Configures trace spans, defines custom metrics, sets up log exporters, and optimizes sampling strategies for OpenTelemetry instrumentation. Use when instrumenting applications with traces, metrics, or logs. Triggers on requests for observability, telemetry, tracing, metrics collection, logging integ

OpenTelemetry Instrumentation Guide Expert guidance for implementing high quality, cost efficient OpenTelemetry telemetry. Rules & Quick Reference Use Case / Rule Description [telemetry](./rules/telemetry.md) Entrypoint — signal types, correlation, and navigation [resolve values](./rules/resolve values.md) Resolving configuration values from the codebase [verify dependencies](./rules/verify dependencies.md) Verifying instrumentation packages and versions exist before adding them [resources](./rules/resources.md) Resource attributes — service identity and environment [k8s](./rules/platforms/k8s.md) Kubernetes deployment — downward API, pod spec [spans](./rules/spans.md) Spans — naming, kind, status, and hygiene [logs](./rules/logs.md) Logs — structured logging, severity, trace correlation [metrics](./rules/metrics.md) Metrics — instrument types, naming, units, cardinality [sensitive data](./rules/sensitive data.md) Sensitive data — PII prevention, sanitization, redaction [capture database query parameters](./rules/capture database query parameters.md) Prepared statement parameter capture per language (Java, .NET, Python, Node.js, Go) [validation](./rules/validation.md) Telemetry validation — post deployment verification checklist [nodejs](./rules/sdks/nodejs.md) Node.js instrumentation setup [go](./rules/sdks/go.md) Go instrumentation setup [python](./rules/sdks/python.md) Python instrumentation setup [java](./rules/sdks/java.md) Java instrumentation setup [scala](./rules/sdks/scala.md) Scala instrumentation setup [dotnet](./rules/sdks/dotnet.md) .NET instrumentation setup [ruby](./rules/sdks/ruby.md) Ruby instrumentation setup [php](./rules/sdks/php.md) PHP instrumentation setup [browser](./rules/sdks/browser.md) Browser instrumentation setup [nextjs](./rules/sdks/nextjs.md) Next.js full stack instrumentation (App Router) Official documentation [OpenTelemetry Documentation](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/) [Semantic Conventions](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/) [Dash0 Integration Hub](https://www.dash0.com/hub/integrations) Getting started Follow these steps when instrumenting an application from scratch: 1. Pick your SDK rule — choose the language specific rule from the table above (e.g., [nodejs](./rules/sdks/nodejs.md), [python](./rules/sdks/python.md)). 2. Set up resource attributes — define service identity and environment per [resources](./rules/resources.md). 3. Add spans, metrics, and logs — instrument your code following [spans](./rules/spans.md), [metrics](./rules/metrics.md), and [logs](./rules/logs.md). 4. Guard sensitive data — scrub PII before export per [sensitive data](./rules/sensitive data.md). 5. Validate — confirm telemetry reaches the backend using the checklist in [validation](./rules/validation.md). The snippet below shows a complete span with attributes and status for Node.js — see [nodejs](./rules/sdks/nodejs.md) for full setup including SDK initialisation, exporter configuration, and auto instrumentation: Key principles Signal density over volume Every telemetry item should serve one of three purposes: Detect Help identify that something is wrong Localize Help pinpoint where the problem is Explain Help understand why it happened If it doesn't serve one of these purposes, don't emit it. Sample in the pipeline, not the SDK Use the AlwaysOn sampler (the default) in every SDK. Do not configure SDK side samplers — they make irreversible decisions before the outcome of a request is known. Defer all sampling to the [Collector](../otel collector/rules/sampling.md), where policies can be changed centrally without redeploying applications. <! eval:skip

otel-instrumentation