OpenTelemetry with Grafana stack. Covers OTel SDK instrumentation for Go/Java/Python/Node.js/.NET, OTLP protocol and endpoint configuration, sending telemetry to Grafana Cloud via OTLP endpoint, Grafana Alloy as OTel…
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name: opentelemetry
license: Apache-2.0
description: Instrument any app with OpenTelemetry and ship metrics / logs / traces to Grafana Cloud or self-hosted Mimir / Loki / Tempo / Pyroscope. Covers SDK auto-instrumentation for Go, Java (Grafana JVM agent), Python (`opentelemetry-instrument`), Node.js, .NET (`Grafana.OpenTelemetry`), Beyla eBPF for zero-code; Grafana Cloud OTLP gateway + Basic-auth (instanceID + API key, base64); env-var config (`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_*`, `OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES`); Alloy / OTel-Collector pipelines; Kubernetes Operator inject-annotations; and head + tail sampling. Use when instrumenting a service, pointing OTLP at Grafana Cloud, switching from Jaeger / Datadog / New Relic, choosing head- vs tail-sampling, or debugging "spans aren't showing in Explore" — even when the user says "auto-instrument my Java app", "send traces to Grafana", "what env vars do I set", "OTLP endpoint", or "Operator inject" without naming OpenTelemetry.
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# OpenTelemetry with Grafana
> **Docs**: https://grafana.com/docs/opentelemetry/
Vendor-neutral instrumentation pipeline. Apps speak OTLP → Alloy (or direct) → Grafana Cloud (Mimir / Loki / Tempo / Pyroscope).
## Backends
| Signal | Backend |
|--------|---------|
| Metrics | Grafana Mimir |
| Logs | Grafana Loki |
| Traces | Grafana Tempo |
| Profiles | Grafana Pyroscope |
## Prerequisites
- Grafana Cloud stack OR self-hosted Mimir / Loki / Tempo
- Cloud OTLP endpoint: `https://otlp-gateway-<region>.grafana.net/otlp`