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Overview

Ownership Groups let you define which team owns which telemetry, using attribute-based rules for logs and metrics. Groups are useful when you want to define ownership of telemetry data. The core idea is to help the team that generates the data manage it effectively. After a group is defined (including its communication channels), that team can focus on the insights, processors, and telemetry volume relevant to the data they own. At a high level, each group includes:
  • A name and optional description
  • One or more ownership rules per signal type
  • Optional notification channels (Email, Slack, Webhook)

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How matching works

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Ordered evaluation

Groups are evaluated in top-to-bottom order from the Groups page. Order matters. For each telemetry item:
  1. Sawmills checks groups in their configured order
  2. The first matching group is selected
  3. Matching stops after the first match
This means telemetry is assigned to a single group based on rule order.

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Default Group (fallback)

Sawmills includes a built-in Default Group.
  • It has no matcher conditions
  • It cannot be edited or deleted
  • It acts as a fallback view for telemetry that does not match another group rule

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Defining ownership rules

When you create or edit a group, you define rules under Ownership Rules.
  • Any rule matches: If any rule in the selected signal type matches, telemetry is assigned to the group
  • Rules are combined with OR across rule groups
  • Conditions inside a rule can include multiple attribute predicates
Use rules that reflect stable ownership boundaries, for example:
  • service.name = payments-api and env = prod
  • k8s.namespace.name = checkout
  • team = growth
Start with high-confidence attributes that are consistently present in your telemetry.

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Supported signal types

In the current UI, ownership rules are configured for:
  • Logs
  • Metrics
You can preview rule behavior in Live Tail while editing a group.

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Notifications by group

Each group can have dedicated notification targets:
  • Email recipients
  • Slack channels
  • Webhook endpoint
This helps route data-quality and operational ownership to the right team.

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Best practices

  • Keep groups mutually understandable: use clear names like Core API, Data Platform, Customer Success Apps
  • Put more specific groups higher in the order and broader catch-all groups lower
  • Revisit order after adding new teams, services, or telemetry conventions
  • Keep rule count small at first, then refine based on real traffic patterns
  • Use the preview panel to verify matches before saving changes

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Common pitfalls

  • Overlapping rules without ordering intent: overlap is allowed, but earlier groups win
  • Overly broad first rules: broad rules at the top can absorb traffic that should belong to later groups
  • Unstable attributes: avoid ownership keys that change frequently or are missing in parts of your data