diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 85add31..4939277 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "aho-corasick"
-version = "1.1.1"
+version = "1.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ea5d730647d4fadd988536d06fecce94b7b4f2a7efdae548f1cf4b63205518ab"
+checksum = "b2969dcb958b36655471fc61f7e416fa76033bdd4bfed0678d8fee1e2d07a1f0"
 dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ checksum = "16e62a023e7c117e27523144c5d2459f4397fcc3cab0085af8e2224f643a0193"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ checksum = "bc00ceb34980c03614e35a3a4e218276a0a824e911d07651cd0d858a51e8c0f0"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -239,6 +239,22 @@ dependencies = [
  "thiserror",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "core-foundation"
+version = "0.9.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "194a7a9e6de53fa55116934067c844d9d749312f75c6f6d0980e8c252f8c2146"
+dependencies = [
+ "core-foundation-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "core-foundation-sys"
+version = "0.8.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e496a50fda8aacccc86d7529e2c1e0892dbd0f898a6b5645b5561b89c3210efa"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cpufeatures"
 version = "0.2.9"
@@ -290,6 +306,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "parking_lot_core",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "deranged"
+version = "0.3.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f2696e8a945f658fd14dc3b87242e6b80cd0f36ff04ea560fa39082368847946"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "digest"
 version = "0.10.7"
@@ -329,25 +351,14 @@ checksum = "5443807d6dff69373d433ab9ef5378ad8df50ca6298caf15de6e52e24aaf54d5"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "errno"
-version = "0.3.3"
+version = "0.3.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "136526188508e25c6fef639d7927dfb3e0e3084488bf202267829cf7fc23dbdd"
+checksum = "ac3e13f66a2f95e32a39eaa81f6b95d42878ca0e1db0c7543723dfe12557e860"
 dependencies = [
- "errno-dragonfly",
  "libc",
  "windows-sys",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "errno-dragonfly"
-version = "0.1.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "aa68f1b12764fab894d2755d2518754e71b4fd80ecfb822714a1206c2aab39bf"
-dependencies = [
- "cc",
- "libc",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "fastrand"
 version = "2.0.1"
@@ -430,7 +441,7 @@ checksum = "89ca545a94061b6365f2c7355b4b32bd20df3ff95f02da9329b34ccc3bd6ee72"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -568,6 +579,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "prost",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
+ "time",
  "tokio",
  "tonic 0.9.2",
  "tower",
@@ -715,9 +727,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "indexmap"
-version = "2.0.1"
+version = "2.0.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ad227c3af19d4914570ad36d30409928b75967c298feb9ea1969db3a610bb14e"
+checksum = "8adf3ddd720272c6ea8bf59463c04e0f93d0bbf7c5439b691bca2987e0270897"
 dependencies = [
  "equivalent",
  "hashbrown 0.14.1",
@@ -772,9 +784,9 @@ checksum = "e2abad23fbc42b3700f2f279844dc832adb2b2eb069b2df918f455c4e18cc646"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "libc"
-version = "0.2.148"
+version = "0.2.149"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9cdc71e17332e86d2e1d38c1f99edcb6288ee11b815fb1a4b049eaa2114d369b"
+checksum = "a08173bc88b7955d1b3145aa561539096c421ac8debde8cbc3612ec635fee29b"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "linked-hash-map"
@@ -784,9 +796,9 @@ checksum = "0717cef1bc8b636c6e1c1bbdefc09e6322da8a9321966e8928ef80d20f7f770f"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "linux-raw-sys"
-version = "0.4.7"
+version = "0.4.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1a9bad9f94746442c783ca431b22403b519cd7fbeed0533fdd6328b2f2212128"
+checksum = "da2479e8c062e40bf0066ffa0bc823de0a9368974af99c9f6df941d2c231e03f"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "lock_api"
@@ -821,9 +833,9 @@ checksum = "0e7465ac9959cc2b1404e8e2367b43684a6d13790fe23056cc8c6c5a6b7bcb94"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "memchr"
-version = "2.6.3"
+version = "2.6.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8f232d6ef707e1956a43342693d2a31e72989554d58299d7a88738cc95b0d35c"
+checksum = "f665ee40bc4a3c5590afb1e9677db74a508659dfd71e126420da8274909a0167"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "mime"
@@ -1056,7 +1068,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "pest_meta",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1077,7 +1089,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e1d3afd2628e69da2be385eb6f2fd57c8ac7977ceeff6dc166ff1657b0e386a9"
 dependencies = [
  "fixedbitset",
- "indexmap 2.0.1",
+ "indexmap 2.0.2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1097,7 +1109,7 @@ checksum = "4359fd9c9171ec6e8c62926d6faaf553a8dc3f64e1507e76da7911b4f6a04405"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1130,9 +1142,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "proc-macro2"
-version = "1.0.67"
+version = "1.0.69"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3d433d9f1a3e8c1263d9456598b16fec66f4acc9a74dacffd35c7bb09b3a1328"
+checksum = "134c189feb4956b20f6f547d2cf727d4c0fe06722b20a0eec87ed445a97f92da"
 dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
@@ -1241,14 +1253,14 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "regex"
-version = "1.9.5"
+version = "1.10.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "697061221ea1b4a94a624f67d0ae2bfe4e22b8a17b6a192afb11046542cc8c47"
