Explore approaches to attaching metadata to logs, metrics, and traces in complex distributed systems. Delve into the importance of monitoring and observability for ensuring reliable operations. Learn how metadata enhances the value of observability artifacts by providing crucial contextual information about monitored resources. Examine various techniques for incorporating metadata into metrics, logs, and traces, and understand how this enrichment facilitates more effective troubleshooting and analysis. Compare how different monitoring systems, including Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, and Google Cloud Operations, handle metadata and enable more ergonomic queries. Gain insights into leveraging metadata to deepen understanding of observed data and improve system performance in increasingly complex environments.