183 Java Observability Tracing Opentelemetry
Use when you need to implement or improve distributed tracing with OpenTelemetry in Java — including trace/span modeling, context propagation, semantic conventions, span attributes/events/status, sampling strategy, baggage usage, privacy safeguards, and backend integration with OTLP collectors. This should trigger for requests such as Improve tracing; Apply OpenTelemetry tracing; Add distributed…
Install
$ agentstack add skill-jabrena-cursor-rules-java-183-java-observability-tracing-opentelemetry ✓ scanned · ✓ verified, works with Claude Code, Cursor, and more.
Security review
✓ PassedNo issues found. Passed automated security review. · v0.1.0 How review works →
- ✓ Prompt-injection patterns
- ✓ Secret / credential exfiltration
- ✓ Dangerous shell & filesystem operations
- ✓ Untrusted network calls
- ✓ Known-malicious package signatures
What it can access
- ✓ Network access No
- ✓ Filesystem access No
- ✓ Shell / process execution No
- ✓ Environment & secrets No
- ✓ Dynamic code execution No
From automated source analysis of v0.1.0. “Used” means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it’s unsafe.
Verified badge
Passed review? Show it. Paste this badge into your README, it links to the public security report.
Links to your public security report.[](https://agentstack.voostack.com/security/report/skill-jabrena-cursor-rules-java-183-java-observability-tracing-opentelemetry) Reliability & compatibility
Declared compatibility
Compatibility is declared by the source manifest. End-to-end runtime verification is coming, see below.
We're building live execution health for every listing: tool-call success rate, median latency, uptime, and last-checked timestamps, measured, not self-reported. It isn't live yet, so we don't show numbers we can't stand behind.
How agent discovery & health will work →About
Java Distributed Tracing with OpenTelemetry
Implement robust distributed tracing in Java with OpenTelemetry by modeling meaningful spans, preserving context propagation, and instrumenting critical business and infrastructure paths with low-overhead, privacy-safe telemetry.
What is covered in this Skill?
- OpenTelemetry tracing fundamentals for Java services
- Span design: boundaries, parent/child relationships, and operation naming
- Context propagation across HTTP, messaging, async tasks, and thread boundaries
- Semantic conventions and stable attribute naming
- Error/status/event recording best practices
- Sampling strategy and performance/cost trade-offs
- Privacy and security controls for trace attributes
- Testing and verification of trace propagation and span correctness
Scope: Distributed tracing quality in application and integration layers, focused on diagnosability, consistency, and operational safety.
Constraints
Tracing instrumentation must preserve context correctly and avoid leaking sensitive data. Over-instrumentation and high-cardinality attributes can harm cost and signal quality.
- PROPAGATION FIRST: Ensure context propagation across all sync/async boundaries before adding extra span detail
- NO SENSITIVE DATA: Never store secrets, credentials, tokens, raw payloads, or PII in span attributes/events
- LOW CARDINALITY ATTRIBUTES: Avoid unbounded values in attributes that are used for aggregation/search
- VERIFY: Run
./mvnw clean verifyormvn clean verifyafter applying tracing changes
When to use this skill
- Improve tracing
- Apply OpenTelemetry tracing
- Add distributed tracing
- Refactor tracing instrumentation
Workflow
- Define trace model and critical flows
Identify high-value request and async flows, define operation boundaries, and choose span names/attributes aligned with semantic conventions.
- Instrument and propagate context
Add OpenTelemetry spans to key boundaries and ensure trace context is propagated across HTTP clients/servers, messaging, and executor-based async work.
- Harden span data and sampling
Record status/errors/events consistently, remove sensitive data, control attribute cardinality, and configure sampling/exporters according to environment needs.
- Validate traces end-to-end
Verify parent-child relationships, propagation continuity, and backend visibility through tests and runtime checks.
Reference
For detailed guidance, examples, and constraints, see [references/183-java-observability-tracing-opentelemetry.md](references/183-java-observability-tracing-opentelemetry.md).
Source & license
This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.
- Author: jabrena
- Source: jabrena/cursor-rules-java
- License: Apache-2.0
- Homepage: https://jabrena.github.io/cursor-rules-java/
Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.
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Versions
- v0.1.0 Imported from the upstream source.