# Java Agent self observability dashboard

SkyWalking java agent reports itself metrics by Meter APIS in order to measure tracing performance.
it also provides a dashboard to visualize the agent metrics.

## Data flow
1. SkyWalking java agent reports metrics data internally and automatically.
2. SkyWalking OAP accept these meters through native protocols.
3. The SkyWalking OAP Server parses the expression with [MAL](../../concepts-and-designs/mal.md) to filter/calculate/aggregate and store the results.

## Set up
Java Agent so11y is a build-in feature, it reports meters automatically after boot.

## Self observability monitoring
Self observability monitoring provides monitoring of the runtime performance of the java agent itself. `agent.service_name` is a `Service` in Agent so11y, and land on the `Layer: SO11Y_JAVA_AGENT`.

### Self observability metrics

| Unit              | Metric Name                                                    | Description                                 | Data Source           |
|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
| Count Per Minute  | meter_java_agent_created_tracing_context_count                 | Created Tracing Context Count (Per Minute)  | SkyWalking Java Agent |
| Count Per Minute  | meter_java_agent_finished_tracing_context_count                | Finished Tracing Context Count (Per Minute) | SkyWalking Java Agent |
| Count Per Minute  | meter_java_agent_created_ignored_context_count                 | Created Ignored Context Count (Per Minute)  | SkyWalking Java Agent |
| Count Per Minute  | meter_java_agent_finished_ignored_context_count                | Finished Ignored Context Count (Per Minute) | SkyWalking Java Agent |
| Count Per Minute  | meter_java_agent_possible_leaked_context_count                 | Possible Leak Context Count (Per Minute)    | SkyWalking Java Agent |
| Count Per Minute  | meter_java_agent_interceptor_error_count                       | Interceptor Error Count (Per Minute)        | SkyWalking Java Agent |
| ns                | meter_java_agent_tracing_context_execution_time_percentile     | Tracing Context Execution Time (ns)         | SkyWalking Java Agent |

## Customizations
You can customize your own metrics/expression/dashboard panel.
The metrics definition and expression rules are found in `/meter-analyzer-config/java-agent.yaml`
The self observability dashboard panel configurations are found in `/config/ui-initialized-templates/so11y_java_agent`.