Semantic conventions for Google Cloud Pub/Sub

Status: Development

The Semantic Conventions for Google Cloud Pub/Sub extend and override the Messaging Semantic Conventions.

Google Cloud Pub/Sub spans

Create span

Status: Development

Describes a message being created for publishing to Google Cloud Pub/Sub.

“Create” spans always refer to a single message and are used to provide a unique creation context for messages in batch sending scenarios. A “Create” span is only used together with a client “Send” span (messaging.send.client) that links to it; when the “Send” span itself serves as the creation context, use the producer “Send” span (messaging.send.producer) instead and omit the “Create” span. See Producer spans for details.

Span kind SHOULD be PRODUCER.

Span status SHOULD follow the Recording Errors document.

Attributes:

KeyStabilityRequirement LevelValue TypeDescriptionExample Values
messaging.operation.nameDevelopmentRequiredstringThe system-specific name of the messaging operation. [1]create
messaging.systemDevelopmentRequiredstringThe messaging system as identified by the client instrumentation. [2]gcp_pubsub
error.typeStableConditionally Required If and only if the messaging operation has failed.stringDescribes a class of error the operation ended with. [3]NOT_FOUND; RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED; UNAVAILABLE
messaging.destination.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required [4]stringThe message destination name [5]MyTopic
messaging.destination.templateDevelopmentConditionally Required [6]stringLow cardinality representation of the messaging destination name [7]/customers/{customerId}
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ordering_keyDevelopmentConditionally Required If the message type has an ordering key set.stringThe ordering key for a given message. If the attribute is not present, the message does not have an ordering key.ordering_key
messaging.operation.typeDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringA string identifying the type of the messaging operation. [8]create
messaging.destination.partition.idDevelopmentRecommended When applicable.stringThe identifier of the partition messages are sent to or received from, unique within the messaging.destination.name.1
messaging.message.conversation_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe conversation ID identifying the conversation to which the message belongs, represented as a string. Sometimes called “Correlation ID”.MyConversationId
messaging.message.idDevelopmentRecommended If span describes operation on a single message.stringA value used by the messaging system as an identifier for the message, represented as a string.452a7c7c7c7048c2f887f61572b18fc2
server.addressStableRecommendedstringServer domain name if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or UNIX domain socket name. [9]example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
server.portStableRecommendedintServer port number. [10]80; 8080; 443
messaging.message.body.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body in bytes. Only applicable for spans describing single message operations. [11]1439
messaging.message.envelope.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body and metadata in bytes. [12]2738

[1] messaging.operation.name: SHOULD be set to create.

[2] messaging.system: MUST be set to "gcp_pubsub".

[3] error.type: 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.

If the recorded error type is a wrapper that is not meaningful for failure classification, instrumentation MAY use the type of the inner error instead. For example, in Go, errors created with fmt.Errorf using %w MAY be unwrapped when the wrapper type does not help classify the failure.

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 RPC 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.

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

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

[6] messaging.destination.template: If available. Instrumentations MUST NOT use messaging.destination.name as template unless low-cardinality of destination name is guaranteed.

[7] messaging.destination.template: Destination names could be constructed from templates. An example would be a destination name involving a username or product ID. Although the destination name in this case is of high cardinality, the underlying template is of low cardinality and can be effectively used for grouping and aggregation.

[8] messaging.operation.type: SHOULD be set to create.

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

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

[12] messaging.message.envelope.size: This can refer to both the compressed or uncompressed size. If both sizes are known, the uncompressed 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.Development
processOne or more messages are processed by a consumer.Development
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.Development
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.Development
settleOne or more messages are settled.Development

messaging.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.

