OpenTelemetry providers

A provider is a preset for one destination: it fills in the endpoint, the authentication header, and the signals and protocols the service accepts. Every provider is reached over OTLP.

Default signals are sent unless the destination lists signals. The others are sent only when named in signals (or ELIDE_OTEL_SIGNALS). “all” is grpc, http/protobuf, and http/json. Errors travel inside traces, logs, and metrics, so every provider receives them; see Errors.

Asking a provider for a signal or protocol it does not accept, or leaving its credential variable unset, leaves telemetry off for the run with a warning; see Configuration errors. Credential values never appear in logs or errors.

Pick a provider at run time

ELIDE_OTEL_PROVIDER adds one destination for a provider, with ELIDE_OTEL_REGION and ELIDE_OTEL_SIGNALS for its options:

ELIDE_OTEL_PROVIDER=honeycomb HONEYCOMB_API_KEY=... elide serve app.ts

The --otel-provider= flag does the same for one command. Use elide.pkl to keep the choice with the project, or to send to several providers at once.

OTLP collector or agent

Any OTLP receiver: the OpenTelemetry Collector, Grafana Alloy, a vendor agent, or a backend with an OTLP endpoint.

OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4318 elide serve app.ts

opentelemetry {
  destinations {
    ["collector"] {
      endpoint = "https://otel.example.com"
      protocol = "grpc"
      headerEnv { ["authorization"] = "OTEL_COLLECTOR_AUTH" }
    }
  }
}

Only otlp destinations take profiles, once profiles are turned on; see Profiles.

Sentry

Traces and logs, with the project’s DSN:

ELIDE_OTEL_PROVIDER=sentry SENTRY_DSN=https://<key>@o123.ingest.us.sentry.io/456 elide serve app.ts

opentelemetry {
  destinations {
    ["sentry"] { provider = "sentry"; dsn = "SENTRY_DSN" }
  }
}

Uncaught errors reach Sentry as exception log records and as exception events on the failing span.

Datadog

Metrics and logs by default, through Datadog’s agentless OTLP intake:

ELIDE_OTEL_PROVIDER=datadog ELIDE_OTEL_REGION=us5 DD_API_KEY=... elide serve app.ts

opentelemetry {
  destinations {
    ["datadog"] {
      provider = "datadog"
      site = "us5"
      signals { "metrics"; "logs"; "traces" }
    }
  }
}

Traces are opt-in because Datadog’s agentless trace intake must be enabled for your organization. With a Datadog Agent running locally, use an otlp destination pointed at the Agent’s OTLP receiver instead.

PostHog

Logs by default; traces when listed:

ELIDE_OTEL_PROVIDER=posthog POSTHOG_PROJECT_TOKEN=phc_... elide serve app.ts

opentelemetry {
  destinations {
    ["posthog"] { provider = "posthog"; region = "eu"; signals { "logs"; "traces" } }
  }
}

Honeycomb

Traces, metrics, and logs:

ELIDE_OTEL_PROVIDER=honeycomb HONEYCOMB_API_KEY=... elide serve app.ts

opentelemetry {
  service { name = "checkout" }
  destinations {
    ["honeycomb"] { provider = "honeycomb"; region = "eu"; protocol = "grpc" }
  }
}

Honeycomb names datasets after service.name; set it, or data lands in unknown_service:elide.

Grafana Cloud

Traces, metrics, and logs through the stack’s OTLP gateway. The credential is <instance id>:<token> from the stack’s OpenTelemetry connection page:

ELIDE_OTEL_PROVIDER=grafana ELIDE_OTEL_REGION=prod-us-east-0 \
GRAFANA_CLOUD_OTLP_CREDENTIAL=123456:glc_... elide serve app.ts

opentelemetry {
  destinations {
    ["grafana"] { provider = "grafana"; region = "prod-us-east-0" }
  }
}

Samples

• OTLP to a local collector