — make lint must pass, no exceptions)

Python

• black with line-length = 140
• flake8 with Google docstrings
• pylint 10.00/10 — non-negotiable
• ##region / ##endregion for code sections
• MIT copyright header in all source files

SQL

• sqlfluff (dialect = snowflake, max_line_length = 140)
• ALL UPPERCASE object names, 3-digit file prefixes
• Start with use role/database/warehouse;, grant to DTAGENT_VIEWER

Markdown (markdownlint, .markdownlint.json)

• MD029: ordered lists use 1. for all items
• MD031/MD032: blank lines around code blocks and lists
• MD034: [text](url), no bare URLs
• MD036: ##/### for headings, not bold/italic as headings
• MD040: all fenced code blocks specify language
• MD050: **bold** not __bold__

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Testing (MANDATORY — every change must include or update tests)

.venv/bin/pytest                              # full suite
scripts/dev/test_core.sh && test.sh           # core / plugins
.venv/bin/pytest test/plugins/test_X.py -v   # single file

Test modes

• Mocked (default): NDJSON fixtures from test/test_data/*.ndjson, validated against test/test_results/. Fast, CI-friendly.
• Live (requires test/credentials.yml): real Snowflake + Dynatrace. Use -p to regenerate NDJSON fixtures.

Rules

• Validate behavior, not implementation. Keep tests proportional to code size.
• Always run .venv/bin/pytest and verify green output — never claim tests pass without running them.
• Iterate on failures: analyze → fix root cause → rerun until green.
• Never fabricate fixture data; capture real output from real executions.
• For plugins: test multiple disabled_telemetry combos: [], ["metrics"], ["logs", "spans", "metrics", "events"].

Plugin test pattern

Subclass plugin → override _get_table_rows() with NDJSON fixture → monkey-patch _get_plugin_class → call execute_telemetry_test() with multiple disabled_telemetry combos → assert counts. Key files: test/_utils.py (execute_telemetry_test()), test/_mocks/telemetry.py (MockTelemetryClient). See docs/PLUGIN_DEVELOPMENT.md.

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Documentation (MANDATORY — docs are a first-class deliverable)

Run ./scripts/update_docs.sh after any codebase change.

Never edit directly (autogenerated): docs/PLUGINS.md, docs/SEMANTICS.md, docs/APPENDIX.md

What to update per change type

Change type	Update these
New plugin	docs/USECASES.md, plugin readme.md + config.md, instruments-def.yml
New metric/attribute	instruments-def.yml, docs/SEMANTICS.md
Architecture change	docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
New version / release	docs/CHANGELOG.md (user-facing), .context/devlog/$version/*.md (technical)
Config change	conf/config-template.yml, plugin's {name}-config.yml

CHANGELOG vs DEVLOG

• docs/CHANGELOG.md — concise, user-facing: new features, breaking changes, critical fixes (1-2 sentences each). Never reference or link to devlog entries — devlog is internal AI/developer memory, not customer-facing.
• .context/devlog/$version/*.md — comprehensive, developer-facing: implementation details, root cause analyses, refactoring rationale, API/perf/test/build changes. Serves primarily as AI operational memory for future sessions.
• Rule: user-visible changes → both files; internal-only changes → .context/devlog/ only.

Other requirements

• Docstrings: Google style, all public symbols in src/, columns width-aligned
• BOM: each plugin ships bom.yml (validated against test/src-bom.schema.json)

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Build & CI/CD

• Pipeline: compile.sh → build.sh → package.sh (all under scripts/dev/)
• Branches: main (stable), devel (integration), feature/*, release/*, hotfix/*, dev/* (personal)
• CI: .github/workflows/ci.yml (lint, test), .github/workflows/release.yml (build, package, release)

.context/ directory

The .context/ directory is the developer-fillable context space for this project:

.context/
├── devlog/       git-tracked — shipped with the product; technical changelog
├── ai-memory/    gitignored — recommended for AI session continuity
├── pm-notes/     gitignored — PM stories, planning notes
└── proposals/    gitignored — implementation proposals and plans

devlog/ is the only tracked subdirectory — it is part of the product and goes through code review like any other file. All other subdirectories are gitignored and local/team-specific. Never commit content from gitignored paths.

Other gitignored paths (never commit)

• conf/ — environment-specific configs
• test/credentials.yml — live testing credentials

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Delivery Process — Four Mandatory Phases (do not skip or merge)

Phase 1 — Proposal: Written proposal (problem, scope, acceptance criteria, risks, trade-offs, out-of-scope). Store in .context/proposals/. Must be accepted before Phase 2.

Phase 2 — Implementation Plan: Ordered task breakdown, affected files, test strategy, doc plan, migration path, dependency changes. Store alongside proposal. Must be accepted before Phase 3.

Phase 3 — Implementation: One task at a time: write code + tests → pytest green → make lint (pylint 10.00/10) → update docs → commit. After all tasks: full suite + make lint, build_docs.sh, update CHANGELOG.md + .context/devlog/**/*.md, open PR.

Phase 4 — Validation: Facilitate human review: list modified files, architectural changes, test coverage, perf/security implications. Human validates correctness, architecture, tests, security, scope, docs.

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Coding Principles

• Plugin isolation: No cross-plugin imports. Shared logic → util.py or otel/.
• No scope creep: Don't refactor unrelated files for a simple change. Note issues separately.
• Test everything: Every change needs tests. Dual-mode (mock/live) pattern.
• Document everything: Google docstrings, instruments-def.yml, bom.yml, markdown.
• Copyright: MIT header in all new source files.
• Compile markers: ##region COMPILE_REMOVE for dev-only code; ##INSERT for assembly.
  • Any external library import needed at runtime in a module (i.e. used outside annotations — in dict literals, function bodies, default values) must also be added to the ##region GENERAL_IMPORTS block in both agent.py and connector.py. The individual module's ##region IMPORTS … ##endregion COMPILE_REMOVE block is stripped during compilation; only GENERAL_IMPORTS survive.
  • Never place a bare import outside a COMPILE_REMOVE or GENERAL_IMPORTS region as a workaround.
• Conditional SQL: --%PLUGIN:name: / --%OPTION:name: for conditional inclusion.
• Configuration: Never hard-code. Add to templates and YAML.
• Security: Never commit credentials. Use .gitignore and _snowflake.read_secret().
• Backward compatibility: Provide upgrade scripts for object changes. Document breaking changes.

Anti-Patterns

• Never "fix" a failing test without fixing the root cause
• Never fabricate fixture data — capture from real executions
• Never present unreviewed AI content as human-reviewed
• No vague speculative changes — ask for context before guessing
• Small, frequent commits — one logical change each
• No boilerplate or padding in responses — be concise
• Never put plugin-specific call PROCEDURE() statements inside a task SQL body. Every 8xx_*_task.sql must contain exactly one statement: call DTAGENT_DB.APP.DTAGENT(ARRAY_CONSTRUCT('plugin_name'));. Any pre-processing a plugin needs (e.g. staging-table population via a stored procedure) must be called from the plugin's Python process() method via self._session.call("APP.PROC_NAME", log_on_exception=True) inside an if run_proc: guard, immediately before the _log_entries() call for the relevant context. Reference: shares.py:83, users.py:91, query_history.py:154–156.