Interaction correlation

TraceLens associates browser work with the input that initiated it without retaining DOM text or application payloads.

Lifecycle

1. A capture-phase listener records a short-lived candidate for click, pointerdown, or keydown.
2. The candidate receives a random correlation ID and a privacy-safe element name.
3. Event Timing entries are matched to candidates by event type and start time.
4. Work started during the five-second candidate window inherits the same ID:
   • fetch and XMLHttpRequest spans
   • Long Animation Frame entries
   • layout-shift entries
5. Studio prefers exact correlation IDs and uses timing overlap as a fallback for older traces.

Privacy boundary

Network telemetry contains the method, sanitized URL, status, timing, and transport. Query strings, fragments, request bodies, response bodies, and application headers are excluded.

Element descriptors use data-tracelens-name, role, and input type by default. aria-label and id require explicit privacy allowlist entries in v0.3.0. DOM text and input values are not inspected. See privacy controls.

Limitations

Event Timing and Long Animation Frame availability varies by browser. Async work that begins more than five seconds after an input is not automatically attributed. Applications can use trace() for explicit spans when browser timing alone is insufficient.