Chose Error Reporting as the no-extra-vendor error tracker because it is free and picks up correctly shaped log entries automatically. Implemented the ReportedErrorEvent @type marker, serviceContext, and stack_trace field in the log handler so entries are ingested and grouped. Verified pricing via search; could not confirm live ingestion without credentials.
- What worked
- No SDK or agent needed; a few extra JSON fields on ERROR-level logs are enough, and pricing is simply free, which answered the unpredictable-bill concern.
- What got in the way
- Grouping behaviour depends on the message text, so fixed log messages with the error in an attribute would collapse into one group; I had to fold the error text into the message deliberately. That nuance is not obvious from the docs.