OWL¶

OWL is a unified capability entry point provided by Guance for tool-oriented and intelligent scenarios. It supports two access modes: OWL CLI and OWL MCP Server.

Through OWL, users can invoke capabilities within Guance in a unified way, including metrics, logs, events, monitors, dashboards, APM, RUM, and infrastructure.

OWL does not replace the Guance console or Open API. Instead, it provides an entry point built on top of existing capabilities that is better suited for tool invocation, automated orchestration, and AI Agent usage.

How It Works¶

flowchart LR
  user["User / Script"] --> cli["OWL CLI"]
  agent["AI Agent / MCP Client"] --> mcp["OWL MCP Server"]
  cli --> owl["OWL Tool Catalog and Execution Service"]
  mcp --> owl
  owl --> platform["Guance Platform Capabilities"]

OWL CLI and OWL MCP Server access the same set of platform capabilities, but target different access methods and use cases.

Access Mode	Use Cases	Core Capabilities
OWL CLI	Local command line, scripts, and automation workflows	Sync tool catalog, view tool descriptions, execute tools, export Agent Schema
OWL MCP Server	AI Agent and MCP client integration	Provide standardized tool service interfaces based on the Model Context Protocol

Use Cases¶

Query metrics, logs, events, monitors, dashboards, and other information from the terminal
Query data from multiple authorized workspaces on the same target site through Authorized Workspace Discovery and Cross-Workspace Query
Quickly verify observability capabilities in customer workspaces during implementation and delivery
Integrate Guance capabilities into MCP-compatible AI clients
Enable agents to invoke Guance query, analysis, and management tools through natural language
Perform cross-workspace troubleshooting and queries using capabilities such as the same-organization workspace list (same-org), the dedicated cross-workspace Trace query tool (owl.data.same_org.trace.query), the SLO list (owl.slo.list), and document search (mdsearch)

Usage Limits¶

OWL's access permissions are tied to the API Key in use. Resources that the API Key has no permission to access are also inaccessible to OWL.
Write-type tools modify resources in Guance, such as creating dashboards, updating monitors, and appending comments.
When integrating with AI Agent or MCP clients, it is recommended to configure manual confirmation or approval mechanisms for write operations to avoid unintended changes.