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Taming Logic Apps Standard with App Insights v2: Smarter Telemetry, Sharper Diagnostics

  • Writer: Jeff Wessling
    Jeff Wessling
  • Jun 1
  • 3 min read

Updated: Sep 9

Upgrading telemetry for better monitoring, faster troubleshooting, and reliable integration at scale

This post is part of our Logic Apps Observability series. See Part 2 on applying the Logic App Overview Workbook Template, and Part 3 on customizing the workbook for multi-workflow monitoring.

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If you’ve ever tried diagnosing a Logic App Standard workflow using the old telemetry, you know the frustration. Generic traces, missing context, and too much time wasted digging. Application Insights v2 telemetry changes that. With one small configuration update, you gain richer diagnostics, smarter filters, and true cross-service correlation. This is not just an upgrade in logging. It is a leap forward in operational efficiency and reliability.


Insight: Why Upgrade to v2 Telemetry

Enhanced (v2) telemetry delivers significant benefits:

  • Action Level Clarity: Trigger and action events capture connector type and API name.

  • Retry and Exception Tracking: Failures and retries are logged with useful context.

  • Reduced Noise: Streamlined logging reduces data sprawl and storage costs.

  • Cross Service Correlation: Preserve operation IDs across Logic Apps, API Management, and Functions for true end to end tracing.

  • OpenTelemetry Support: Export to Application Insights or any OTEL-compliant endpoint for standardized observability.


For BizTalk veterans, this feels like the modern answer to Group Hub reporting. Robust, actionable, and cloud native.


How to Enable v2 Telemetry

Update your Logic App Standard host.json file with this snippet:

{
  "version": "2.0",
  "extensionBundle": {
    "id": "Microsoft.Azure.Functions.ExtensionBundle.Workflows",
    "version": "[1, 2.00)"
  },
  "extensions": {
    "workflow": {
      "Settings": {
        "Runtime.ApplicationInsightTelemetryVersion": "v2"
      }
    }
  }
}

Steps:

  1. Open your Logic App Standard resource in Azure Portal.

  2. Navigate to Development Tools → Advanced Tools (Kudu).

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  3. This will open the Kudo tools page. Select “Debug Console → CMD”

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  4. This will open the site folder directory. From here you can navigate to the host.json file by following: site → wwwroot → host.json.

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  5. Edit and update the file with the JSON snippet above. Select the “pencil” edit icon to update the file. If it does not include the Runtime.ApplicationInsightTelemetryVersion node, replace the JSON in the host.json file and click Save.

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  6. After saving the changes to the host.json file, the tab can be closed, and the changes should be automatic. You can also restart the Logic App from the Overview tab of the Logic App Standard resource.

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Optional: Multi-Service Correlation

For multi-service correlation, add the PreserveIncomingOperationId node:

"Runtime.ApplicationInsights.PreserveIncomingOperationId": "true"

This setting ensures that operation IDs are preserved when Logic Apps call or trigger other services, which enables true end to end correlation across multiple workflows and platforms

{
  "version": "2.0",
  "extensionBundle": {
    "id": "Microsoft.Azure.Functions.ExtensionBundle.Workflows",
    "version": "[1, 2.00)"
  },
  "extensions": {
    "workflow": {
      "Settings": {
        "Runtime.ApplicationInsightTelemetryVersion": "v2",
        "Runtime.ApplicationInsights.PreserveIncomingOperationId": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Outcomes

  • Faster Issue Resolution: Filter failed runs and pinpoint root causes in seconds.

  • Improved Observability: Trace workflows across Logic Apps, APIs, and Functions.

  • Operational Efficiency: Lower storage costs, cleaner logs, and more actionable data.

  • Happier Teams: Operations staff finally get dashboards that show clarity instead of clutter.


Related Posts in This Series

This article is part of our Logic Apps Observability series. Explore Part 2 on applying the Logic App Overview Workbook Template, and Part 3 on customizing the workbook for multi-workflow monitoring.



Still relying on noisy, hard to trace App Insights v1 telemetry?

If troubleshooting is slowing down your operations team, it is time to modernize. Phidiax architects can help you enable v2 telemetry, implement observability driven workbooks, and ensure monitoring aligns directly with your business outcomes.


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