ValueDescriptionStability
activemqApache ActiveMQDevelopment
aws.snsAmazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)Development
aws_sqsAmazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)Development
eventgridAzure Event GridDevelopment
eventhubsAzure Event HubsDevelopment
gcp_pubsubGoogle Cloud Pub/SubDevelopment
jmsJava Message ServiceDevelopment
kafkaApache KafkaDevelopment
pulsarApache PulsarDevelopment
rabbitmqRabbitMQDevelopment
rocketmqApache RocketMQDevelopment
servicebusAzure Service BusDevelopment

Send span (producer)

Status: Development

Describes a producer publishing one or more messages to Google Cloud Pub/Sub.

Use this span when no separate “Create” span exists and the “Send” span’s context is injected into the message(s) as the creation context. See Producer spans for details.

Span kind SHOULD be PRODUCER.

Span status SHOULD follow the Recording Errors document.

Attributes:

KeyStabilityRequirement LevelValue TypeDescriptionExample Values
messaging.operation.nameDevelopmentRequiredstringThe system-specific name of the messaging operation. [1]send
messaging.systemDevelopmentRequiredstringThe messaging system as identified by the client instrumentation. [2]gcp_pubsub
error.typeStableConditionally Required If and only if the messaging operation has failed.stringDescribes a class of error the operation ended with. [3]NOT_FOUND; RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED; UNAVAILABLE
messaging.batch.message_countDevelopmentConditionally Required [4]intThe number of messages sent, received, or processed in the scope of the batching operation. [5]0; 1; 2
messaging.destination.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required [6]stringThe message destination name [7]MyTopic
messaging.destination.templateDevelopmentConditionally Required [8]stringLow cardinality representation of the messaging destination name [9]/customers/{customerId}
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ordering_keyDevelopmentConditionally Required If the message type has an ordering key set.stringThe ordering key for a given message. If the attribute is not present, the message does not have an ordering key.ordering_key
messaging.operation.typeDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringA string identifying the type of the messaging operation. [10]send
messaging.client.idDevelopmentRecommendedstringA unique identifier for the client that consumes or produces a message.client-5; myhost@8742@s8083jm
messaging.destination.partition.idDevelopmentRecommended When applicable.stringThe identifier of the partition messages are sent to or received from, unique within the messaging.destination.name.1
messaging.message.conversation_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe conversation ID identifying the conversation to which the message belongs, represented as a string. Sometimes called “Correlation ID”.MyConversationId
messaging.message.idDevelopmentRecommended If span describes operation on a single message.stringA value used by the messaging system as an identifier for the message, represented as a string.452a7c7c7c7048c2f887f61572b18fc2
network.peer.addressStableRecommended If applicable for this messaging system.stringPeer address of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed. [11]10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
network.peer.portStableRecommended if and only if network.peer.address is set.intPeer port of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed.65123
server.addressStableRecommendedstringServer domain name if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or UNIX domain socket name. [12]example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
server.portStableRecommendedintServer port number. [13]80; 8080; 443
messaging.message.body.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body in bytes. Only applicable for spans describing single message operations. [14]1439
messaging.message.envelope.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body and metadata in bytes. [15]2738

[1] messaging.operation.name: SHOULD be set to send.

[2] messaging.system: MUST be set to "gcp_pubsub".

[3] error.type: 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.

If the recorded error type is a wrapper that is not meaningful for failure classification, instrumentation MAY use the type of the inner error instead. For example, in Go, errors created with fmt.Errorf using %w MAY be unwrapped when the wrapper type does not help classify the failure.

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 RPC 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.

[4] messaging.batch.message_count: If the span describes an operation on a batch of messages.

[5] messaging.batch.message_count: Instrumentations SHOULD NOT set messaging.batch.message_count on spans that operate with a single message. When a messaging client library supports both batch and single-message API for the same operation, instrumentations SHOULD use messaging.batch.message_count for batching APIs and SHOULD NOT use it for single-message APIs.

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

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

[8] messaging.destination.template: If available. Instrumentations MUST NOT use messaging.destination.name as template unless low-cardinality of destination name is guaranteed.

