Other language-specific OpenTelemetry libraries

OpenTelemetry propagators

Propagators convert between vendor-specific trace correlation headers and the OpenTelemetry trace context. If an incoming HTTP request contains the proprietary Instana trace correlation headers (that is, X-INSTANA-T and X-INSTANA-S), the Instana OpenTelemetry propagator creates an OpenTelemetry trace context with the trace ID and span ID from those headers. The OpenTelemetry tracer can continue the trace from that trace context. Also, if an OpenTelemetry trace context exists, the Instana OpenTelemetry propagator uses it to inject the proprietary Instana trace correlation headers into the outgoing requests.

Instana tracers for HTTP(S) support the W3C trace context specification, which is the default correlation header format that is used by OpenTelemetry. Therefore, you usually don't need to add an Instana OpenTelemetry propagator to your application. For more information about the exact level of support, see W3C Trace Context Support.

OpenTelemetry samplers

When an OpenTelemetry sampler makes a sampling decision, it decides whether the tracing data is captured for a particular request. Instana OpenTelemetry samplers make a sampling decision based on the sampled flag of the trace context. If the value of the sampled flag is not false, then the sampler captures the request.