Migrate application instrumentation to stable OpenTelemetry database semantic conventions
domain: opentelemetry.io · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Verified — individually fact-checked against live docscommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Verified steps
Review the OTel database semantic conventions migration guide to see which attributes have stabilized
Set `OTEL_SEMCONV_STABILITY_OPT_IN=database/dup` initially to emit both old and new attribute names during a phased rollout
Update dashboards and queries to also match new attribute names such as `db.system.name` and `db.query.text` alongside the legacy `db.system`/`db.statement`
Once dashboards are updated and validated, switch to `OTEL_SEMCONV_STABILITY_OPT_IN=database` to emit only the new stable attributes
Update any code that reads `db.sql.table` to use `db.collection.name` instead
Remove the opt-in env var once your OTel SDK/instrumentation version defaults to the new stable conventions
Known gotchas
Leaving the opt-in var unset keeps emitting only the legacy experimental attribute names, which can silently mask that you haven't migrated
Database metrics conventions are not yet stable even though the span/attribute conventions are, so don't assume the same opt-in covers both
Sanitize `db.query.text` before enabling capture by default, since it can contain sensitive query parameters
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