otel-java

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OpenTelemetry in Java — Javaagent zero-code instrumentation, Spring Boot Starter, manual autoconfigure SDK, declarative YAML configuration, BOM dependency management, sensitive-data capture and redaction (url.query, headers, request parameters, SQL sanitization). Use when adding, reviewing, or configuring OpenTelemetry in a Java service. Triggers on "setup otel in java", "java telemetry", "javaagent", "Spring Boot otel", "GlobalOpenTelemetry", "AutoConfiguredOpenTelemetrySdk", "TracerProvider java", "url.query redaction", "capture request headers", or any Java-related OTel question.

1installs

Sourceollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills

Added on2026-08-16

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills otel-java

SKILL.md Content

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OpenTelemetry in Java

Entry point for OpenTelemetry mechanics in Java services. Load a reference below based on the task; each reference is self-contained.

References

File	Use when
`references/declarative-setup.md`	Configuring the SDK via declarative YAML: Javaagent activation, Spring Boot Starter, autoconfigure SDK, BOM, agent-only properties, manual instrumentation entry points.
`references/sensitive-data-capture.md`	What HTTP instrumentation captures by default (query strings ON, headers/params OFF), query-parameter redaction ( `sensitive-query-parameters` ), header/servlet-parameter capture knobs, SQL sanitization.

Sources of Truth

For YAML schema details, fetch the upstream sources listed in the

otel-declarative-config

skill. For Java-specific facts:

Fact	Fetch
Latest BOM ( `opentelemetry-bom` )	`gh api repos/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/releases/latest -q '.tag_name'`
Latest Javaagent	`gh api repos/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest -q '.tag_name'`
SDK declarative-config accepted and preferred `file_format` for a selected BOM tag	`WebFetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/<selected-sdk-tag>/sdk-extensions/declarative-config/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/autoconfigure/declarativeconfig/OpenTelemetryConfigurationFactory.java`
Javaagent declarative-config docs (current activation flag, supported `file_format` )	`WebFetch https://opentelemetry.io/docs/zero-code/java/agent/declarative-configuration/`
Javaagent declarative-config smoke fixture (parser truth for selected agent tag)	`WebFetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/<selected-agent-tag>/smoke-tests/src/test/resources/declarative-config.yaml`
Javaagent CHANGELOG (when each schema rc landed)	`WebFetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/<selected-agent-tag>/CHANGELOG.md`
Spring Boot Starter declarative-config fixture (selected starter tag)	`WebFetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/<selected-agent-tag>/smoke-tests-otel-starter/spring-boot-2/src/testDeclarativeConfig/resources/application.yaml`
Spring Boot starter docs	`WebFetch https://opentelemetry.io/docs/zero-code/java/spring-boot-starter/`
Per-instrumentation telemetry & config (resolved spans/attributes, metrics, config options, target versions)	`WebFetch https://explorer.opentelemetry.io/data/javaagent/instrumentations/<id>/<id>-<hash>.json` — get `<id>` and the latest `<hash>` from the index (see below)

What telemetry does an instrumentation emit?

For "what does the agent produce for library X" — which spans, attributes, metrics, or config knobs — use the OpenTelemetry Ecosystem Explorer, which fully maps the Java agent and exposes an agent-friendly surface (Markdown indexes and resolved JSON, no scraping). Do not answer from model memory.

Navigation:

```
WebFetch https://explorer.opentelemetry.io/agent/javaagent/index.md
```
— table mapping display name →
```
id
```
→ the instrumentation's JSON data URL (the URL embeds the content
```
<hash>
```
).
```
WebFetch
```
that JSON URL — one self-contained record (a few KB): resolved
```
configurations
```
,
```
telemetry
```
(spans with
```
span_kind
```
+ typed attributes, and
```
metrics
```
),
```
javaagent_target_versions
```
,
```
semantic_conventions
```
, and
```
scope
```
.

Version-specific or "what changed between releases":

https://explorer.opentelemetry.io/agent/javaagent/versions.md

lists versions and marks the latest;

https://explorer.opentelemetry.io/data/javaagent/versions/<version>-index.json

gives the

id

→

hash

map for a version — a differing hash for the same

id

across two versions means that instrumentation changed. Schema:

https://explorer.opentelemetry.io/schemas/javaagent-instrumentation.schema.json

; use

/llms.txt

for the agent-oriented index and

/llms-full.txt

for the full documentation.

Prefer this Explorer data over the raw

ecosystem-registry

YAML on GitHub: the Explorer applies upstream metadata corrections that the raw registry does not.

Cross-References

Schema-level facts:
```
otel-declarative-config
```
skill (language-agnostic YAML schema sources).
SDK version selection across languages:
```
otel-sdk-versions
```
skill.
Semantic conventions lookup:
```
otel-semantic-conventions
```
skill.