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opentelemetry-sdk

Version: 0.31.0 The opentelemetry-sdk crate provides the official SDK implementation for OpenTelemetry in Rust. It implements the processing pipeline for traces, metrics, and logs, including batching, sampling, and resource detection.

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Installation

[dependencies]
opentelemetry-sdk = "0.31"

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Feature Flags

Core Features:
  • trace: Trace SDK (enabled by default)
  • metrics: Metrics SDK (enabled by default)
  • logs: Logs SDK (enabled by default)
  • internal-logs: Internal SDK logging (enabled by default)
Async Runtime Support:
  • rt-tokio: Use Tokio’s multi-thread runtime
  • rt-tokio-current-thread: Use Tokio’s current-thread runtime
  • experimental_async_runtime: Enable async runtime trait
Advanced Features:
  • jaeger_remote_sampler: Remote sampling from Jaeger
  • spec_unstable_metrics_views: Metrics views (experimental)
  • experimental_metrics_custom_reader: Custom metric readers
  • experimental_logs_batch_log_processor_with_async_runtime: Async batch log processor

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Quick Start

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Tracing

use opentelemetry::trace::Tracer;
use opentelemetry_sdk::trace::SdkTracerProvider;

let exporter = /* your exporter */;
let provider = SdkTracerProvider::builder()
    .with_simple_exporter(exporter)
    .build();

let tracer = provider.tracer("my_service");

tracer.in_span("doing_work", |cx| {
    // Your traced logic here
});

provider.shutdown().expect("shutdown successful");

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Metrics

use opentelemetry::metrics::MeterProvider;
use opentelemetry_sdk::metrics::SdkMeterProvider;

let exporter = /* your exporter */;
let provider = SdkMeterProvider::builder()
    .with_periodic_exporter(exporter)
    .build();

let meter = provider.meter("my_service");
let counter = meter.u64_counter("requests").build();
counter.add(1, &[]);

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Logs

use opentelemetry_sdk::logs::SdkLoggerProvider;

let exporter = /* your exporter */;
let provider = SdkLoggerProvider::builder()
    .with_simple_exporter(exporter)
    .build();

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Key Components

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Trace SDK

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trace::SdkTracerProvider
struct
Main entry point for tracing. Creates Tracer instances and manages span processors.
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trace::BatchSpanProcessor
struct
Batches spans before exporting (recommended for production)
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trace::SimpleSpanProcessor
struct
Exports each span immediately (useful for debugging)
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trace::Sampler
enum
Controls which spans to record:
  • AlwaysOn: Sample all spans
  • AlwaysOff: Sample no spans
  • TraceIdRatioBased: Sample based on trace ID
  • ParentBased: Defer to parent span’s sampling decision

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Metrics SDK

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metrics::SdkMeterProvider
struct
Creates Meter instances and manages metric readers
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metrics::PeriodicReader
struct
Periodically exports metrics at a fixed interval (default: 60 seconds)
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metrics::ManualReader
struct
Exports metrics on-demand (useful for pull-based exporters like Prometheus)

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Logs SDK

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logs::SdkLoggerProvider
struct
Creates Logger instances and manages log processors
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logs::BatchLogProcessor
struct
Batches log records before exporting
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logs::SimpleLogProcessor
struct
Exports each log record immediately

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Resource Detection

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Resource
struct
Immutable set of attributes describing the entity producing telemetry
use opentelemetry_sdk::Resource;
use opentelemetry::KeyValue;

let resource = Resource::builder_empty()
    .with_service_name("my_service")
    .with_attribute(KeyValue::new("environment", "production"))
    .build();

let provider = SdkTracerProvider::builder()
    .with_resource(resource)
    .build();

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Propagation

The SDK includes propagator implementations:
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propagation::TraceContextPropagator
struct
W3C Trace Context propagation format
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propagation::BaggagePropagator
struct
W3C Baggage propagation format

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Environment Variables

The SDK respects OpenTelemetry environment variables:

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General

  • OTEL_SERVICE_NAME: Service name
  • OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES: Resource attributes as key-value pairs

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Trace

  • OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER: Sampler type (always_on, always_off, traceidratio, parentbased_always_on, etc.)
  • OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG: Sampler argument (e.g., ratio for traceidratio)
  • OTEL_SPAN_ATTRIBUTE_COUNT_LIMIT: Max attributes per span (default: 128)
  • OTEL_SPAN_EVENT_COUNT_LIMIT: Max events per span (default: 128)
  • OTEL_BSP_SCHEDULE_DELAY: Batch span processor export interval in ms (default: 5000)
  • OTEL_BSP_MAX_QUEUE_SIZE: Max queue size (default: 2048)
  • OTEL_BSP_MAX_EXPORT_BATCH_SIZE: Max batch size (default: 512)

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Metrics

  • OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL: Export interval in ms (default: 60000)

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Logs

  • OTEL_BLRP_SCHEDULE_DELAY: Batch log processor export interval in ms (default: 1000)
  • OTEL_BLRP_MAX_QUEUE_SIZE: Max queue size (default: 2048)
  • OTEL_BLRP_MAX_EXPORT_BATCH_SIZE: Max batch size (default: 512)

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Documentation

Full API Documentation

View complete API reference on docs.rs

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Minimum Rust Version

MSRV: 1.75.0

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