Skip to content
Merged
Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from all commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension


Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
139 changes: 139 additions & 0 deletions docs/core/extensions/httpclient-latency-extensions.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
---
title: Monitor and analyze HTTP client performance
description: Learn how to use the HttpClientLatency with dependency injection in your .NET workloads.
author: IEvangelist
ms.author: dapine
ms.date: 09/29/2025
ai-usage: ai-assisted
---

# HTTP client latency telemetry in .NET

When you build applications that communicate over HTTP, it's important to observe request performance characteristics.
The <xref:Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.HttpClientLatencyTelemetryExtensions.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry*>
extension enables collection of detailed timing information for outgoing HTTP calls with no changes to calling code.
It plugs into the existing `HttpClientFactory` pipeline to capture stage timings across the request lifecycle, record
HTTP protocol details, measure garbage collection impact where the runtime exposes that data, and emit a uniform
telemetry shape suitable for performance analysis and tuning.Enable them by calling `AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry()` extension method.
The built‑in handler creates an `ILatencyContext` per outbound request and populates measures by the time the inner
pipeline completes. Consume them after `await base.SendAsync(...)` in a later delegating handler (added after telemetry)
and export to your metrics backend. Example:

Register extension method:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/http/latency/RegisterHandler.cs" range="3-24" highlight="11":::

Access the context:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/http/latency/HttpLatencyExportHandler.cs" range="4-23" highlight="12,15":::

### [.NET CLI](#tab/dotnet-cli)

```dotnetcli
dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Diagnostics --version 9.10.0
```

### [PackageReference](#tab/package-reference)

```xml
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Diagnostics" Version="9.10.0" />
```

---

For more information, see [dotnet package add](../tools/dotnet-package-add.md) or [Manage package dependencies in .NET applications](../tools/dependencies.md).

### Register HTTP client latency telemetry

To add HTTP client latency telemetry to your application, call the <xref:Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.HttpClientLatencyTelemetryExtensions.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry*> extension method when configuring your services:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/http/latency/Program.cs" id="extensions" highlight="7":::

This registration adds a `DelegatingHandler` to all HTTP clients created through <xref:System.Net.Http.IHttpClientFactory>, collecting detailed latency information for each request.

### Configure telemetry options

You configure telemetry collection through the <xref:Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Latency.HttpClientLatencyTelemetryOptions> ([standard options pattern](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/extensions/options)).
You can supply values either with a delegate or by binding configuration (for example, `appsettings.json`).
The options instance is resolved once per handler pipeline so changes apply to new clients/handlers.

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/http/latency/Program.cs" range="23-31" highlight="1-5,8,9":::

### Configuration options

The <xref:Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Latency.HttpClientLatencyTelemetryOptions> class offers the following settings:

| Option | Type | Default | Description | When to disable |
|--------------------------------|---------|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| EnableDetailedLatencyBreakdown | Boolean | `true` | Enables fine-grained phase timing for each HttpClient request (for example, connection establishment, headers sent, first byte, completion) to produce a breakdown of total latency. Adds a small extra CPU/time measurement cost, no wire overhead. | Set to `false` only in very high-throughput scenarios where minimal overhead is required and total duration alone is sufficient. |

### Collected telemetry data

When HTTP client latency telemetry is enabled, it captures phase timestamps, selected measures (where supported), and protocol attributes used for performance analysis.

#### Timing checkpoints

Timestamps are recorded for key stages of the HTTP request lifecycle:

| Phase | Start Event | End Event | Notes |
|-------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| DNS resolution | Http.NameResolutionStart | Http.NameResolutionEnd | Host name lookup (may be cached and skipped). |
| Socket connection | Http.SocketConnectStart | Http.SocketConnectEnd | CP (and TLS handshake if combined by handler). |
| Connection establishment| | Http.ConnectionEstablished | Marks usable connection after handshake. |
| Request headers | Http.RequestHeadersStart | Http.RequestHeadersEnd | Writing request headers to the wire/buffer. |
| Request content | Http.RequestContentStart | Http.RequestContentEnd | Streaming or buffering request body. |
| Response headers | Http.ResponseHeadersStart | Http.ResponseHeadersEnd | First byte to completion of header parsing. |
| Response content | Http.ResponseContentStart | Http.ResponseContentEnd | Reading full response body (to completion or disposal). |

#### Measures (platform dependent)

Measures quantify latency contributors that raw phase checkpoints cannot (GC pause overlap, connection churn, other
accumulated counts or durations). They are collected in an in‑memory latency context created when you call
`AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry()`. Nothing is emitted automatically: the context simply accumulates checkpoints, measures,
and tags until the request completes. If you also enable HTTP client logging enrichment with `AddExtendedHttpClientLogging()`,
the completed context is flattened into a single structured log field named `LatencyInfo` (version marker, server name if available, then tag, checkpoint, and measure name/value sequences).

