diff --git a/src/app_runtime/contracts/trace.py b/src/app_runtime/contracts/trace.py
index 71964ba..92d4422 100644
--- a/src/app_runtime/contracts/trace.py
+++ b/src/app_runtime/contracts/trace.py
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ class TraceLogRecord:
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class TraceLogView:
+    trace_id: str
     parent_id: str | None
     records: tuple[TraceLogRecord, ...] = ()
 
diff --git a/src/app_runtime/control/http_app.py b/src/app_runtime/control/http_app.py
index e7c4601..02b7bd5 100644
--- a/src/app_runtime/control/http_app.py
+++ b/src/app_runtime/control/http_app.py
@@ -135,11 +135,16 @@ class HttpControlAppFactory:
         if request.response_format == "json":
             return JSONResponse(
                 content={
+                    "trace_id": trace_view.trace_id,
                     "parent_id": trace_view.parent_id or "",
                     "messages": [record.as_dict(include_attrs_json=request.include_attrs_json) for record in trace_view.records],
                 }
             )
-        lines = [trace_view.parent_id or ""]
+        lines = [
+            f"trace_id: {trace_view.trace_id}",
+            f"parent_id: {trace_view.parent_id or ''}",
+            "--------------------------------------------------",
+        ]
         for record in trace_view.records:
             line = record.message
             if request.include_attrs_json:
diff --git a/src/app_runtime/tracing/reader.py b/src/app_runtime/tracing/reader.py
index b6f7e77..e480656 100644
--- a/src/app_runtime/tracing/reader.py
+++ b/src/app_runtime/tracing/reader.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class MySqlTraceLogReader(TraceLogReader):
         if parent_id is None and not self._trace_exists(trace_id):
             return None
         records = self._read_records(trace_id, levels)
-        return TraceLogView(parent_id=parent_id, records=tuple(records))
+        return TraceLogView(trace_id=trace_id, parent_id=parent_id, records=tuple(records))
 
     def _trace_exists(self, trace_id: str) -> bool:
         query = "SELECT 1 FROM trace_contexts WHERE trace_id = %s"
diff --git a/tests/test_trace_endpoint.py b/tests/test_trace_endpoint.py
index 470f1a4..2e09f4c 100644
--- a/tests/test_trace_endpoint.py
+++ b/tests/test_trace_endpoint.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ def test_trace_endpoint_returns_text_with_default_levels() -> None:
     async def trace_provider(trace_id: str, request: TraceQueryRequest) -> TraceLogView:
         captured.append((trace_id, request))
         return TraceLogView(
+            trace_id="trace-1",
             parent_id="root-trace",
             records=(
                 _trace_record(row_id=1, level="ERROR", message="first error"),
@@ -64,13 +65,20 @@ def test_trace_endpoint_returns_text_with_default_levels() -> None:
         client.close()
 
     assert response.status_code == 200
-    assert response.text == "root-trace\nfirst error\nsecond warning"
+    assert response.text == (
+        "trace_id: trace-1\n"
+        "parent_id: root-trace\n"
+        "--------------------------------------------------\n"
+        "first error\n"
+        "second warning"
+    )
     assert captured == [("trace-1", TraceQueryRequest(levels=("ERROR", "WARNING"), include_attrs_json=False, response_format="text"))]
 
 
 def test_trace_endpoint_appends_attrs_json_in_text_mode() -> None:
     async def trace_provider(_trace_id: str, _request: TraceQueryRequest) -> TraceLogView:
         return TraceLogView(
+            trace_id="trace-1",
             parent_id=None,
             records=(
                 _trace_record(row_id=1, level="ERROR", message="failure", attrs_json={"attempt": 2, "source": "crm"}),
@@ -84,12 +92,18 @@ def test_trace_endpoint_appends_attrs_json_in_text_mode() -> None:
         client.close()
 
     assert response.status_code == 200
-    assert response.text == '\nfailure, {"attempt":2,"source":"crm"}'
+    assert response.text == (
+        "trace_id: trace-1\n"
+        "parent_id: \n"
+        "--------------------------------------------------\n"
+        'failure, {"attempt":2,"source":"crm"}'
+    )
 
 
 def test_trace_endpoint_returns_json_payload() -> None:
     async def trace_provider(_trace_id: str, _request: TraceQueryRequest) -> TraceLogView:
         return TraceLogView(
+            trace_id="trace-1",
             parent_id="parent-1",
             records=(
                 _trace_record(row_id=3, level="INFO", message="done", attrs_json={"batch": 7}),
@@ -104,6 +118,7 @@ def test_trace_endpoint_returns_json_payload() -> None:
 
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert response.json() == {
+        "trace_id": "trace-1",
         "parent_id": "parent-1",
         "messages": [
             {
@@ -135,7 +150,7 @@ def test_trace_endpoint_validates_query_params() -> None:
 
 
 def test_runtime_trace_logs_uses_configured_reader(monkeypatch) -> None:
-    expected = TraceLogView(parent_id="root", records=(_trace_record(row_id=1, level="ERROR", message="boom"),))
+    expected = TraceLogView(trace_id="trace-1", parent_id="root", records=(_trace_record(row_id=1, level="ERROR", message="boom"),))
 
     class StubReader:
         def read_trace(self, trace_id: str, levels: tuple[str, ...]) -> TraceLogView | None:
@@ -208,6 +223,7 @@ def test_mysql_trace_log_reader_maps_db_rows() -> None:
     view = reader.read_trace("trace-1", ("ERROR", "WARNING"))
 
     assert view == TraceLogView(
+        trace_id="trace-1",
         parent_id="root-77",
         records=(
             TraceLogRecord(