# Annotations For most users, the out-of-the-box instrumentation is completely sufficient and nothing more has to be done. Sometimes, however, users wish to create [spans](/docs/concepts/signals/traces/#spans) for their own custom code without needing to make many code changes. If you add the `WithSpan` annotation to a method, the method is wrapped in a span. The `SpanAttribute` annotation allows you to capture the method arguments as attributes. ```java package otel; import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.Span; import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.SpanKind; import io.opentelemetry.instrumentation.annotations.SpanAttribute; import io.opentelemetry.instrumentation.annotations.WithSpan; import org.springframework.stereotype.Component; /** Test WithSpan */ @Component public class TracedClass { @WithSpan public void tracedMethod() {} @WithSpan(value = "span name") public void tracedMethodWithName() { Span currentSpan = Span.current(); currentSpan.addEvent("ADD EVENT TO tracedMethodWithName SPAN"); currentSpan.setAttribute("isTestAttribute", true); } @WithSpan(kind = SpanKind.CLIENT) public void tracedClientSpan() {} @WithSpan public void tracedMethodWithAttribute(@SpanAttribute("attributeName") String parameter) {} } ``` > [!NOTE] > > The OpenTelemetry annotations use Spring AOP based on proxies. > > These annotations work only for the methods of the proxy. You can learn more > in the > [Spring documentation](https://docs.spring.io/spring-framework/reference/core/aop/proxying.html). > > In the following example, the `WithSpan` annotation won't do anything when the > GET endpoint is called: > > ```java > @RestController > public class MyControllerManagedBySpring { > > @GetMapping("/ping") > public void aMethod() { > anotherMethod(); > } > > @WithSpan > public void anotherMethod() { > } > } > ```

Note

To be able to use the OpenTelemetry annotations, you have to add the Spring Boot Starter AOP dependency to your project:

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-aop</artifactId>
  </dependency>
</dependencies>

dependencies {
  implementation("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-aop")
}

You can disable the OpenTelemetry annotations by setting the `otel.instrumentation.annotations.enabled` property to `false`. You can customize the span by using the elements of the `WithSpan` annotation: | Name | Type | Description | Default Value | | ------- | ---------- | --------------------- | ------------------- | | `value` | `String` | Span name | ClassName.Method | | `kind` | `SpanKind` | Span kind of the span | `SpanKind.INTERNAL` | You can set the attribute name from the `value` element of the `SpanAttribute` annotation: | Name | Type | Description | Default Value | | ------- | -------- | -------------- | --------------------- | | `value` | `String` | Attribute name | Method parameter name | ## Next steps Beyond the use of annotations, the OpenTelemetry API allows you to obtain a tracer that can be used [custom instrumentation](../api).