envoyproxy/envoy

Why envoy behaves differently when envoy adds an error tag to trace according to HTTP and GRPC status?

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#15,883 opened on Apr 8, 2021

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area/tracingenhancementhelp wanted

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Description

Description: Envoy adds an error tag to trace when HTTP status is 5xx (NOT when HTTP status is 4xx). On the other hand, envoy adds an error tag to trace when GRPC status is not "OK".

I think envoy should not adds an error tag to trace when GRPC status is such as "NOT_FOUND" or "PERMISSION_DENIED" because they are equivalent to HTTP status 4xx.

Is there any intention for this difference?

Relevant Links: https://www.envoyproxy.io/docs/envoy/latest/intro/arch_overview/observability/tracing#what-data-each-trace-contains

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate Envoy's tracing implementation to understand the rationale behind adding error tags based on HTTP 5xx and gRPC non OK statuses. Compare with OpenTelemetry conventions and suggest a fix to align gRPC error tagging with HTTP 4xx/5xx distinction.
Tech stack
cpp
Domain
backendobservability
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
C++tracing
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70