[9] messaging.destination.template: Destination names could be constructed from templates. An example would be a destination name involving a username or product ID. Although the destination name in this case is of high cardinality, the underlying template is of low cardinality and can be effectively used for grouping and aggregation.

[10] messaging.operation.type: SHOULD be set to send.

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

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

[13] 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.

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

[15] messaging.message.envelope.size: This can refer to both the compressed or uncompressed size. If both sizes are known, the uncompressed 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.Development
processOne or more messages are processed by a consumer.Development
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.Development
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.Development
settleOne or more messages are settled.Development

messaging.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.

ValueDescriptionStability
activemqApache ActiveMQDevelopment
aws.snsAmazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)Development
aws_sqsAmazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)Development
eventgridAzure Event GridDevelopment
eventhubsAzure Event HubsDevelopment
gcp_pubsubGoogle Cloud Pub/SubDevelopment
jmsJava Message ServiceDevelopment
kafkaApache KafkaDevelopment
pulsarApache PulsarDevelopment
rabbitmqRabbitMQDevelopment
rocketmqApache RocketMQDevelopment
servicebusAzure Service BusDevelopment

Send span (client)

Status: Development

Describes a producer publishing one or more messages to Google Cloud Pub/Sub.

Use this span when a “Create” span (or a custom creation context) already exists for the message(s): the “Send” span describes only the transport operation and links to the creation context that was injected into the message. See Producer spans for details.

Span kind SHOULD be CLIENT.

Span status SHOULD follow the Recording Errors document.

Attributes:

KeyStabilityRequirement LevelValue TypeDescriptionExample Values
messaging.operation.nameDevelopmentRequiredstringThe system-specific name of the messaging operation. [1]send
messaging.systemDevelopmentRequiredstringThe messaging system as identified by the client instrumentation. [2]gcp_pubsub
error.typeStableConditionally Required If and only if the messaging operation has failed.stringDescribes a class of error the operation ended with. [3]NOT_FOUND; RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED; UNAVAILABLE
messaging.batch.message_countDevelopmentConditionally Required [4]intThe number of messages sent, received, or processed in the scope of the batching operation. [5]0; 1; 2
messaging.destination.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required [6]stringThe message destination name [7]MyTopic
messaging.destination.templateDevelopmentConditionally Required [8]stringLow cardinality representation of the messaging destination name [9]/customers/{customerId}
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ordering_keyDevelopmentConditionally Required If the message type has an ordering key set.stringThe ordering key for a given message. If the attribute is not present, the message does not have an ordering key.ordering_key
messaging.operation.typeDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringA string identifying the type of the messaging operation. [10]send
messaging.client.idDevelopmentRecommendedstringA unique identifier for the client that consumes or produces a message.client-5; myhost@8742@s8083jm
messaging.destination.partition.idDevelopmentRecommended When applicable.stringThe identifier of the partition messages are sent to or received from, unique within the messaging.destination.name.1
messaging.message.conversation_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe conversation ID identifying the conversation to which the message belongs, represented as a string. Sometimes called “Correlation ID”.MyConversationId
messaging.message.idDevelopmentRecommended If span describes operation on a single message.stringA value used by the messaging system as an identifier for the message, represented as a string.452a7c7c7c7048c2f887f61572b18fc2
network.peer.addressStableRecommended If applicable for this messaging system.stringPeer address of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed. [11]10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
network.peer.portStableRecommended if and only if network.peer.address is set.intPeer port of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed.65123
server.addressStableRecommendedstringServer domain name if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or UNIX domain socket name. [12]example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
server.portStableRecommendedintServer port number. [13]80; 8080; 443
messaging.message.body.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body in bytes. Only applicable for spans describing single message operations. [14]1439
messaging.message.envelope.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body and metadata in bytes. [15]2738

[1] messaging.operation.name: SHOULD be set to send.

[2] messaging.system: MUST be set to "gcp_pubsub".

[3] error.type: 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.

