diff --git a/app.rb b/app.rb
index f57bb0b09..6db21442a 100644
--- a/app.rb
+++ b/app.rb
@@ -183,6 +183,9 @@
 # Initialize the app
 require_relative 'init'
 
+# Custom method tracers (must load after init so traced methods exist)
+require_relative 'config/newrelic_method_tracers'
+
 # Enter console mode
 if settings.environment == :console
   require 'rack/test'
diff --git a/config/newrelic_method_tracers.rb b/config/newrelic_method_tracers.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..81638162a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/newrelic_method_tracers.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Custom New Relic method tracers for hot request paths.
+#
+# High-traffic transactions (GET /search, GET .../classes/{cls}/tree)
+# spend most of their time in application code that the agent reports as
+# a single opaque "Sinatra::Application#GET (unknown)" segment. These
+# tracers split that block into named Custom/* child segments so
+# transaction traces and the breakdown table show where the time goes.
+#
+# To instrument another endpoint, add its module/class and methods to the
+# registry below; test/helpers/test_newrelic_method_tracers.rb consumes
+# the same registry, so new entries are covered automatically.
+#
+# Must be loaded after init.rb so all traced methods are already defined.
+# When the agent is disabled (development/test), the tracers are no-ops.
+#
+# Kill switch: set NEWRELIC_CUSTOM_TRACERS=off (and restart) to skip
+# registration entirely, e.g. to rule instrumentation out while
+# debugging. Requires a process restart to take effect either way.
+module NewRelicMethodTracers
+  # Instance methods, keyed by module/class name. Methods inherited from
+  # concerns or mixins (e.g. the tree methods, defined in an
+  # ontologies_linked_data concern) can be traced here without touching
+  # the defining repo.
+  INSTANCE_METHODS = {
+    # GET /search pipeline
+    'Sinatra::Helpers::SearchHelper' => %i[process_search get_term_search_query
+                                           add_matched_fields filter_attrs_by_language],
+    # App-wide: ontology access list load + response serialization entry
+    'Sinatra::Helpers::ApplicationHelper' => %i[restricted_ontologies reply],
+    # GET /ontologies/{ontology}/classes/{cls}/tree pipeline
+    'LinkedData::Models::Class' => %i[tree tree_sorted paths_to_root]
+  }.freeze
+
+  # Class (singleton) methods, keyed by class name.
+  CLASS_METHODS = {
+    # Hypermedia links + JSON generation for every API response
+    'LinkedData::Serializer' => %i[build_response serialize],
+    # Solr query execution incl. Ruby-side response parsing (the HTTP
+    # call itself already appears as an External segment)
+    'LinkedData::Models::Class' => %i[search]
+  }.freeze
+
+  def self.register
+    INSTANCE_METHODS.each do |const_name, methods|
+      install(Object.const_get(const_name), const_name, methods)
+    end
+
+    CLASS_METHODS.each do |const_name, methods|
+      install(Object.const_get(const_name).singleton_class, const_name, methods)
+    end
+  end
+
+  def self.install(target, const_name, methods)
+    target.include(::NewRelic::Agent::MethodTracer)
+
+    methods.each do |method_name|
+      target.send(:add_method_tracer, method_name, "Custom/#{const_name}/#{method_name}")
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+unless ENV['NEWRELIC_CUSTOM_TRACERS'] == 'off'
+  require 'new_relic/agent/method_tracer'
+  NewRelicMethodTracers.register
+end
diff --git a/helpers/search_helper.rb b/helpers/search_helper.rb
index c7420eca2..81c59c0e1 100644
--- a/helpers/search_helper.rb
+++ b/helpers/search_helper.rb
@@ -560,6 +560,12 @@ def process_search(params = nil)
         params.delete('query')
         text = params["q"]
 
+        # The agent strips query strings from request.uri, so record whether
+        # this search is ontology-scoped as a queryable transaction attribute
+        if defined?(::NewRelic::Agent)
+          ::NewRelic::Agent.add_custom_attributes(search_scoped: !params[ONTOLOGIES_PARAM].to_s.empty?)
+        end
+
         query = get_term_search_query(text, params)
         # puts "Edismax query: #{query}, params: #{params}"
         set_page_params(params)
diff --git a/test/helpers/test_newrelic_method_tracers.rb b/test/helpers/test_newrelic_method_tracers.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aab0ed4f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/test_newrelic_method_tracers.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+require_relative '../test_case_helpers'
+
+# Guards the custom New Relic instrumentation registered by
+# config/newrelic_method_tracers.rb. If a traced method is renamed or
+# moved, add_method_tracer logs a warning and silently no-ops, so without
+# these assertions the instrumentation could vanish unnoticed while the
+# rest of the suite stays green.
+#
+# The tests iterate the registry itself, so entries added to
+# NewRelicMethodTracers::INSTANCE_METHODS / CLASS_METHODS are covered
+# automatically.
+class TestNewRelicMethodTracers < TestCaseHelpers
+
+  def test_instance_method_tracers_registered
+    NewRelicMethodTracers::INSTANCE_METHODS.each do |const_name, methods|
+      mod = Object.const_get(const_name)
+      methods.each do |method_name|
+        assert_wrapped_by_newrelic(mod.instance_method(method_name),
+                                   "#{const_name}##{method_name}")
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_class_method_tracers_registered
+    NewRelicMethodTracers::CLASS_METHODS.each do |const_name, methods|
+      singleton = Object.const_get(const_name).singleton_class
+      methods.each do |method_name|
+        assert_wrapped_by_newrelic(singleton.instance_method(method_name),
+                                   "#{const_name}.#{method_name}")
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  private
+
+  # The tracer wrapper is defined inside the newrelic_rpm gem, so the
+  # wrapped method's source_location must point there. This distinguishes
+  # a genuine tracer from the untraced original (defined in this repo or
+  # its gems) and from any other module that happens to prepend.
+  def assert_wrapped_by_newrelic(unbound_method, label)
+    source_file = unbound_method.source_location&.first.to_s
+    assert_match(/newrelic/, source_file,
+                 "#{label} is not wrapped by a newrelic_rpm method tracer (source: #{source_file})")
+  end
+end