otel-tracing

name	otel-tracing
description	Software factory OpenTelemetry tracing — use when emitting traces for factory work. Covers root trace, phase sub-traces, and bi-directional linking.
version	0.1.0

OpenTelemetry Tracing

Overview

Factory work emits OTLP traces to http://localhost:4317 (configurable via OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT).

Set SF_OTEL_ENABLED=0 to disable export without breaking anything (useful in tests).

Trace Architecture

• Root trace: one per factory task. Spans the full workflow. Stored in memory as main_trace_id + main_span_id.
• Phase sub-traces: one independent trace per phase. Links back to root (phase → root via OTel Link). Root logs child trace IDs as events (factory.phase_started) for forward traceability (root → phase).

Stateless Design

Every telemetry.py call is a fresh process. Each command creates an instantaneous span, ends it, and exports it before exit (using SimpleSpanProcessor). No state is held in memory between calls. Returned IDs are stored in memory.py for cross-call correlation.

Orchestrator Protocol

# At task start: emit root span, store IDs
ROOT=$(python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/telemetry.py" start-root --task "feature-name")
ROOT_TRACE=$(echo "$ROOT" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['trace_id'])")
ROOT_SPAN=$(echo "$ROOT" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['span_id'])")
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/memory.py" write --key main_trace_id --value "\"${ROOT_TRACE}\""
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/memory.py" write --key main_span_id --value "\"${ROOT_SPAN}\""

# When starting a phase: emit phase span (independent trace, links back to root)
PHASE=$(python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/telemetry.py" start-phase \
  --phase "planning" --root-trace-id "${ROOT_TRACE}" --root-span-id "${ROOT_SPAN}")
PHASE_TRACE=$(echo "$PHASE" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['trace_id'])")
PHASE_SPAN=$(echo "$PHASE" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['span_id'])")

# Emit forward link: instantaneous span in root trace recording child trace_id (root → phase)
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/telemetry.py" emit-forward-link \
  --root-trace-id "${ROOT_TRACE}" --root-span-id "${ROOT_SPAN}" \
  --child-trace-id "${PHASE_TRACE}" --child-span-id "${PHASE_SPAN}" --phase "planning"

# Store phase context in memory
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/memory.py" write --key "phase_trace:planning" --value "\"${PHASE_TRACE}\""
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/memory.py" write --key "phase_span:planning" --value "\"${PHASE_SPAN}\""

# Emit a discrete factory event within a trace
python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/telemetry.py" emit-event \
  --trace-id "${PHASE_TRACE}" --parent-span-id "${PHASE_SPAN}" \
  --name "factory.validation" --attrs '{"result":"pass","tests_run":42}'

Key Span Names

Span	When
factory.task	Full workflow duration (root trace)
factory.phase	Each implementation phase (sub-trace)
factory.validation.automated	After running test suite
factory.validation.manual	After user manual confirmation
factory.checkpoint	After git commit checkpoint