If the recorded error type is a wrapper that is not meaningful for failure classification, instrumentation MAY use the type of the inner error instead. For example, in Go, errors created with fmt.Errorf using %w MAY be unwrapped when the wrapper type does not help classify the failure.

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 RPC 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.

[4] messaging.batch.message_count: If the span describes an operation on a batch of messages.

[5] messaging.batch.message_count: Instrumentations SHOULD NOT set messaging.batch.message_count on spans that operate with a single message. When a messaging client library supports both batch and single-message API for the same operation, instrumentations SHOULD use messaging.batch.message_count for batching APIs and SHOULD NOT use it for single-message APIs.

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

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

[8] messaging.destination.template: If available. Instrumentations MUST NOT use messaging.destination.name as template unless low-cardinality of destination name is guaranteed.

[9] messaging.destination.template: Destination names could be constructed from templates. An example would be a destination name involving a username or product ID. Although the destination name in this case is of high cardinality, the underlying template is of low cardinality and can be effectively used for grouping and aggregation.

[10] messaging.operation.type: SHOULD be set to send.

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

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

[13] 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.

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

[15] messaging.message.envelope.size: This can refer to both the compressed or uncompressed size. If both sizes are known, the uncompressed 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.Development
processOne or more messages are processed by a consumer.Development
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.Development
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.Development
settleOne or more messages are settled.Development

messaging.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.

ValueDescriptionStability
activemqApache ActiveMQDevelopment
aws.snsAmazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)Development
aws_sqsAmazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)Development
eventgridAzure Event GridDevelopment
eventhubsAzure Event HubsDevelopment
gcp_pubsubGoogle Cloud Pub/SubDevelopment
jmsJava Message ServiceDevelopment
kafkaApache KafkaDevelopment
pulsarApache PulsarDevelopment
rabbitmqRabbitMQDevelopment
rocketmqApache RocketMQDevelopment
servicebusAzure Service BusDevelopment

Receive span

Status: Development

Describes a consumer receiving one or more messages from Google Cloud Pub/Sub (pull-based).

“Receive” spans are created for pull-based scenarios, where consumers explicitly call methods of messaging SDKs to receive messages. See Consumer spans for details.

Span kind SHOULD be CLIENT.

Span status SHOULD follow the Recording Errors document.

Attributes:

KeyStabilityRequirement LevelValue TypeDescriptionExample Values
messaging.operation.nameDevelopmentRequiredstringThe system-specific name of the messaging operation. [1]receive
messaging.systemDevelopmentRequiredstringThe messaging system as identified by the client instrumentation. [2]gcp_pubsub
error.typeStableConditionally Required If and only if the messaging operation has failed.stringDescribes a class of error the operation ended with. [3]NOT_FOUND; RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED; UNAVAILABLE
messaging.batch.message_countDevelopmentConditionally Required [4]intThe number of messages sent, received, or processed in the scope of the batching operation. [5]0; 1; 2
messaging.destination.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required [6]stringThe message destination name [7]MyTopic
messaging.destination.subscription.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringGoogle Pub/Sub subscription name.subscription-a
messaging.destination.templateDevelopmentConditionally Required [8]stringLow cardinality representation of the messaging destination name [9]/customers/{customerId}
messaging.operation.typeDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringA string identifying the type of the messaging operation. [10]receive
messaging.client.idDevelopmentRecommendedstringA unique identifier for the client that consumes or produces a message.client-5; myhost@8742@s8083jm
messaging.destination.partition.idDevelopmentRecommended When applicable.stringThe identifier of the partition messages are sent to or received from, unique within the messaging.destination.name.1
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ack_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe ack ID for a given message.ack_id
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.delivery_attemptDevelopmentRecommendedintThe delivery attempt for a given message.2
messaging.message.conversation_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe conversation ID identifying the conversation to which the message belongs, represented as a string. Sometimes called “Correlation ID”.MyConversationId
messaging.message.idDevelopmentRecommended If span describes operation on a single message.stringA value used by the messaging system as an identifier for the message, represented as a string.452a7c7c7c7048c2f887f61572b18fc2
network.peer.addressStableRecommended If applicable for this messaging system.stringPeer address of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed. [11]10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
network.peer.portStableRecommended if and only if network.peer.address is set.intPeer port of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed.65123
server.addressStableRecommendedstringServer domain name if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or UNIX domain socket name. [12]example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
server.portStableRecommendedintServer port number. [13]80; 8080; 443
messaging.message.body.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body in bytes. Only applicable for spans describing single message operations. [14]1439
messaging.message.envelope.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body and metadata in bytes. [15]2738

