<ahref="https://www.taoensso.com/clojure"title="More stuff by @ptaoussanis at www.taoensso.com"><imgsrc="https://www.taoensso.com/open-source.png"alt="Taoensso open source"width="340"/></a>
It helps enable Clojure/Script systems that are easily **observable**, **robust**, and **debuggable** - and it represents the refinement and culmination of ideas brewing over 12+ years in [Timbre](https://www.taoensso.com/timbre), [Tufte](https://www.taoensso.com/tufte) and [Truss](https://www.taoensso.com/truss).
<!--See [here][GitHub releases] for earlier releases.-->
## Next-gen observability
A key hurdle in building **observable systems** is that it's often inconvenient and costly to get out the kind of **detailed info** that we need when debugging.
Telemere's strategy to address this is to:
1. Provide **lean, low-fuss syntax** to let you conveniently convey program state.
2. Use the unique power of **Lisp macros** to let you **dynamically filter costs as you filter signals** (pay only for what you need, when you need it).
3. For those signals that *do* pass filtering: move costs from the callsite to a/sync handlers with explicit [threading and back-pressure semantics](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:handler-dispatch-options) and [performance monitoring](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#get-handlers-stats).
The effect is more than impressive micro-benchmarks. This approach enables a fundamental (qualitative) change in one's approach to observability.
It enables you to write code that is **information-verbose by default**.
- 1st-class **out-the-box interop** with [tools.logging](../../wiki/3-Config#toolslogging), [Java logging via SLF4J v2](../../wiki/3-Config#java-logging), [OpenTelemetry](../../wiki/3-Config#opentelemetry), and [Tufte](../../wiki/3-Config#tufte).
- Included [shim](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere.timbre) for easy/gradual [migration from Timbre](../../wiki/5-Migrating).
- Auto [handler stats](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#get-handlers-stats) for debugging performance and other issues at scale.
- Unmatched [environmental config](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:environmental-config) support: JVM properties, environment variables, or classpath resources. Per platform, or cross-platform.
- Unmatched [filtering](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:filters) support: by namespace, id pattern, level, level by namespace pattern, etc. At runtime and compile-time.
- Fully [configurable](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:handler-dispatch-options) **a/sync dispatch support**: blocking, dropping, sliding, etc.
- Turn-key **sampling**, **rate-limiting**, and **back-pressure monitoring** with sensible defaults.
| [`trace!`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#trace!) | `:trace` | `form` | `opts`/`id` | Form result |
| [`spy!`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#spy!) | `:spy` | `form` | `opts`/`level` | Form result |
| [`catch->error!`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#catch-%3Eerror!) | `:error` | `form` | `opts`/`id` | Form value or given fallback |
| [`help:signal-options`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:signal-options) | Options when creating signals |
| [`help:signal-content`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:signal-content) | Signal content (map given to middleware/handlers) |
| [`help:filters`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:filters) | Signal filtering and transformation |
| [`help:handlers`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:handlers) | Signal handler management |
| [`help:handler-dispatch-options`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:handler-dispatch-options) | Signal handler dispatch options |
| [`help:environmental-config`](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:environmental-config) | Config via JVM properties, environment variables, or classpath resources |
Telemere is **highly optimized** and offers great performance at any scale, handling up to **4.2 million filtered signals/sec** on a 2020 Macbook Pro M1.
- Nanoseconds per signal call ~ **milliseconds per 1e6 calls**
- Times exclude [handler runtime](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#get-handlers-stats) (which depends on handler/s, is usually async)
- Benched on a 2020 Macbook Pro M1, running Clojure v1.12 and OpenJDK v22
### Performance philosophy
Telemere is optimized for *real-world* performance. This means **prioritizing flexibility** and realistic usage over synthetic micro-benchmarks.
Large applications can produce absolute *heaps* of data, not all equally valuable. Quickly processing infinite streams of unmanageable junk is an anti-pattern. As scale and complexity increase, it becomes more important to **strategically plan** what data to collect, when, in what quantities, and how to manage it.
Telemere is designed to help with all that. It offers [rich data](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:signal-content) and unmatched [filtering](https://cljdoc.org/d/com.taoensso/telemere/CURRENT/api/taoensso.telemere#help:filters) support - including per-signal and per-handler **sampling** and **rate-limiting**, and zero cost compile-time filtering.
Use these to ensure that you're not capturing useless/low-value/high-noise information in production! With appropriate planning, Telemere is designed to scale to systems of any size and complexity.
See [here](../../wiki/7-Tips) for detailed tips on real-world usage.
My plan for Telemere is to offer a **stable core of limited scope**, then to focus on making it as easy for the **community** to write additional stuff like handlers, middleware, and utils.
See [here](../../wiki/8-Community) for community resources.
- [General observability tips](../../wiki/7-Tips) (advice on building and maintaining observable Clojure/Script systems, and getting the most out of Telemere)