Platform Observability Architecture

Why this page exists

Observability is how the platform explains its own behavior. This page documents the path from service-level metrics to dashboards and operational visibility inside the JLT-Lane sandbox environment.

In the broader Engineering Mesh, observability sits between sandbox experimentation and runbook-driven operations. It is the layer that turns system behavior into actionable signals.

Observability model

Click the diagram to open full-size.

Signal flow

Node.js Auth Service
        ↓
/metrics endpoint
        ↓
Prometheus scrape job
        ↓
Prometheus time-series database
        ↓
Grafana monitoring dashboards

Core components

Node.js Auth Service

The service exposes Prometheus-compatible metrics describing runtime behavior, request activity, and resource pressure. This is the first point where the platform becomes visible from the inside.

process_cpu_seconds_total
process_resident_memory_bytes
nodejs_active_handles
auth_service_http_requests_total

Prometheus

Prometheus scrapes the metrics endpoint at regular intervals and stores the results as queryable time-series data. It forms the measurement layer of the observability stack.

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: "auth-service"
    metrics_path: /metrics
    static_configs:
      - targets: ["auth-service:3002"]

Grafana

Grafana turns collected metrics into visual dashboards for service health, throughput, CPU, memory, and runtime pressure. This is where raw metrics become human-readable platform insight.

Example PromQL queries

rate(auth_service_http_requests_total[5m])
rate(process_cpu_seconds_total[1m])
process_resident_memory_bytes
nodejs_active_handles

Why observability matters

Modern systems should not only run — they should be able to describe their own condition. Observability helps teams detect issues earlier, troubleshoot with more precision, and operate services with confidence.

At JLT-Lane, observability is treated as a built-in platform layer rather than an afterthought. It supports both technical reliability and operational clarity.

Where this sits in the Engineering Mesh

In the JLT-Lane Engineering Mesh, observability is the bridge between experimentation and action.

Architecture
        ↓
Sandbox
        ↓
Observability
        ↓
Runbooks
        ↓
Delivery

The sandbox creates a safe place to generate signals. Observability captures them. Runbooks turn them into decisions and repeatable response paths.

From observability to action

These pages take the signals shown here and connect them to the rest of the platform.