[1] messaging.operation.name: SHOULD be set to receive.

[2] messaging.system: MUST be set to "gcp_pubsub".

[3] error.type: 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.

If the recorded error type is a wrapper that is not meaningful for failure classification, instrumentation MAY use the type of the inner error instead. For example, in Go, errors created with fmt.Errorf using %w MAY be unwrapped when the wrapper type does not help classify the failure.

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 RPC 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.

[4] messaging.batch.message_count: If the span describes an operation on a batch of messages.

[5] messaging.batch.message_count: Instrumentations SHOULD NOT set messaging.batch.message_count on spans that operate with a single message. When a messaging client library supports both batch and single-message API for the same operation, instrumentations SHOULD use messaging.batch.message_count for batching APIs and SHOULD NOT use it for single-message APIs.

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

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

[8] messaging.destination.template: If available. Instrumentations MUST NOT use messaging.destination.name as template unless low-cardinality of destination name is guaranteed.

[9] messaging.destination.template: Destination names could be constructed from templates. An example would be a destination name involving a username or product ID. Although the destination name in this case is of high cardinality, the underlying template is of low cardinality and can be effectively used for grouping and aggregation.

[10] messaging.operation.type: SHOULD be set to receive.

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

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

[13] 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.

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

[15] messaging.message.envelope.size: This can refer to both the compressed or uncompressed size. If both sizes are known, the uncompressed 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.Development
processOne or more messages are processed by a consumer.Development
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.Development
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.Development
settleOne or more messages are settled.Development

messaging.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.

ValueDescriptionStability
activemqApache ActiveMQDevelopment
aws.snsAmazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)Development
aws_sqsAmazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)Development
eventgridAzure Event GridDevelopment
eventhubsAzure Event HubsDevelopment
gcp_pubsubGoogle Cloud Pub/SubDevelopment
jmsJava Message ServiceDevelopment
kafkaApache KafkaDevelopment
pulsarApache PulsarDevelopment
rabbitmqRabbitMQDevelopment
rocketmqApache RocketMQDevelopment
servicebusAzure Service BusDevelopment

Process span

Status: Development

Describes a consumer processing one or more messages from Google Cloud Pub/Sub (push-based).

“Process” spans are created for push-based scenarios, where messages are passed to the application through a callback or handler. See Consumer spans for details.

Exclusively for single-message scenarios, when the message creation context is used as the parent, see Message creation context as parent of “Process” span.

Span kind SHOULD be CONSUMER.

Span status SHOULD follow the Recording Errors document.

Attributes:

