Semantic Conventions for Database Client Metrics

Status: Mixed

Warning

Existing database instrumentations that are using v1.24.0 of this document (or prior):

• SHOULD NOT change the version of the database conventions that they emit by default until the database semantic conventions are marked stable. Conventions include, but are not limited to, attributes, metric and span names, and unit of measure.
• SHOULD introduce an environment variable OTEL_SEMCONV_STABILITY_OPT_IN in the existing major version which is a comma-separated list of values. If the list of values includes:
  • database - emit the new, stable database conventions, and stop emitting the old experimental database conventions that the instrumentation emitted previously.
  • database/dup - emit both the old and the stable database conventions, allowing for a seamless transition.
  • The default behavior (in the absence of one of these values) is to continue emitting whatever version of the old experimental database conventions the instrumentation was emitting previously.
  • Note: database/dup has higher precedence than database in case both values are present
• SHOULD maintain (security patching at a minimum) the existing major version for at least six months after it starts emitting both sets of conventions.
• SHOULD drop the environment variable in the next major version.

Database operation

Metric: db.client.operation.duration

Status: Release Candidate

This metric is required.

When this metric is reported alongside a database operation span, the metric value SHOULD be the same as the database operation span duration.

This metric SHOULD be specified with ExplicitBucketBoundaries of [ 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10 ].

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.operation.duration	Histogram	s	Duration of database client operations. [1]

[1]: Batch operations SHOULD be recorded as a single operation.

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.system	string	The database management system (DBMS) product as identified by the client instrumentation. [1]	other_sql; adabas; cache	Required
db.collection.name	string	The name of a collection (table, container) within the database. [2]	public.users; customers	Conditionally Required [3]
db.namespace	string	The name of the database, fully qualified within the server address and port. [4]	customers; test.users	Conditionally Required If available.
db.operation.name	string	The name of the operation or command being executed. [5]	findAndModify; HMSET; SELECT	Conditionally Required [6]
db.response.status_code	string	Database response status code. [7]	102; ORA-17002; 08P01; 404	Conditionally Required [8]
error.type	string	Describes a class of error the operation ended with. [9]	timeout; java.net.UnknownHostException; server_certificate_invalid; 500	Conditionally Required If and only if the operation failed.
server.port	int	Server port number. [10]	80; 8080; 443	Conditionally Required [11]
db.query.summary	string	Low cardinality representation of a database query text. [12]	SELECT wuser_table; INSERT shipping_details SELECT orders; get user by id	Recommended [13]
network.peer.address	string	Peer address of the database node where the operation was performed. [14]	10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock	Recommended If applicable for this database system.
network.peer.port	int	Peer port number of the network connection.	65123	Recommended If and only if network.peer.address is set.
server.address	string	Name of the database host. [15]	example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock	Recommended
db.query.text	string	The database query being executed. [16]	SELECT * FROM wuser_table where username = ?; SET mykey ?	Opt-In

[1] db.system: The actual DBMS may differ from the one identified by the client. For example, when using PostgreSQL client libraries to connect to a CockroachDB, the db.system is set to postgresql based on the instrumentation’s best knowledge. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[2] db.collection.name: It is RECOMMENDED to capture the value as provided by the application without attempting to do any case normalization.

The collection name SHOULD NOT be extracted from db.query.text, unless the query format is known to only ever have a single collection name present.

For batch operations, if the individual operations are known to have the same collection name then that collection name SHOULD be used.

This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[3] db.collection.name: If readily available and if a database call is performed on a single collection. The collection name MAY be parsed from the query text, in which case it SHOULD be the single collection name in the query.

[4] db.namespace: If a database system has multiple namespace components, they SHOULD be concatenated (potentially using database system specific conventions) from most general to most specific namespace component, and more specific namespaces SHOULD NOT be captured without the more general namespaces, to ensure that “startswith” queries for the more general namespaces will be valid. Semantic conventions for individual database systems SHOULD document what db.namespace means in the context of that system. It is RECOMMENDED to capture the value as provided by the application without attempting to do any case normalization. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[5] db.operation.name: It is RECOMMENDED to capture the value as provided by the application without attempting to do any case normalization.

The operation name SHOULD NOT be extracted from db.query.text, unless the query format is known to only ever have a single operation name present.

For batch operations, if the individual operations are known to have the same operation name then that operation name SHOULD be used prepended by BATCH , otherwise db.operation.name SHOULD be BATCH or some other database system specific term if more applicable.

This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[6] db.operation.name: If readily available and if there is a single operation name that describes the database call. The operation name MAY be parsed from the query text, in which case it SHOULD be the single operation name found in the query.