+checksum = "d119d7c7ca818f8a53c300863d4f87566aac09943aef5b355bb83969dae75d87"
 dependencies = [
  "aho-corasick",
  "memchr",
- "regex-automata 0.3.8",
- "regex-syntax 0.7.5",
+ "regex-automata 0.4.1",
+ "regex-syntax 0.8.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1262,13 +1274,13 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "regex-automata"
-version = "0.3.8"
+version = "0.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c2f401f4955220693b56f8ec66ee9c78abffd8d1c4f23dc41a23839eb88f0795"
+checksum = "465c6fc0621e4abc4187a2bda0937bfd4f722c2730b29562e19689ea796c9a4b"
 dependencies = [
  "aho-corasick",
  "memchr",
- "regex-syntax 0.7.5",
+ "regex-syntax 0.8.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1279,15 +1291,15 @@ checksum = "f162c6dd7b008981e4d40210aca20b4bd0f9b60ca9271061b07f78537722f2e1"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "regex-syntax"
-version = "0.7.5"
+version = "0.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "dbb5fb1acd8a1a18b3dd5be62d25485eb770e05afb408a9627d14d451bae12da"
+checksum = "c3cbb081b9784b07cceb8824c8583f86db4814d172ab043f3c23f7dc600bf83d"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "reqwest"
-version = "0.11.20"
+version = "0.11.22"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3e9ad3fe7488d7e34558a2033d45a0c90b72d97b4f80705666fea71472e2e6a1"
+checksum = "046cd98826c46c2ac8ddecae268eb5c2e58628688a5fc7a2643704a73faba95b"
 dependencies = [
  "base64 0.21.4",
  "bytes",
@@ -1308,6 +1320,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "serde_urlencoded",
+ "system-configuration",
  "tokio",
  "tower-service",
  "url",
@@ -1346,9 +1359,9 @@ checksum = "d626bb9dae77e28219937af045c257c28bfd3f69333c512553507f5f9798cb76"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rustix"
-version = "0.38.14"
+version = "0.38.18"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "747c788e9ce8e92b12cd485c49ddf90723550b654b32508f979b71a7b1ecda4f"
+checksum = "5a74ee2d7c2581cd139b42447d7d9389b889bdaad3a73f1ebb16f2a3237bb19c"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags 2.4.0",
  "errno",
@@ -1401,7 +1414,7 @@ checksum = "4eca7ac642d82aa35b60049a6eccb4be6be75e599bd2e9adb5f875a737654af2"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1450,9 +1463,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sharded-slab"
-version = "0.1.6"
+version = "0.1.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c1b21f559e07218024e7e9f90f96f601825397de0e25420135f7f952453fed0b"
+checksum = "f40ca3c46823713e0d4209592e8d6e826aa57e928f09752619fc696c499637f6"
 dependencies = [
  "lazy_static",
 ]
@@ -1514,9 +1527,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
-version = "2.0.37"
+version = "2.0.38"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7303ef2c05cd654186cb250d29049a24840ca25d2747c25c0381c8d9e2f582e8"
+checksum = "e96b79aaa137db8f61e26363a0c9b47d8b4ec75da28b7d1d614c2303e232408b"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
@@ -1529,6 +1542,27 @@ version = "0.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2047c6ded9c721764247e62cd3b03c09ffc529b2ba5b10ec482ae507a4a70160"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "system-configuration"
+version = "0.5.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ba3a3adc5c275d719af8cb4272ea1c4a6d668a777f37e115f6d11ddbc1c8e0e7"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "core-foundation",
+ "system-configuration-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "system-configuration-sys"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a75fb188eb626b924683e3b95e3a48e63551fcfb51949de2f06a9d91dbee93c9"
+dependencies = [
+ "core-foundation-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tempfile"
 version = "3.8.0"
@@ -1559,7 +1593,7 @@ checksum = "10712f02019e9288794769fba95cd6847df9874d49d871d062172f9dd41bc4cc"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1572,6 +1606,34 @@ dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "time"
+version = "0.3.29"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "426f806f4089c493dcac0d24c29c01e2c38baf8e30f1b716ee37e83d200b18fe"
+dependencies = [
+ "deranged",
+ "itoa",
+ "serde",
+ "time-core",
+ "time-macros",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "time-core"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ef927ca75afb808a4d64dd374f00a2adf8d0fcff8e7b184af886c3c87ec4a3f3"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "time-macros"
+version = "0.2.15"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4ad70d68dba9e1f8aceda7aa6711965dfec1cac869f311a51bd08b3a2ccbce20"
+dependencies = [
+ "time-core",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tinyvec"
 version = "1.6.0"
@@ -1589,9 +1651,9 @@ checksum = "1f3ccbac311fea05f86f61904b462b55fb3df8837a366dfc601a0161d0532f20"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio"
-version = "1.32.0"
+version = "1.33.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "17ed6077ed6cd6c74735e21f37eb16dc3935f96878b1fe961074089cc80893f9"
+checksum = "4f38200e3ef7995e5ef13baec2f432a6da0aa9ac495b2c0e8f3b7eec2c92d653"
 dependencies = [
  "backtrace",
  "bytes",
@@ -1623,7 +1685,7 @@ checksum = "630bdcf245f78637c13ec01ffae6187cca34625e8c63150d424b59e55af2675e"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1805,7 +1867,7 @@ checksum = "5f4f31f56159e98206da9efd823404b79b6ef3143b4a7ab76e67b1751b25a4ab"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1983,7 +2045,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
 
