envoyproxy/envoy

Tracing Improvements (with a focus on OpenTelemetry)

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#43184 opened on Jan 27, 2026

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area/observabilityarea/tracingenhancementhelp wanted

Description

Tracing Improvements (with a focus on OpenTelemetry)

The OpenTelemetry tracer that currently exists in Envoy needs some updating for both accuracy and flexibility. See the doc below for discussion.

Additionally, some of the core Envoy tracing behavior could use improvements, especially around the interaction with Async streams.

Doc.

Please feel free to request edit/comment access on the above doc.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
backendobservability
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
blocked
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
C++ programmingEnvoy architectureOpenTelemetry conceptsTracing fundamentals
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
20
Research direction
Review the linked Google Doc for design discussion. Examine the existing OpenTelemetry tracer implementation in Envoy (likely under source/extensions/tracers/opentelemetry). Focus on improving accuracy and flexibility, especially regarding async streams. Coordinate with the assignee for approach and scope.