KeyStabilityRequirement LevelValue TypeDescriptionExample Values
messaging.operation.nameDevelopmentRequiredstringThe system-specific name of the messaging operation. [1]subscribe
messaging.systemDevelopmentRequiredstringThe messaging system as identified by the client instrumentation. [2]gcp_pubsub
error.typeStableConditionally Required If and only if the messaging operation has failed.stringDescribes a class of error the operation ended with. [3]NOT_FOUND; RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED; UNAVAILABLE
messaging.batch.message_countDevelopmentConditionally Required [4]intThe number of messages sent, received, or processed in the scope of the batching operation. [5]0; 1; 2
messaging.destination.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required [6]stringThe message destination name [7]MyTopic
messaging.destination.subscription.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringGoogle Pub/Sub subscription name.subscription-a
messaging.destination.templateDevelopmentConditionally Required [8]stringLow cardinality representation of the messaging destination name [9]/customers/{customerId}
messaging.operation.typeDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringA string identifying the type of the messaging operation. [10]process
messaging.client.idDevelopmentRecommendedstringA unique identifier for the client that consumes or produces a message.client-5; myhost@8742@s8083jm
messaging.destination.partition.idDevelopmentRecommended When applicable.stringThe identifier of the partition messages are sent to or received from, unique within the messaging.destination.name.1
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ack_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe ack ID for a given message.ack_id
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.delivery_attemptDevelopmentRecommendedintThe delivery attempt for a given message.2
messaging.message.conversation_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe conversation ID identifying the conversation to which the message belongs, represented as a string. Sometimes called “Correlation ID”.MyConversationId
messaging.message.idDevelopmentRecommended If span describes operation on a single message.stringA value used by the messaging system as an identifier for the message, represented as a string.452a7c7c7c7048c2f887f61572b18fc2
server.addressStableRecommendedstringServer domain name if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or UNIX domain socket name. [11]example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
server.portStableRecommendedintServer port number. [12]80; 8080; 443
messaging.message.body.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body in bytes. Only applicable for spans describing single message operations. [13]1439
messaging.message.envelope.sizeDevelopmentOpt-InintThe size of the message body and metadata in bytes. [14]2738

[1] messaging.operation.name: SHOULD be set to subscribe, representing the time from after the message was received to when it is acknowledged, negatively acknowledged, or expired.

[2] messaging.system: MUST be set to "gcp_pubsub".

[3] error.type: 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.

If the recorded error type is a wrapper that is not meaningful for failure classification, instrumentation MAY use the type of the inner error instead. For example, in Go, errors created with fmt.Errorf using %w MAY be unwrapped when the wrapper type does not help classify the failure.

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 RPC 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.

[4] messaging.batch.message_count: If the span describes an operation on a batch of messages.

[5] messaging.batch.message_count: Instrumentations SHOULD NOT set messaging.batch.message_count on spans that operate with a single message. When a messaging client library supports both batch and single-message API for the same operation, instrumentations SHOULD use messaging.batch.message_count for batching APIs and SHOULD NOT use it for single-message APIs.

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

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

[8] messaging.destination.template: If available. Instrumentations MUST NOT use messaging.destination.name as template unless low-cardinality of destination name is guaranteed.

[9] messaging.destination.template: Destination names could be constructed from templates. An example would be a destination name involving a username or product ID. Although the destination name in this case is of high cardinality, the underlying template is of low cardinality and can be effectively used for grouping and aggregation.

[10] messaging.operation.type: SHOULD be set to process.

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

[12] 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.

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

[14] messaging.message.envelope.size: This can refer to both the compressed or uncompressed size. If both sizes are known, the uncompressed 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.Development
processOne or more messages are processed by a consumer.Development
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.Development
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.Development
settleOne or more messages are settled.Development

messaging.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.

ValueDescriptionStability
activemqApache ActiveMQDevelopment
aws.snsAmazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)Development
aws_sqsAmazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)Development
eventgridAzure Event GridDevelopment
eventhubsAzure Event HubsDevelopment
gcp_pubsubGoogle Cloud Pub/SubDevelopment
jmsJava Message ServiceDevelopment
kafkaApache KafkaDevelopment
pulsarApache PulsarDevelopment
rabbitmqRabbitMQDevelopment
rocketmqApache RocketMQDevelopment
servicebusAzure Service BusDevelopment

Settle span

Status: Development

Describes settling (ack/nack/modack) one or more Google Cloud Pub/Sub messages.

“Settle” spans are created for every manually or automatically triggered settlement operation. See Consumer spans for details.