@@ -2017,7 +2079,7 @@ checksum = "54681b18a46765f095758388f2d0cf16eb8d4169b639ab575a8f5693af210c7b"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.37",
+ "syn 2.0.38",
  "wasm-bindgen-backend",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index dbc88fc..8498abb 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ members = [
 resolver = "2"
 
 [workspace.package]
-rust-version  = "1.72.0"
 edition       = "2021"
 authors       = [ "Heiko Seeberger <git@heikoseeberger.de>" ]
 license       = "Apache-2.0"
@@ -27,6 +26,7 @@ opentelemetry-otlp    = { version = "0.12", default-features = false, features =
 prost                 = { version = "0.11" }
 serde                 = { version = "1.0", features = [ "derive" ] }
 serde_json            = { version = "1.0" }
+time                  = { version = "0.3", features = [ "formatting" ] }
 tokio                 = { version = "1", features = [ "macros", "rt-multi-thread", "signal" ] }
 tokio-stream          = { version = "0.1", features = [ "fs" ] }
 tonic                 = { version = "0.9" }
diff --git a/hello-tracing-backend/Dockerfile b/hello-tracing-backend/Dockerfile
index 2ae6eb4..d7bb013 100644
--- a/hello-tracing-backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/hello-tracing-backend/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-ARG RUST_VERSION=1.72.1
+ARG RUST_VERSION=1.73.0
 
 FROM rust:${RUST_VERSION}-bullseye AS builder
 RUN apt-get update && \
diff --git a/hello-tracing-backend/src/main.rs b/hello-tracing-backend/src/main.rs
index 3cc6dd3..89249bb 100644
--- a/hello-tracing-backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/hello-tracing-backend/src/main.rs
@@ -2,27 +2,42 @@ mod api;
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use configured::Configured;
-use hello_tracing_common::tracing::{init_tracing, TracingConfig};
+use hello_tracing_common::{
+    log_error,
+    tracing::{init_tracing, TracingConfig},
+};
 use serde::Deserialize;
+use std::panic;
 use tracing::{error, info};
 
 #[tokio::main]
-async fn main() -> Result<()> {
-    let config = Config::load().context("load configuration")?;
-    init_tracing(config.tracing.clone()).context("initialize tracing")?;
+async fn main() {
+    // Load configuration first, because needed for tracing initialization.
+    let config = match Config::load().context("load configuration") {
+        Ok(config) => config,
+        Err(error) => {
+            log_error(error);
+            return;
+        }
+    };
 
-    info!(?config, "starting");
+    // If tracing initialization fails, nevertheless emit a structured log event.
+    if let Err(error) = init_tracing(config.tracing.clone()) {
+        log_error(error);
+        return;
+    }
 
-    let result = api::serve(config.api).await;
+    // Replace the default panic hook with one that uses structured logging at ERROR level.
+    panic::set_hook(Box::new(|panic| error!(%panic, "process panicked")));
 
