otel-go

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OpenTelemetry in Go — SDK setup, API surface, breaking changes, contrib instrumentation libraries (otelhttp, otelgrpc, otelmongo), compile-time zero-code instrumentation (otelc), and performance tuning. Use when adding, reviewing, or configuring OpenTelemetry in a Go service. Triggers on "setup otel in go", "go telemetry", "go tracing", "otelconf go", "otelhttp", "otelgrpc", "TracerProvider go", "MeterProvider go", "otelc", "compile-time instrumentation go", "zero-code go instrumentation", "go build instrumentation", or any Go-related OTel question.

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Sourceollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills

Added on2026-08-16

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills otel-go

SKILL.md Content

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OpenTelemetry in Go

Entry point for OpenTelemetry mechanics in Go services. Load a reference below based on the task; each reference is self-contained.

References

File	Use when
`references/declarative-setup.md`	Configuring the SDK via `otelconf` and YAML: providers, propagators, shutdown, env-var substitution.
`references/api.md`	Looking up import paths, global API access, tracer/meter/logger usage, attributes, propagation, log bridges (zap, slog).
`references/instrumentation-libraries.md`	Picking or wiring contrib libraries (otelhttp, otelgrpc, database, AWS, message queues, propagators, resource detectors), and writing manual instrumentation that follows semconv.
`references/performance.md`	Tuning sampling, batch processor, metric reader, exporter compression/retry, attribute allocation, log `Enabled()` short-circuiting, graceful shutdown.
`references/breaking-changes.md`	Auditing existing code for deprecated calls, renamed semantic conventions, and removed APIs across recent SDK / contrib releases.
`references/compile-time-instrumentation.md`	Zero-code, compile-time instrumentation with `otelc` : usage modes ( `otelc go build` , tool dependency, toolexec drop-in), subcommands, supported libraries, rule sources/precedence, and pinning via `otel.instrumentation.go` .

For upgrade reviews, always finish with a safe local verification path (

go mod tidy -diff

,

go build ./...

, and

go test ./...

). Test exporter URL or retry changes against a disposable local receiver, never a deployment endpoint.

Module versioning — read before adding dependencies

opentelemetry-go is split into independently versioned module groups. They do NOT share one version number. Assuming they do is the most common cause of broken builds and version churn:

Module group	Example modules	Version line
Stable signals (traces, metrics)	`go.opentelemetry.io/otel` , `otel/sdk` , `otel/trace` , `otel/metric` , OTLP trace/metric exporters	v1.x (e.g. v1.45.0)
Logs	`otel/log` , `otel/sdk/log` , `otel/exporters/otlp/otlplog/otlploghttp`	v0.x (separate, lower line)
Contrib instrumentation	`contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp` , `.../otelgrpc`	v0.x (separate line, e.g. v0.70.0)
Contrib log bridges	`contrib/bridges/otelslog` , `otelzap` , `otellogrus` , `otellogr`	v0.x

The trap: pinning every module to the core version (e.g.

go get go.opentelemetry.io/otel/log@v1.45.0

) fails — log and bridge modules have no v1.x tag. Hand-picking and re-guessing each

@vX

is the churn to avoid.

Do this instead — add each module with

@latest

and let Go resolve a compatible set:

bash

go get go.opentelemetry.io/otel@latest go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk@latest
# logs (separate v0.x line — do NOT force the core version):
go get go.opentelemetry.io/otel/log@latest go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/log@latest \
       go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlplog/otlploghttp@latest
# contrib (instrumentation and bridges each resolve to their own v0.x line):
go get go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp@latest \
       go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/bridges/otelslog@latest
go mod tidy && go build ./...

If exact versions are required, fetch each module group's tag from its own source (see below) — never infer one group's version from another's.

Sources of Truth

For YAML schema details, fetch the upstream sources listed in the

otel-declarative-config

skill. For Go-specific facts:

Fact	Fetch
Latest `go.opentelemetry.io/otel` core release	`gh api repos/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/releases/latest -q '.tag_name'`
Latest `go.opentelemetry.io/contrib` release	`gh api repos/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/releases/latest -q '.tag_name'`
Latest `otelconf` module tag	`gh api repos/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/git/matching-refs/tags/otelconf -q '.[-1].ref'`
Latest semconv package version	`gh api repos/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions/releases/latest -q '.tag_name'`
`otel-go` CHANGELOG	`WebFetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go/main/CHANGELOG.md`
`otel-go-contrib` CHANGELOG	`WebFetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/main/CHANGELOG.md`

Cross-References

Schema-level facts:
```
otel-declarative-config
```
skill (language-agnostic YAML schema sources).
SDK version selection across languages:
```
otel-sdk-versions
```
skill.
Semantic conventions lookup:
```
otel-semantic-conventions
```
skill.