Span kind SHOULD be CLIENT.

Span status SHOULD follow the Recording Errors document.

Attributes:

KeyStabilityRequirement LevelValue TypeDescriptionExample Values
messaging.operation.nameDevelopmentRequiredstringThe system-specific name of the messaging operation. [1]ack; nack; modack
messaging.systemDevelopmentRequiredstringThe messaging system as identified by the client instrumentation. [2]gcp_pubsub
error.typeStableConditionally Required If and only if the messaging operation has failed.stringDescribes a class of error the operation ended with. [3]NOT_FOUND; RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED; UNAVAILABLE
messaging.batch.message_countDevelopmentConditionally Required [4]intThe number of messages sent, received, or processed in the scope of the batching operation. [5]0; 1; 2
messaging.destination.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required [6]stringThe message destination name [7]MyTopic
messaging.destination.subscription.nameDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringGoogle Pub/Sub subscription name.subscription-a
messaging.destination.templateDevelopmentConditionally Required [8]stringLow cardinality representation of the messaging destination name [9]/customers/{customerId}
messaging.operation.typeDevelopmentConditionally Required If applicable.stringA string identifying the type of the messaging operation. [10]settle
messaging.client.idDevelopmentRecommendedstringA unique identifier for the client that consumes or produces a message.client-5; myhost@8742@s8083jm
messaging.destination.partition.idDevelopmentRecommended When applicable.stringThe identifier of the partition messages are sent to or received from, unique within the messaging.destination.name.1
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ack_deadlineDevelopmentRecommendedintThe ack deadline in seconds set for the modify ack deadline request.10
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ack_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe ack ID for a given message.ack_id
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.delivery_attemptDevelopmentRecommendedintThe delivery attempt for a given message.2
messaging.message.conversation_idDevelopmentRecommendedstringThe conversation ID identifying the conversation to which the message belongs, represented as a string. Sometimes called “Correlation ID”.MyConversationId
messaging.message.idDevelopmentRecommended If span describes operation on a single message.stringA value used by the messaging system as an identifier for the message, represented as a string.452a7c7c7c7048c2f887f61572b18fc2
network.peer.addressStableRecommended If applicable for this messaging system.stringPeer address of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed. [11]10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
network.peer.portStableRecommended if and only if network.peer.address is set.intPeer port of the messaging intermediary node where the operation was performed.65123
server.addressStableRecommendedstringServer domain name if available without reverse DNS lookup; otherwise, IP address or UNIX domain socket name. [12]example.com; 10.1.2.80; /tmp/my.sock
server.portStableRecommendedintServer port number. [13]80; 8080; 443

[1] messaging.operation.name: Has the following well-known values for Google Cloud Pub/Sub settlement. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

  • ack and nack for acknowledging or negatively acknowledging a message
  • modack for extending the lease for a single message or batch of messages

[2] messaging.system: MUST be set to "gcp_pubsub".

[3] error.type: 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.

If the recorded error type is a wrapper that is not meaningful for failure classification, instrumentation MAY use the type of the inner error instead. For example, in Go, errors created with fmt.Errorf using %w MAY be unwrapped when the wrapper type does not help classify the failure.

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 RPC 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.

[4] messaging.batch.message_count: If the span describes an operation on a batch of messages.

[5] messaging.batch.message_count: Instrumentations SHOULD NOT set messaging.batch.message_count on spans that operate with a single message. When a messaging client library supports both batch and single-message API for the same operation, instrumentations SHOULD use messaging.batch.message_count for batching APIs and SHOULD NOT use it for single-message APIs.

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

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

[8] messaging.destination.template: If available. Instrumentations MUST NOT use messaging.destination.name as template unless low-cardinality of destination name is guaranteed.

[9] messaging.destination.template: Destination names could be constructed from templates. An example would be a destination name involving a username or product ID. Although the destination name in this case is of high cardinality, the underlying template is of low cardinality and can be effectively used for grouping and aggregation.

