[sentry-junior]

DESCRIBE YOUR PR

Removes next_trace from the predefined sentry.link.type values in the span links develop docs.

No SDK sets this link type, and the product doesn't read it. Span links only point to spans that already exist, and the next trace doesn't exist yet when the current trace is sent. The trace view finds the next trace the other way around: it searches for a trace whose previous_trace link points at the current trace (see useFindLinkedTraces.ts in getsentry/sentry). The JS SDK already marks next_trace as "Not set by the SDK".

next_trace is also still listed as an enum value in sentry-conventions (sentry__link__type.json). That can be cleaned up separately.

IS YOUR CHANGE URGENT?

• Urgent deadline (GA date, etc.): YYYY-MM-DD
• Other deadline: YYYY-MM-DD
• No deadline: Not urgent, can wait up to 1 week+

PRE-MERGE CHECKLIST

• Checked Vercel preview for correctness, including links
• PR was reviewed and approved by any necessary SMEs (subject matter experts)
• PR was reviewed and approved by a member of the Sentry docs team

via Sigrid Huemer.

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
develop-docs	Ready	Preview	Oct 20, 2026 3:23pm UTC

1 Skipped Deployment

Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
sentry-docs	Ignored		Oct 20, 2026 3:23pm UTC

[cursor]

The change drops one documented span link type from a single page. The plan checks page loads, not-found counts, and error events on that route. An issue escalates when the route 404s or error events appear.

Services: develop-docs.

Mention @change-monitor in a comment to update the plan.

Plan

What changed

The Span Links page no longer lists next_trace as a predefined sentry.link.type.
Requests to /sdk/telemetry/traces/span-links/ still render the rest of the link-type table.
This ships when develop-docs deploys. Vercel Production – develop-docs maps to that catalog id.

Risk

A broken MDX table can 404 this page or throw during render.
The blast radius is this route and other /sdk/telemetry/ not-found hits.
The change does not alter SDK or product code.

Intended effect

This is a docs table edit. Telemetry cannot show that next_trace left the page.
intended_effect stays unknown unless the published HTML is inspected.
Do not treat page-load counts as proof the row is gone.

Regression watch

Traffic on this route is sparse. A 24h zero on loads is consistent with the 7d baseline.
Treat a 7d drop to zero loads, or a rise in not-found hits, as a miss.
Error events on this transaction are a fault. Hold them at zero.
The not-found path is truncated to sdk/telemetry, so other missing paths in that prefix also count.

Signal	Baseline	Window	Source	Rule
Error events environment:production transaction:*span-links*	0 events	2026-10-13T15:24:19Z to 2026-10-20T15:24:19Z	Sentry sentry/develop-docs	Hold at 0. Any new event is a regression.
docs.page.not_found requested_path:sdk/telemetry	1 count per 24h, 7 counts per 7d	24h 2026-10-19T15:24:19Z to 2026-10-20T15:24:19Z and 7d 2026-10-13T15:24:19Z to 2026-10-20T15:24:19Z	Sentry sentry/develop-docs metrics	Hold in 0-2 per 24h. Escalate above that band.
docs.page.load path:/sdk/telemetry/traces/span-links/	4 counts per 7d	2026-10-13T15:24:19Z to 2026-10-20T15:24:19Z	Sentry sentry/develop-docs metrics	Compare a matching 7d window. A 7d zero is a miss. A 24h zero is not.

Pageload and navigation traces for transaction:*span-links* measured 3 spans in 7d and 0 in 24h. Client traces are sampled at 0.3. Use them only to confirm the page is still reached.

Not observable

Whether the live HTML still contains next_trace.
Algolia may still return the old wording until reindex.
The 24h docs.page.load query timed out, so there is no measured 24h load count.