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  3. OpenTelemetry skill
grafana · 6K installs

OpenTelemetry skill
Runs by itself, every day.

You know every day if your data still arrives.

Install the OpenTelemetry skill and make it a habit: follow https://gethabit.dev/skills/grafana/opentelemetry.md

  1. 1Copy
  2. 2Paste into Claude Code, Codex or Cursor
  3. 3It runs by itself

6K installs289 starsApache-2.0 licenceSource on GitHub ↗

OpenTelemetry

by grafana · 6K installs

The skill

Helps your app send its health data to Grafana so you can watch it.

Only when you ask.

Spot problems early

You know every day if your data still arrives. Problems found before they hurt.

↻ Runs by itselfevery day

How the habit works.
You don't have to.

Three questionsWhen does it start? How does it check its work? What does it remember?

01

It starts by itself

daily telemetry check. Runs in Claude Code routine or cron.

  • ↻ daily telemetry check
  • 0 7 * * *

02

It checks its work

OTLP and span checks. If a check fails, it tells you.

  • ✓OTLP smoke test returns 400, not 401 or 404
  • ✓otelcol_exporter_sent_spans is above zero on Alloy metrics
  • ✓TraceQL query for service.name returns spans

03

It remembers

telemetry check log. The next run reads it first: last result per service and past auth errors.

loops/otel-pipeline-check-loop/runs.md

One run, step by step.
Then it stops.

Stop ruleStops after 10 services per run.

  1. 01

    Check env vars

    Your agent confirms OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT, PROTOCOL, HEADERS and RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES are set.

  2. 02

    Smoke test auth

    It POSTs an empty body to the traces endpoint and expects 400.

  3. 03

    Check Alloy

    It reads Alloy metrics on localhost:12345 for sent spans.

  4. 04

    Check Explore

    It runs TraceQL and PromQL queries for each service.name.

  5. 05

    Troubleshoot

    On 401, 404 or missing spans it follows the troubleshooting list.

  6. 06

    Log

    It records results per service.

What it may do.
Nothing more.

Safe by defaultIt writes only in its own folder and asks you before anything goes out.

Is it for you?
Use it when it fits.

Quick checkRead both lists. If the left one sounds like you, the OpenTelemetry skill helps.

Use it when

  • ✓ You instrument a service with OTel
  • ✓ You point OTLP at Grafana Cloud
  • ✓ Spans are not showing in Explore

Skip it when

  • – You do not use Grafana backends
  • – You need app-level logging only

Questions

OpenTelemetry skill, answered.

Why expect a 400?

An empty body is malformed, so 400 means auth and endpoint are right.

Head or tail sampling?

Head sampling is decided at start; tail sampling needs an Alloy or Collector processor.

How do I install the OpenTelemetry skill?

Copy the prompt at the top into your agent. It installs the skill from grafana/skills and sets up the habit. Or run npx skills add grafana/skills --skill opentelemetry.

Is the OpenTelemetry skill free?

Yes. It is published under Apache-2.0. Habit is free too.

OpenTelemetry. Now as a habit.

Install the OpenTelemetry skill and make it a habit: follow https://gethabit.dev/skills/grafana/opentelemetry.md

  • Free
  • No account
  • Undo in one line

All grafana skills →More ops skills →

Works in

  • Claude Code
  • Codex
  • Cursor
  • ChatGPT
  • Claude app

Made by grafana, published under Apache-2.0. Habit links to the original and never changes it. Is this your skill?

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