OpenTelemetryExtension.Configuration

Configurable OpenTelemetry setup for ASP.NET Core via appsettings.json — tracing, metrics and logging with a single AddTelemetry() call.

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⭐ Features

• Tracing: ASP.NET Core, HttpClient and SqlClient instrumentation out of the box.
• Metrics: ASP.NET Core, HttpClient and .NET runtime metrics.
• Logging: Structured log export via OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP).
• Flexible configuration: Bind from appsettings.json or configure inline in code.
• Extensible: Register custom instrumentation via ConfigureTracing, ConfigureMetrics and ConfigureLogging callbacks.
• Protocol support: HTTP/protobuf (port 4318) and gRPC (port 4317).

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🚀 Getting Started

Installation

Install via NuGet:

dotnet add package OpenTelemetryExtension.Configuration

Register in Service Collection

Option A — via appsettings.json

builder.Services.AddTelemetry(builder.Configuration);

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:4318",
    "ServiceName": "my-api",
    "EnvironmentName": "production"
  }
}

Option B — inline in code

builder.Services.AddTelemetry(o =>
{
    o.Endpoint        = new Uri("http://localhost:4318");
    o.ServiceName     = "my-api";
    o.EnvironmentName = "production";
});

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⚙️ Configuration Reference

All options can be set via appsettings.json under the Telemetry key.

Property	Type	Default	Description
Enabled	bool	true	Disables all telemetry when false.
Endpoint	Uri	— (required)	OTLP collector endpoint, e.g. http://localhost:4318.
Headers	string	""	Exporter headers, e.g. Authorization=Basic .... Format: key1=value1,key2=value2.
Protocol	string	Grpc	OTLP protocol. Valid values: HttpProtobuf, Grpc.
ServiceName	string?	null	Service name reported to the backend.
EnvironmentName	string?	null	Reported as deployment.environment resource attribute.
EnableTracing	bool	true	Enables distributed tracing.
EnableMetrics	bool	true	Enables metrics collection.
EnableLogging	bool	true	Enables log export.
EnableAspNetCoreInstrumentation	bool	true	Instruments incoming HTTP requests.
EnableHttpClientInstrumentation	bool	true	Instruments outgoing HttpClient requests.
EnableSqlClientInstrumentation	bool	true	Instruments SQL database calls.
EnableRuntimeInstrumentation	bool	true	Collects GC, memory and thread pool metrics.
RecordExceptions	bool	true	Records exceptions with stack traces on spans.
ExcludeHealthChecks	bool	true	Excludes /health endpoints from tracing.

Note: ConfigureTracing, ConfigureMetrics and ConfigureLogging callbacks are only available when configuring inline in code — they cannot be set via appsettings.json.

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🔌 Custom Instrumentation

Register additional instrumentation libraries via the callbacks:

builder.Services.AddTelemetry(o =>
{
    o.Endpoint = new Uri("http://localhost:4318");

    // e.g. MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, ...
    o.ConfigureTracing = tracing => tracing.AddSource("MyApp");
    o.ConfigureMetrics = metrics => metrics.AddMeter("MyApp");
    o.ConfigureLogging = logging => logging.AddConsole();
});

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📡 Backend Examples

Run the helm charts or use docker deploy with the cmd scripts. See the deploy folder for all configuration files and startup scripts, and the sample project for the corresponding appsettings configurations.

.NET Aspire Dashboard

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:18888",
    "Protocol": "HttpProtobuf"
  }
}

Jaeger

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:4318",
    "Protocol": "HttpProtobuf"
  }
}

SigNoz

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:50709"
  }
}

OpenSearch

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:30318",
    "Protocol": "HttpProtobuf"
  }
}

Grafana Loki

Loki supports OTLP for logs only. Tracing and metrics must be disabled.

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:3100/otlp",
    "Protocol": "HttpProtobuf",
    "EnableTracing": false,
    "EnableMetrics": false
  }
}

OpenObserve — HTTP/protobuf

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:30117/api/default",
    "Protocol": "HttpProtobuf",
    "Headers": "Authorization=Basic <base64>,stream-name=default"
  }
}

OpenObserve — gRPC

{
  "Telemetry": {
    "Endpoint": "http://localhost:30118",
    "Protocol": "Grpc",
    "Headers": "Authorization=Basic <base64>,organization=default,stream-name=default"
  }
}

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🤝 How to Contribute

Contributions are welcome! If you'd like to improve the project, please:

1. Check out our contributing guidelines.
2. Ideally, open an issue before starting work.
3. Submit a pull request with your changes.

Thank you for helping make OpenTelemetryExtension.Configuration better!

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🐞 Report a Bug

If you encounter any issues or bugs, please report them here.

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For additional licensing and attribution details, see NOTICE.md and THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md.