[7] db.response.status_code: The status code returned by the database. Usually it represents an error code, but may also represent partial success, warning, or differentiate between various types of successful outcomes. Semantic conventions for individual database systems SHOULD document what db.response.status_code means in the context of that system. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[8] db.response.status_code: If the operation failed and status code is available.

[9] error.type: The error.type SHOULD match the db.response.status_code returned by the database or the client library, or the canonical name of exception that occurred. When using canonical exception type name, instrumentation SHOULD do the best effort to report the most relevant type. For example, if the original exception is wrapped into a generic one, the original exception SHOULD be preferred. Instrumentations SHOULD document how error.type is populated.

[10] server.port: When observed from the client side, and when communicating through an intermediary, server.port SHOULD represent the server port behind any intermediaries, for example proxies, if it’s available.

[11] server.port: If using a port other than the default port for this DBMS and if server.address is set.

[12] db.query.summary: db.query.summary provides static summary of the query text. It describes a class of database queries and is useful as a grouping key, especially when analyzing telemetry for database calls involving complex queries. Summary may be available to the instrumentation through instrumentation hooks or other means. If it is not available, instrumentations that support query parsing SHOULD generate a summary following Generating query summary section. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[13] db.query.summary: if readily available or if instrumentation supports query summarization.

[14] network.peer.address: Semantic conventions for individual database systems SHOULD document whether network.peer.* attributes are applicable. Network peer address and port are useful when the application interacts with individual database nodes directly. If a database operation involved multiple network calls (for example retries), the address of the last contacted node SHOULD be used.

[15] server.address: When observed from the client side, and when communicating through an intermediary, server.address SHOULD represent the server address behind any intermediaries, for example proxies, if it’s available.

[16] db.query.text: For sanitization see Sanitization of db.query.text. For batch operations, if the individual operations are known to have the same query text then that query text SHOULD be used, otherwise all of the individual query texts SHOULD be concatenated with separator ; or some other database system specific separator if more applicable. Even though parameterized query text can potentially have sensitive data, by using a parameterized query the user is giving a strong signal that any sensitive data will be passed as parameter values, and the benefit to observability of capturing the static part of the query text by default outweighs the risk. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

db.system has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

Value	Description	Stability
adabas	Adabas (Adaptable Database System)
cassandra	Apache Cassandra
clickhouse	ClickHouse
cockroachdb	CockroachDB
cosmosdb	Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
couchbase	Couchbase
couchdb	CouchDB
db2	IBM Db2
derby	Apache Derby
dynamodb	Amazon DynamoDB
edb	EnterpriseDB
elasticsearch	Elasticsearch
filemaker	FileMaker
firebird	Firebird
geode	Apache Geode
h2	H2
hanadb	SAP HANA
hbase	Apache HBase
hive	Apache Hive
hsqldb	HyperSQL DataBase
influxdb	InfluxDB
informix	Informix
ingres	Ingres
instantdb	InstantDB
interbase	InterBase
intersystems_cache	InterSystems Caché
mariadb	MariaDB (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
maxdb	SAP MaxDB
memcached	Memcached
mongodb	MongoDB
mssql	Microsoft SQL Server (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
mysql	MySQL (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
neo4j	Neo4j
netezza	Netezza
opensearch	OpenSearch
oracle	Oracle Database
other_sql	Some other SQL database. Fallback only. See notes.
pervasive	Pervasive PSQL
pointbase	PointBase
postgresql	PostgreSQL (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
progress	Progress Database
redis	Redis
redshift	Amazon Redshift
spanner	Cloud Spanner
sqlite	SQLite
sybase	Sybase
teradata	Teradata
trino	Trino
vertica	Vertica

error.type has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

Value	Description	Stability
_OTHER	A fallback error value to be used when the instrumentation doesn’t define a custom value.

Experimental

Database Response

The following metric instruments describe database query response.

Metric: db.client.response.returned_rows

This metric is recommended.

This metric SHOULD be specified with ExplicitBucketBoundaries of [1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000].

Explaining bucket configuration:

1. 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100: These buckets are useful for capturing scenarios where only a small number of items are returned. Such small queries are common in real-time or interactive applications where performance and quick responses are critical.
2. 200, 500, 1000: These values represent typical workloads where moderate amounts of data are returned in each query.
3. 2000, 5000: These boundaries capture scenarios where the query returns large datasets. These larger page sizes can potentially increase memory or CPU usage and may lead to longer query execution times, making it important to track performance in these ranges.
4. 10000: This boundary is included to capture rare, very large response sizes. Such queries can put significant strain on system resources, including memory, CPU, and network bandwidth, and can often lead to performance issues such as high latency or even network drops.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.response.returned_rows	Histogram	{row}	The actual number of records returned by the database operation.

