Recommend default SDK component name format - #4082
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Pull request dashboard statusWaiting on reviewers · refreshed 2026-09-23 04:29 UTC Review the latest changes. Status above doesn't look right?
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🟡 Changes recommended
The updated normative recommendation introduces a small wording inconsistency/ambiguity around whether the instance-counter is “MAY be” assigned vs implementation-defined in the default-name scenario.
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Pull request overview
This PR updates the OpenTelemetry semantic conventions guidance for otel.component.name to recommend a predictable default naming format when no application-provided name is configured, aligning the conventions with existing SDK practice and the linked specification work.
Changes:
- Strengthen the fallback recommendation from
MAYtoSHOULDfor using<otel.component.type>/<instance-counter>when no application-provided component name is set. - Propagate the updated recommendation into the generated registry and SDK metrics documentation.
- Add a changelog entry describing the enhancement and linking it to issue #4077.
File summaries
| File | Description |
|---|---|
model/otel/registry.yaml |
Updates the source-of-truth semantic convention note for otel.component.name to recommend the default naming pattern. |
docs/registry/attributes/otel.md |
Regenerates the attribute registry docs to reflect the updated recommendation. |
docs/otel/sdk-metrics.md |
Regenerates SDK self-observability metric docs blocks that include the otel.component.name guidance. |
.chloggen/component-name-fallback.yaml |
Adds a changelog entry for the enhanced default naming recommendation. |
Review details
- Files reviewed: 4/4 changed files
- Comments generated: 1
- Review effort level: Lite
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| When no application-provided name is configured, implementations SHOULD follow a `<otel.component.type>/<instance-counter>` pattern, e.g. `batching_span_processor/0`. | ||
| Hereby `otel.component.type` refers to the corresponding attribute value of the component. | ||
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| The value of `instance-counter` MAY be automatically assigned by the component and uniqueness within the enclosing SDK instance MUST be guaranteed. |
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Fixes #4077
Related to open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification#5298.
Related changes
Together, these changes define configurable SDK component names, their fallback naming convention, and declarative configuration support.
Changes
When no application-provided component name is configured, recommend
<otel.component.type>/<instance-counter>as the default format forotel.component.name.This strengthens the existing fallback guidance from
MAYtoSHOULD. Assignment of the instance counter remains implementation-defined, and the existing uniqueness and cardinality requirements are unchanged.The recommended format reflects existing counter-based implementations in .NET, Go, Java, and Python. Automatically assigned values are not required to identify the same logical component across restarts.
Merge requirement checklist