open-telemetry / open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib

Automatic Instrumentation: docs improvements and sanity check

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feature-request
Dominant language
Python
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Description

After wasting half a day trying to figure out why even the simplest auto instrumentation examples for several different frameworks don't work (i.e. they don't emit anything to the console or the OTEL collector), I eventually found the reason: the opentelemetry-distro package was not installed. So two issues:

  • The docs mention The opentelemetry-distro package installs the API, SDK, and the opentelemetry-bootstrap and opentelemetry-instrument tools and then proceed to describe the opentelemetry-bootstrap command, which seems like a "quick start" shortcut that installs a bunch of opentelementry-* packages that I don't care for. All I (thought I) needed was opentelemetry-instrument and a few handpicked packages for the libraries/frameworks I want to instrument (plus their dependencies). It is not obvious at all that opentelemetry-distro is required for auto instrumentation.
  • There's no error, warning or other indication that something is missing when running opentelemetry-instrument, it just defaults to a no-op. I'd expect the auto instrumentation logic that currently lives in opentelemetry-bootstrap to be in opentelemetry-instrument, or if for some reason that's not possible or desirable, to get at least a warning if it's missing.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the automatic instrumentation documentation around opentelemetry-distro, opentelemetry-bootstrap, and opentelemetry-instrument. Then inspect the behavior of opentelemetry-instrument when opentelemetry-distro is absent. Done means the required package is clearly documented and the missing-package behavior is explicitly addressed with the project’s chosen outcome.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
cli, documentation, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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