Semantic Conventions for RabbitMQ

Status: Experimental

The Semantic Conventions for RabbitMQ extend and override the Messaging Semantic Conventions.

messaging.system MUST be set to "rabbitmq" and SHOULD be provided at span creation time.

RabbitMQ attributes

In RabbitMQ, the destination is defined by an exchange and a routing key. messaging.destination.name MUST be set to the name of the exchange. This will be an empty string if the default exchange is used.

AttributeTypeDescriptionExamplesRequirement LevelStability
messaging.operation.namestringThe system-specific name of the messaging operation.ack; nack; sendRequiredExperimental
error.typestringDescribes a class of error the operation ended with. [1]amqp:decode-error; KAFKA_STORAGE_ERROR; channel-errorConditionally Required If and only if the messaging operation has failed.Stable
messaging.destination.namestringThe message destination name [2]MyQueue; MyTopicConditionally Required [3]Experimental
messaging.operation.typestringA string identifying the type of the messaging operation. [4]send; create; receiveConditionally Required If applicable.Experimental
messaging.rabbitmq.destination.routing_keystringRabbitMQ message routing key.myKeyConditionally Required If not empty.Experimental
messaging.rabbitmq.message.delivery_tagintRabbitMQ message delivery tag123Conditionally Required When available.Experimental
server.addressstringServer domain name if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or Unix domain socket name. [5]example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sockConditionally Required If available.Stable
messaging.message.conversation_idstringMessage correlation Id property.MyConversationIdRecommendedExperimental
messaging.message.idstringA value used by the messaging system as an identifier for the message, represented as a string.452a7c7c7c7048c2f887f61572b18fc2Recommended If span describes operation on a single message.Experimental
network.peer.addressstringPeer address of the network connection - IP address or Unix domain socket name. [6]10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sockRecommendedStable
network.peer.portintPeer port number of the network connection.65123RecommendedStable
server.portintServer port number. [7]80; 8080; 443RecommendedStable
messaging.message.body.sizeintThe size of the message body in bytes. [8]1439Opt-InExperimental

[1]: The error.type SHOULD be predictable, and SHOULD have low cardinality.

When error.type is set to a type (e.g., an exception type), its canonical class name identifying the type within the artifact SHOULD be used.

Instrumentations SHOULD document the list of errors they report.

The cardinality of error.type within one instrumentation library SHOULD be low. Telemetry consumers that aggregate data from multiple instrumentation libraries and applications should be prepared for error.type to have high cardinality at query time when no additional filters are applied.

If the operation has completed successfully, instrumentations SHOULD NOT set error.type.

If a specific domain defines its own set of error identifiers (such as HTTP or gRPC status codes), it’s RECOMMENDED to:

  • Use a domain-specific attribute
  • Set error.type to capture all errors, regardless of whether they are defined within the domain-specific set or not.

[2]: Destination name SHOULD uniquely identify a specific queue, topic or other entity within the broker. If the broker doesn’t have such notion, the destination name SHOULD uniquely identify the broker.

[3]: If span describes operation on a single message or if the value applies to all messages in the batch.

[4]: If a custom value is used, it MUST be of low cardinality.

[5]: Server domain name of the broker if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or Unix domain socket name.

[6]: If an operation involved multiple network calls (for example retries), the address of the last contacted node SHOULD be used.

[7]: 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.

[8]: This can refer to both the compressed or uncompressed body size. If both sizes are known, the uncompressed body size should be used.

The following attributes can be important for making sampling decisions and SHOULD be provided at span creation time (if provided at all):

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.

ValueDescriptionStability
_OTHERA fallback error value to be used when the instrumentation doesn’t define a custom value.Stable

messaging.operation.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.

ValueDescriptionStability
createA message is created. “Create” spans always refer to a single message and are used to provide a unique creation context for messages in batch sending scenarios.Experimental
processOne or more messages are processed by a consumer.Experimental
receiveOne or more messages are requested by a consumer. This operation refers to pull-based scenarios, where consumers explicitly call methods of messaging SDKs to receive messages.Experimental
sendOne or more messages are provided for sending to an intermediary. If a single message is sent, the context of the “Send” span can be used as the creation context and no “Create” span needs to be created.Experimental
settleOne or more messages are settled.Experimental