OpenObservability Talks ClickStack: ClickHouse’s New Observability Stack Unveiled - OpenObservability Talks S6E03
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Aug 30, 2025 In this discussion, Mike Shi, co-founder of HyperDX and Head of Observability at ClickHouse, shares insights on ClickStack, a new open-source observability stack combining ClickHouse, OpenTelemetry, and HyperDX. He explains why they chose ClickHouse over Elasticsearch for its performance and tuning advantages. Mike also discusses the user experience goals of HyperDX, the benefits of adopting OpenTelemetry, and the challenges of open-source product development. He highlights real-world applications, including how companies like OpenAI and Tesla leverage ClickStack for effective telemetry.
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Builder Created Tool To Solve Own Deploy Pain
- Mike Shi built HyperDX initially as an internal tool to debug deployment issues faster than existing vendors allowed.
- Y Combinator peers loved it, which pushed HyperDX into an open source product and eventual public launch.
When To Choose Open Source
- Choose open source when your product targets technical users who can self-host or contribute.
- Be ready to accept competition and favor product-led growth over pure sales-led approaches.
Surface Clues, Not Signals
- HyperDX focuses on surfacing clues across signals instead of separate logs/traces/metrics UIs.
- Correlated traces and logs appear together to speed root-cause analysis across client and backend contexts.