In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, by a network orchestrator, trace parameters from a user device. The method also includes determining, by the network orchestrator, to initiate a network path trace for the application, generating, by the network orchestrator, a filter policy for the network path trace using the trace parameters, and allocating, by the network orchestrator, a trace identification to the network path trace. The method also includes initiating, by the network orchestrator, the network path trace within a network by communicating the filter policy and the trace identification to a first node of the network and receiving, by the network orchestrator, network path trace data from a plurality of nodes of the network. The method further includes generating, by the network orchestrator, a trace report for the application using the network path trace data.