[10] messaging.operation.type: SHOULD be set to settle.

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

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

[13] 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.

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.Development
processOne or more messages are processed by a consumer.Development
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.Development
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.Development
settleOne or more messages are settled.Development

messaging.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.

ValueDescriptionStability
activemqApache ActiveMQDevelopment
aws.snsAmazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)Development
aws_sqsAmazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)Development
eventgridAzure Event GridDevelopment
eventhubsAzure Event HubsDevelopment
gcp_pubsubGoogle Cloud Pub/SubDevelopment
jmsJava Message ServiceDevelopment
kafkaApache KafkaDevelopment
pulsarApache PulsarDevelopment
rabbitmqRabbitMQDevelopment
rocketmqApache RocketMQDevelopment
servicebusAzure Service BusDevelopment

Examples

Asynchronous batch publish example

Given is a process P that asynchronously publishes 2 messages in a batch to a topic T on Pub/Sub.

flowchart LR;
  subgraph PRODUCER
  direction LR
  CA[Span Create A]
  CB[Span Create B]
  P[Span Send A B]
  end
  CA-. link .-P;
  CB-. link .-P;

  classDef producer fill:green
  class P,CA,CB producer
  classDef normal fill:green
  class PA,PB,D1 normal
  linkStyle 0,1 color:green,stroke:green
Field or AttributeProducer Span Create AProducer Span Create BProducer Span Send A B
Span namecreate Tcreate Tsend T
Parent
LinksSpan Create A, Span Create B
SpanKindPRODUCERPRODUCERCLIENT
StatusOkOkOk
messaging.batch.message_count2
messaging.destination.name"T""T""T"
messaging.operation.name"create""create""send"
messaging.operation.type"create""create""send"
messaging.message.id"a1""a2"
messaging.message.envelope.size11
messaging.system"gcp_pubsub""gcp_pubsub""gcp_pubsub"

Unary pull example

flowchart TD;
  subgraph CONSUMER
  direction LR
  R1[Receive A]
  SM1[Ack A]
  EM1[Modack A]
  end
  subgraph PRODUCER
  direction LR
  CM1[Create A]
  PM1[Send]
  end
  %% Link 0
  CM1-. link .-PM1;
  %% Link 1
  CM1-. link .-R1;
  %% Link 2
  R1-. link .-SM1;
  %% Link 3
  R1-. link .-EM1;

  %% Style the node and corresponding link
  %% Producer links and nodes
  classDef producer fill:green
  class PM1,CM1 producer
  linkStyle 0 color:green,stroke:green

  %% Consumer links and nodes
  classDef consumer fill:#49fcdc
  class R1 consumer
  linkStyle 1 color:#49fcdc,stroke:#49fcdc

  classDef ack fill:#577eb5
  class SM1 ack
  linkStyle 2 color:#577eb5,stroke:#577eb5

  classDef modack fill:#0560f2
  class EM1 modack
  linkStyle 3 color:#0560f2,stroke:#0560f2
Field or AttributeProducer Span Create AProducer Span SendConsumer Span Receive AConsumer Span Modack AConsumer Span Ack A
Span namecreate Tsend Treceive Smodack Sack S
Parent
LinksSpan Create ASpan Create ASpan Receive ASpan Receive A
SpanKindPRODUCERCLIENTCLIENTCLIENTCLIENT
StatusOkOkOkOkOk
messaging.destination.name"T""T""S""S""S"
messaging.system"gcp_pubsub""gcp_pubsub""gcp_pubsub""gcp_pubsub""gcp_pubsub"
messaging.operation.name"create""send""receive""modack""ack"
messaging.operation.type"create""send""receive""settle"
messaging.message.id"a1""a1"
messaging.message.envelope.size111
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ack_id"ack_id1""ack_id1"
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.delivery_attempt0
messaging.gcp_pubsub.message.ack_deadline0