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. v1.46.0)
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. v0.71.0)
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@v1.46.0) 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:

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 Go semconv package	Search the selected core release's CHANGELOG for Add the go.opentelemetry.io/otel/semconv/; do not infer package availability from the upstream semantic-conventions release.
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.