Application Insights - Track Outgoing HTTP Requests

Question

Application Insights - Track Outgoing HTTP Requests

Moiz Kapasi 0

I have a Django Backend Server running on the App Service with Application Insights enabled.

I am trying to track the outbound HTTP request for making an API call. However in my Application Insights I am unable to find the requests.

I have enabled Azure Monitor with Open Telemetry in code-base.

Suwarna S Kale 3,391 Reputation points

2025-06-04T02:18:16.01+00:00

Hello Moiz Kapasi,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

The absence of outbound HTTP request tracking in Application Insights, despite enabling OpenTelemetry with Azure Monitor, typically stems from missing instrumentation or configuration gaps in your Django setup. Ensure you’ve explicitly added the OpenTelemetry HTTP instrumentation library (opentelemetry-instrumentation-requests or opentelemetry-instrumentation-httpx) to auto-capture outbound calls. Verify that the Django middleware for OpenTelemetry is properly initialized and that the Azure Monitor exporter is configured to send dependencies (outbound requests) to Application Insights.

If issues persist, check custom filtering in your settings.py that might exclude external calls or validate the sampling rate in OpenTelemetry configurations. For debugging, enable console logging for OpenTelemetry to confirm if spans are generated but not exported.

Reference documentation you may review - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/app/opentelemetry-enable?tabs=aspnetcore

If the above answer helped, please do not forget to "Accept Answer" as this may help other community members to refer the info if facing a similar issue. Your contribution to the Microsoft Q&A community is highly appreciated.
Laxman Reddy Revuri 5,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-05T04:10:13.9766667+00:00

Hi @Moiz Kapasi
Just checking in to see if the above answer provided by @Suwarna S Kale & @Alex Burlachenko

In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.
Laxman Reddy Revuri 5,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-09T01:02:59.0566667+00:00

Hi @Moiz Kapasi Just checking in to see if the above answer provided by @Suwarna S Kale & @Alex Burlachenko

In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

1 answer

Your answer

Suwarna S Kale 3,391 Reputation points

2025-06-04T02:18:16.01+00:00

Hello Moiz Kapasi,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

The absence of outbound HTTP request tracking in Application Insights, despite enabling OpenTelemetry with Azure Monitor, typically stems from missing instrumentation or configuration gaps in your Django setup. Ensure you’ve explicitly added the OpenTelemetry HTTP instrumentation library (opentelemetry-instrumentation-requests or opentelemetry-instrumentation-httpx) to auto-capture outbound calls. Verify that the Django middleware for OpenTelemetry is properly initialized and that the Azure Monitor exporter is configured to send dependencies (outbound requests) to Application Insights.

If issues persist, check custom filtering in your settings.py that might exclude external calls or validate the sampling rate in OpenTelemetry configurations. For debugging, enable console logging for OpenTelemetry to confirm if spans are generated but not exported.

Reference documentation you may review - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-monitor/app/opentelemetry-enable?tabs=aspnetcore

If the above answer helped, please do not forget to "Accept Answer" as this may help other community members to refer the info if facing a similar issue. Your contribution to the Microsoft Q&A community is highly appreciated.
Laxman Reddy Revuri 5,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-05T04:10:13.9766667+00:00

Hi @Moiz Kapasi
Just checking in to see if the above answer provided by @Suwarna S Kale & @Alex Burlachenko

In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.
Laxman Reddy Revuri 5,400 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-09T01:02:59.0566667+00:00

Hi @Moiz Kapasi Just checking in to see if the above answer provided by @Suwarna S Kale & @Alex Burlachenko

In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

Answer 1

hi Moiz Kapasi

thanks for dropping this question, super helpful for others too ))

aha, so u got django running on app service with app insights, but those outgoing http calls are ghosting u, right?

make sure u hooked up open telemetry correctly. if it's half baked, app insights won't catch those sneaky outbound requests.

u gotta manually instrument those outgoing calls. django won't automagically track em. u need to wrap ur http client with open telemetry's instrumentation. like, if u're using requests lib, do this

from opentelemetry.instrumentation.requests import RequestsInstrumentor RequestsInstrumentor().instrument()

UPS! now app insights should see those external calls 8) but wait, there's more! u also need to verify ur app service got the right config. go to azure portal, find ur app service, under settings look for "application insights". make sure it's linked to the correct resource. sometimes it points to narnia instead of ur actual app insights ))

check the sampling rate. if it's too low, some requests might play hide and seek. u can tweak it in the app insights config. microsoft suggests starting with 100% then adjusting later .

last thing - give it a few mins after deploying changes. app insights ain't instant, it's like waiting for coffee to brew ) if after 15 mins u still see nada, come back and we'll debug more.

btw, app insights is lowkey awesome for this stuff once u set it up right. tracks dependencies, shows u which external apis are slow af. game changer for backend devs )))

hope this helps! if ur still stuck, hightlite me.

Best regards,

Alex

and "yes" if you would follow me at Q&A - personaly thx.
P.S. If my answer help to you, please Accept my answer
PPS That is my Answer and not a Comment

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Application Insights - Track Outgoing HTTP Requests

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