diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index a8ed9f032c5f..2064650e19f3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v8.8.1\...main[Check the HEAD diff]
 - Disable warning message about ingest pipeline loading when running under Elastic Agent. {pull}36659[36659]
 - Add input metrics to http_endpoint input. {issue}36402[36402] {pull}36427[36427]
 - Update mito CEL extension library to v1.6.0. {pull}36651[36651]
+- Improve template evaluation logging for HTTPJSON input. {pull}36668[36668]
 
 *Auditbeat*
 
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/cursor.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/cursor.go
index 92cd53a52a29..1a864361ee70 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/cursor.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/cursor.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func (c *cursor) update(trCtx *transformContext) {
 	}
 
 	for k, cfg := range c.cfg {
-		v, _ := cfg.Value.Execute(trCtx, transformable{}, "", cfg.Default, c.log)
+		v, _ := cfg.Value.Execute(trCtx, transformable{}, k, cfg.Default, c.log)
 		if v != "" || !cfg.mustIgnoreEmptyValue() {
 			_, _ = c.state.Put(k, v)
 			c.log.Debugf("cursor.%s stored with %s", k, v)
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/input_test.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/input_test.go
index e4d94527e725..de4cc3f11e69 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/input_test.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/input_test.go
@@ -1248,6 +1248,8 @@ var testCases = []struct {
 }
 
 func TestInput(t *testing.T) {
+	logp.TestingSetup()
+
 	for _, test := range testCases {
 		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			if test.skipReason != "" {
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/rate_limiter.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/rate_limiter.go
index dcbed7c1ac91..30c50ae3f052 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/rate_limiter.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/rate_limiter.go
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func (r *rateLimiter) getRateLimit(resp *http.Response) (int64, error) {
 	ctx := emptyTransformContext()
 	ctx.updateLastResponse(response{header: resp.Header.Clone()})
 
-	remaining, _ := r.remaining.Execute(ctx, tr, "", nil, r.log)
+	remaining, _ := r.remaining.Execute(ctx, tr, "rate-limit_remaining", nil, r.log)
 	if remaining == "" {
 		return 0, errors.New("remaining value is empty")
 	}
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ func (r *rateLimiter) getRateLimit(resp *http.Response) (int64, error) {
 	if r.earlyLimit != nil {
 		earlyLimit := *r.earlyLimit
 		if earlyLimit > 0 && earlyLimit < 1 {
-			limit, _ := r.limit.Execute(ctx, tr, "", nil, r.log)
+			limit, _ := r.limit.Execute(ctx, tr, "early_limit", nil, r.log)
 			if limit != "" {
 				l, err := strconv.ParseInt(limit, 10, 64)
 				if err == nil {
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ func (r *rateLimiter) getRateLimit(resp *http.Response) (int64, error) {
 		return 0, nil
 	}
 
-	reset, _ := r.reset.Execute(ctx, tr, "", nil, r.log)
+	reset, _ := r.reset.Execute(ctx, tr, "rate-limit_reset", nil, r.log)
 	if reset == "" {
 		return 0, errors.New("reset value is empty")
 	}
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/request.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/request.go
index f70ab4094dff..248918e81166 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/request.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/request.go
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ func evaluateResponse(expression *valueTpl, data []byte, log *logp.Logger) (bool
 		lastResponse:  &response{body: dataMap},
 	}
 
-	val, err := expression.Execute(paramCtx, tr, "", nil, log)
+	val, err := expression.Execute(paramCtx, tr, "response_evaluation", nil, log)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("error while evaluating expression: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl.go
index 133271e726fe..97bc75a62d94 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl.go
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ func (t *valueTpl) Unpack(in string) error {
 func (t *valueTpl) Execute(trCtx *transformContext, tr transformable, targetName string, defaultVal *valueTpl, log *logp.Logger) (val string, err error) {
 	fallback := func(err error) (string, error) {
 		if defaultVal != nil {
-			log.Debugf("template execution: falling back to default value")
+			log.Debugw("template execution: falling back to default value", "target", targetName)
 			return defaultVal.Execute(emptyTransformContext(), transformable{}, targetName, nil, log)
 		}
 		return "", err
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func (t *valueTpl) Execute(trCtx *transformContext, tr transformable, targetName
 			val, err = fallback(errExecutingTemplate)
 		}
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Debugf("template execution failed: %v", err)
+			log.Debugw("template execution failed", "target", targetName, "error", err)
 		}
 		tryDebugTemplateValue(targetName, val, log)
 	}()
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ func tryDebugTemplateValue(target, val string, log *logp.Logger) {
 	case "Authorization", "Proxy-Authorization":
 		// ignore filtered headers
 	default:
-		log.Debugf("template execution: evaluated template %q", val)
+		log.Debugw("evaluated template", "target", target, "value", val)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl_test.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl_test.go
index 37589cd88218..487451099ad6 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl_test.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/value_tpl_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestValueTpl(t *testing.T) {
+	logp.TestingSetup()
+
 	cases := []struct {
 		name          string
 		value         string
@@ -764,7 +766,7 @@ func TestValueTpl(t *testing.T) {
 				assert.NoError(t, defTpl.Unpack(tc.paramDefVal))
 			}
 
-			got, err := tpl.Execute(tc.paramCtx, tc.paramTr, "", defTpl, logp.NewLogger(""))
+			got, err := tpl.Execute(tc.paramCtx, tc.paramTr, tc.name, defTpl, logp.NewLogger(""))
 			assert.Equal(t, tc.expectedVal, got)
 			if tc.expectedError == "" {
 				assert.NoError(t, err)