-    if let Err(error) = result {
+    // Run and log any error.
+    if let Err(error) = run(config).await {
         error!(
             error = format!("{error:#}"),
             backtrace = %error.backtrace(),
-            "hello-tracing-backend exited with ERROR"
+            "process exited with ERROR"
         );
     };
-    Ok(())
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
@@ -31,3 +46,9 @@ struct Config {
     api: api::Config,
     tracing: TracingConfig,
 }
+
+async fn run(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
+    info!(?config, "starting");
+
+    api::serve(config.api).await
+}
diff --git a/hello-tracing-common/Cargo.toml b/hello-tracing-common/Cargo.toml
index 953fbf3..5c0133b 100644
--- a/hello-tracing-common/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hello-tracing-common/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ opentelemetry-otlp    = { workspace = true }
 prost                 = { workspace = true }
 serde                 = { workspace = true }
 serde_json            = { workspace = true }
+time                  = { workspace = true }
 tokio                 = { workspace = true }
 tonic                 = { workspace = true }
 tower                 = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/hello-tracing-common/src/lib.rs b/hello-tracing-common/src/lib.rs
index b9fc993..f539048 100644
--- a/hello-tracing-common/src/lib.rs
+++ b/hello-tracing-common/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,2 +1,18 @@
+use serde_json::json;
+use std::fmt::Display;
+use time::{format_description::well_known::Rfc3339, OffsetDateTime};
+
 pub mod otel;
 pub mod tracing;
+
+pub fn log_error(error: impl Display) {
+    let now = OffsetDateTime::now_utc().format(&Rfc3339).unwrap();
+    let error = serde_json::to_string(&json!({
+        "timestamp": now,
+        "level": "ERROR",
+        "message": "process exited with ERROR",
+        "error": format!("{error:#}")
+    }));
+    // Not using `eprintln!`, because `tracing_subscriber::fmt` uses stdout by default.
+    println!("{}", error.unwrap());
+}
diff --git a/hello-tracing-common/src/tracing.rs b/hello-tracing-common/src/tracing.rs
index aca5eb1..cb0d0a3 100644
--- a/hello-tracing-common/src/tracing.rs
+++ b/hello-tracing-common/src/tracing.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ pub fn init_tracing(config: TracingConfig) -> Result<()> {
 
     tracing_subscriber::registry()
         .with(EnvFilter::from_default_env())
-        .with(fmt::layer().json())
+        .with(fmt::layer().json().flatten_event(true))
         .with(otlp_layer(config)?)
         .try_init()
         .context("initialize tracing subscriber")
diff --git a/hello-tracing-gateway/Dockerfile b/hello-tracing-gateway/Dockerfile
index 238a9cb..05286da 100644
--- a/hello-tracing-gateway/Dockerfile
+++ b/hello-tracing-gateway/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-ARG RUST_VERSION=1.72.1
+ARG RUST_VERSION=1.73.0
 
 FROM rust:${RUST_VERSION}-bullseye AS builder
 RUN apt-get update && \
diff --git a/hello-tracing-gateway/proto b/hello-tracing-gateway/proto
index 8c61997..b5dc24b 120000
--- a/hello-tracing-gateway/proto
+++ b/hello-tracing-gateway/proto
@@ -1 +1 @@
-../hello-tracing-backend/proto/
\ No newline at end of file
+../hello-tracing-backend/proto
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hello-tracing-gateway/src/main.rs b/hello-tracing-gateway/src/main.rs
index 7ae6b01..d729550 100644
--- a/hello-tracing-gateway/src/main.rs
+++ b/hello-tracing-gateway/src/main.rs
@@ -4,28 +4,42 @@ mod backend;
 use crate::backend::Backend;
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use configured::Configured;
-use hello_tracing_common::tracing::{init_tracing, TracingConfig};
+use hello_tracing_common::{
+    log_error,
+    tracing::{init_tracing, TracingConfig},
+};
 use serde::Deserialize;
+use std::panic;
 use tracing::{error, info};
 
 #[tokio::main]
-async fn main() -> Result<()> {
-    let config = Config::load().context("load configuration")?;
-    init_tracing(config.tracing.clone()).context("initialize tracing")?;
+async fn main() {
+    // Load configuration first, because needed for tracing initialization.
+    let config = match Config::load().context("load configuration") {
+        Ok(config) => config,
+        Err(error) => {
+            log_error(error);
+            return;
+        }
+    };
 
-    info!(?config, "starting");
+    // If tracing initialization fails, nevertheless emit a structured log event.
+    if let Err(error) = init_tracing(config.tracing.clone()) {
+        log_error(error);
+        return;
+    }
 
-    let backend = Backend::new(config.backend);
-    let result = api::serve(config.api, backend).await;
+    // Replace the default panic hook with one that uses structured logging at ERROR level.
+    panic::set_hook(Box::new(|panic| error!(%panic, "process panicked")));
 
-    if let Err(error) = result {
+    // Run and log any error.
+    if let Err(error) = run(config).await {
         error!(
             error = format!("{error:#}"),
             backtrace = %error.backtrace(),
-            "hello-tracing-gateway exited with ERROR"
+            "process exited with ERROR"
         );
     };
-    Ok(())
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
@@ -35,3 +49,10 @@ struct Config {
     backend: backend::Config,
     tracing: TracingConfig,
 }
+
+async fn run(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
+    info!(?config, "starting");
+
+    let backend = Backend::new(config.backend);
+    api::serve(config.api, backend).await
+}