That log field is the only built‑in output artifact; no metrics or traces are produced unless you add your own exporter.
To surface them as metrics, read the context after the request pipeline returns and record (for example) GC pause overlap
to a histogram and connection initiations to a counter, optionally dimensioned by protocol version.

| Name | Description |
|--------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Http.GCPauseTime | Total GC pause duration overlapping the request. |
| Http.ConnectionInitiated | Emitted when a new underlying connection (not pooled reuse) is created. |

#### Tags

Use tags to attach stable categorical dimensions to each request so you can segment, filter, and aggregate metrics
and logs without reprocessing raw data. They are low‑cardinality classification labels (not timings) captured
in the latency context and, if HTTP client log enrichment is enabled, serialized into a single LatencyInfo log field.
Enable enrichment at application startup by adding the logging extension (for all clients or per client) along with
latency telemetry, for example:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/http/latency/Program.cs" range="36-39" highlight="2,3":::

After this, outbound requests logged through the structured logging pipeline will include the `LatencyInfo` property
containing the flattened tags, checkpoints, and measures. No metrics or traces are emitted automatically for tags;
export them yourself (e.g., turn tag values into metric dimensions or `Activity` tags) if you need them outside logs.

| Tag | Description |
|--------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Http.Version | HTTP protocol version negotiated/used (for example, 1.1, 2, 3). |

## Usage example

These components enable tracking and reporting the latency of HTTP client request processing.

You can register the services using the following methods:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/http/latency/Program.cs" range="44-53" highlight="1,2,4-6, 8-10":::

For example:

:::code language="csharp" source="snippets/http/latency/Program.cs" range="58-75" highlight="10,13,16":::

### Platform considerations

HTTP client latency telemetry runs on all supported targets (.NET 9, .NET 8, .NET Standard 2.0, and .NET Framework 4.6.2).
Core timing checkpoints are always collected. The GC pause metric (Http.GCPauseTime) is emitted only when running on .NET 8 or .NET 9.
The implementation detects platform capabilities at run time and enables what is supported without additional configuration.
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
namespace GeneratedHttp.Example;


public sealed class HttpLatencyExportHandler : DelegatingHandler
{
// ILatencyContextAccessor is just an example of some accessor that is able to read latency context
private readonly ILatencyContextAccessor _latency;

public HttpLatencyExportHandler(ILatencyContextAccessor latency) => _latency = latency;

protected override async Task<HttpResponseMessage> SendAsync(HttpRequestMessage request, CancellationToken ct)
{
var rsp = await base.SendAsync(request, ct).ConfigureAwait(false);

var ctx = _latency.Current;
if (ctx != null)
{
var data = ctx.LatencyData;
// Record/export gc and conn with version as a dimension here.
}
return rsp;
}
}
77 changes: 77 additions & 0 deletions docs/core/extensions/snippets/http/latency/Program.cs
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Diagnostics;


internal class Program
{
private static void ConfigureHttpClientLatency(HostApplicationBuilder builder)
{
// <extensions>
var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Add HTTP client factory
builder.Services.AddHttpClient();

// Add HTTP client latency telemetry
builder.Services.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry();
// </extensions>
}

private static void ConfigureWithDelegate(HostApplicationBuilder builder)
{
// Configure with delegate
builder.Services.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry(options =>
{
options.EnableDetailedLatencyBreakdown = true;
});

// Or configure from configuration
builder.Services.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry(
builder.Configuration.GetSection("HttpClientTelemetry"));
}

private static void EnableLatencyContext(HostApplicationBuilder builder)
{
var builder = Host.CreateApplicationBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry(); // enables latency context + measures/tags
builder.Services.AddExtendedHttpClientLogging();
var app = builder.Build();
}

private static void RegistrationOptions(HostApplicationBuilder builder)
{
public static IServiceCollection AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry(
this IServiceCollection services);

public static IServiceCollection AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry(
this IServiceCollection services,
IConfigurationSection section);

public static IServiceCollection AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry(
this IServiceCollection services,
Action<HttpClientLatencyTelemetryOptions> configure);
}

private static void HttpClientLatency(HostApplicationBuilder builder)
{
var builder = Host.CreateApplicationBuilder(args);

// Register IHttpClientFactory:
builder.Services.AddHttpClient();

// Register redaction services:
builder.Services.AddRedaction();

// Register latency context services:
builder.Services.AddLatencyContext();

// Register HttpClient logging enrichment & redaction services:
builder.Services.AddExtendedHttpClientLogging();

// Register HttpClient latency telemetry services:
builder.Services.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry();

var host = builder.Build();
}
}
24 changes: 24 additions & 0 deletions docs/core/extensions/snippets/http/latency/RegisterHandler.cs
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
namespace GeneratedHttp.Example;

using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Diagnostics;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;

var builder = Host.CreateApplicationBuilder(args);

// An example of some accessor that is able to read latency context
builder.Services.AddSingleton<ILatencyContextAccessor, LatencyContextAccessor>();

// Register HTTP client latency telemetry first so its delegating handler runs earlier.
builder.Services.AddHttpClientLatencyTelemetry();

// Register export handler (runs after telemetry; sees finalized ILatencyContext).
builder.Services.AddTransient<HttpLatencyExportHandler>();

// Register an HttpClient that will emit and export latency measures.
builder.Services
.AddHttpClient("observed")
.AddHttpMessageHandler<HttpLatencyExportHandler>();

var host = builder.Build();
await host.RunAsync();
24 changes: 24 additions & 0 deletions docs/core/extensions/snippets/http/latency/latency.csproj
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
<Nullable>enable</Nullable>
<ImplicitUsings>true</ImplicitUsings>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
</PropertyGroup>

<ItemGroup>
<None Remove="appsettings.json" />
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup>
<Content Include="appsettings.json">
<CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
</Content>
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Http.Diagnostics" Version="9.10.0" />
</ItemGroup>

</Project>
Loading
Loading