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.system	string	The database management system (DBMS) product as identified by the client instrumentation. [1]	other_sql; adabas; cache	Required
db.collection.name	string	The name of a collection (table, container) within the database. [2]	public.users; customers	Conditionally Required [3]
db.namespace	string	The name of the database, fully qualified within the server address and port. [4]	customers; test.users	Conditionally Required If available.
db.operation.name	string	The name of the operation or command being executed. [5]	findAndModify; HMSET; SELECT	Conditionally Required [6]
db.response.status_code	string	Database response status code. [7]	102; ORA-17002; 08P01; 404	Conditionally Required [8]
error.type	string	Describes a class of error the operation ended with. [9]	timeout; java.net.UnknownHostException; server_certificate_invalid; 500	Conditionally Required If and only if the operation failed.
server.port	int	Server port number. [10]	80; 8080; 443	Conditionally Required [11]
db.query.summary	string	Low cardinality representation of a database query text. [12]	SELECT wuser_table; INSERT shipping_details SELECT orders; get user by id	Recommended [13]
network.peer.address	string	Peer address of the database node where the operation was performed. [14]	10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock	Recommended If applicable for this database system.
network.peer.port	int	Peer port number of the network connection.	65123	Recommended If and only if network.peer.address is set.
server.address	string	Name of the database host. [15]	example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock	Recommended
db.query.text	string	The database query being executed. [16]	SELECT * FROM wuser_table where username = ?; SET mykey ?	Opt-In

[1] db.system: The actual DBMS may differ from the one identified by the client. For example, when using PostgreSQL client libraries to connect to a CockroachDB, the db.system is set to postgresql based on the instrumentation’s best knowledge. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[2] db.collection.name: It is RECOMMENDED to capture the value as provided by the application without attempting to do any case normalization.

The collection name SHOULD NOT be extracted from db.query.text, unless the query format is known to only ever have a single collection name present.

For batch operations, if the individual operations are known to have the same collection name then that collection name SHOULD be used.

This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[3] db.collection.name: If readily available and if a database call is performed on a single collection. The collection name MAY be parsed from the query text, in which case it SHOULD be the single collection name in the query.

[4] db.namespace: If a database system has multiple namespace components, they SHOULD be concatenated (potentially using database system specific conventions) from most general to most specific namespace component, and more specific namespaces SHOULD NOT be captured without the more general namespaces, to ensure that “startswith” queries for the more general namespaces will be valid. Semantic conventions for individual database systems SHOULD document what db.namespace means in the context of that system. It is RECOMMENDED to capture the value as provided by the application without attempting to do any case normalization. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[5] db.operation.name: It is RECOMMENDED to capture the value as provided by the application without attempting to do any case normalization.

The operation name SHOULD NOT be extracted from db.query.text, unless the query format is known to only ever have a single operation name present.

For batch operations, if the individual operations are known to have the same operation name then that operation name SHOULD be used prepended by BATCH , otherwise db.operation.name SHOULD be BATCH or some other database system specific term if more applicable.

This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[6] db.operation.name: If readily available and if there is a single operation name that describes the database call. The operation name MAY be parsed from the query text, in which case it SHOULD be the single operation name found in the query.

[7] db.response.status_code: The status code returned by the database. Usually it represents an error code, but may also represent partial success, warning, or differentiate between various types of successful outcomes. Semantic conventions for individual database systems SHOULD document what db.response.status_code means in the context of that system. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[8] db.response.status_code: If the operation failed and status code is available.

[9] error.type: The error.type SHOULD match the db.response.status_code returned by the database or the client library, or the canonical name of exception that occurred. When using canonical exception type name, instrumentation SHOULD do the best effort to report the most relevant type. For example, if the original exception is wrapped into a generic one, the original exception SHOULD be preferred. Instrumentations SHOULD document how error.type is populated.

[10] server.port: When observed from the client side, and when communicating through an intermediary, server.port SHOULD represent the server port behind any intermediaries, for example proxies, if it’s available.

[11] server.port: If using a port other than the default port for this DBMS and if server.address is set.

[12] db.query.summary: db.query.summary provides static summary of the query text. It describes a class of database queries and is useful as a grouping key, especially when analyzing telemetry for database calls involving complex queries. Summary may be available to the instrumentation through instrumentation hooks or other means. If it is not available, instrumentations that support query parsing SHOULD generate a summary following Generating query summary section. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

[13] db.query.summary: if readily available or if instrumentation supports query summarization.

[14] network.peer.address: Semantic conventions for individual database systems SHOULD document whether network.peer.* attributes are applicable. Network peer address and port are useful when the application interacts with individual database nodes directly. If a database operation involved multiple network calls (for example retries), the address of the last contacted node SHOULD be used.

[15] server.address: When observed from the client side, and when communicating through an intermediary, server.address SHOULD represent the server address behind any intermediaries, for example proxies, if it’s available.

[16] db.query.text: For sanitization see Sanitization of db.query.text. For batch operations, if the individual operations are known to have the same query text then that query text SHOULD be used, otherwise all of the individual query texts SHOULD be concatenated with separator ; or some other database system specific separator if more applicable. Even though parameterized query text can potentially have sensitive data, by using a parameterized query the user is giving a strong signal that any sensitive data will be passed as parameter values, and the benefit to observability of capturing the static part of the query text by default outweighs the risk. This attribute has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE.

db.system has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

Value	Description	Stability
adabas	Adabas (Adaptable Database System)
cassandra	Apache Cassandra
clickhouse	ClickHouse
cockroachdb	CockroachDB
cosmosdb	Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
couchbase	Couchbase
couchdb	CouchDB
db2	IBM Db2
derby	Apache Derby
dynamodb	Amazon DynamoDB
edb	EnterpriseDB
elasticsearch	Elasticsearch
filemaker	FileMaker
firebird	Firebird
geode	Apache Geode
h2	H2
hanadb	SAP HANA
hbase	Apache HBase
hive	Apache Hive
hsqldb	HyperSQL DataBase
influxdb	InfluxDB
informix	Informix
ingres	Ingres
instantdb	InstantDB
interbase	InterBase
intersystems_cache	InterSystems Caché
mariadb	MariaDB (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
maxdb	SAP MaxDB
memcached	Memcached
mongodb	MongoDB
mssql	Microsoft SQL Server (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
mysql	MySQL (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
neo4j	Neo4j
netezza	Netezza
opensearch	OpenSearch
oracle	Oracle Database
other_sql	Some other SQL database. Fallback only. See notes.
pervasive	Pervasive PSQL
pointbase	PointBase
postgresql	PostgreSQL (This value has stability level RELEASE CANDIDATE)
progress	Progress Database
redis	Redis
redshift	Amazon Redshift
spanner	Cloud Spanner
sqlite	SQLite
sybase	Sybase
teradata	Teradata
trino	Trino
vertica	Vertica

error.type has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

Value	Description	Stability
_OTHER	A fallback error value to be used when the instrumentation doesn’t define a custom value.

Connection pools

The following metric instruments describe database client connection pool operations.

Metric: db.client.connection.count

This metric is required.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.count	UpDownCounter	{connection}	The number of connections that are currently in state described by the state attribute

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required
db.client.connection.state	string	The state of a connection in the pool	idle	Required

db.client.connection.state has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

Value	Description	Stability
idle	idle
used	used

Metric: db.client.connection.idle.max

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.idle.max	UpDownCounter	{connection}	The maximum number of idle open connections allowed

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required

Metric: db.client.connection.idle.min

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.idle.min	UpDownCounter	{connection}	The minimum number of idle open connections allowed

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required

Metric: db.client.connection.max

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.max	UpDownCounter	{connection}	The maximum number of open connections allowed

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required

Metric: db.client.connection.pending_requests

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.pending_requests	UpDownCounter	{request}	The number of current pending requests for an open connection

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required

Metric: db.client.connection.timeouts

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.timeouts	Counter	{timeout}	The number of connection timeouts that have occurred trying to obtain a connection from the pool

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required

Metric: db.client.connection.create_time

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.create_time	Histogram	s	The time it took to create a new connection

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required

Metric: db.client.connection.wait_time

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.wait_time	Histogram	s	The time it took to obtain an open connection from the pool

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required

Metric: db.client.connection.use_time

This metric is recommended.

Name	Instrument Type	Unit (UCUM)	Description	Stability
db.client.connection.use_time	Histogram	s	The time between borrowing a connection and returning it to the pool

Attribute	Type	Description	Examples	Requirement Level	Stability
db.client.connection.pool.name	string	The name of the connection pool; unique within the instrumented application. In case the connection pool implementation doesn’t provide a name, instrumentation SHOULD use a combination of parameters that would make the name unique, for example, combining attributes server.address, server.port, and db.namespace, formatted as server.address:server.port/db.namespace. Instrumentations that generate connection pool name following different patterns SHOULD document it.	myDataSource	Required