Instrument and trace applications with the OpenTelemetry collector

Introduction: OpenTelemetry collector is a tool that allows you to instrument and trace applications. It provides increased observability for applications developed with Vercel and Next.js.

Features in v1.0:

• Support for Node.js and Edge runtimes: The OpenTelemetry collector is compatible with both Node.js and Edge runtimes, allowing you to instrument and trace applications developed with either runtime.
• Telemetry context propagation: OpenTelemetry collector supports telemetry context propagation, including the W3C Trace Context. This allows you to propagate context information across distributed systems and services.
• Fetch API instrumentation with context propagation: The OpenTelemetry collector provides instrumentation for the Fetch API, allowing you to automatically propagate context information in fetch requests.
• Support and auto-configuration for the Vercel OTEL collector: The OpenTelemetry collector works seamlessly with the Vercel OTEL collector, providing support and auto-configuration for easy integration.
• Enhanced metadata reporting: OpenTelemetry collector provides enhanced metadata reporting, allowing you to collect and report additional metadata about your applications, services, and resources.
• Sampling support: OpenTelemetry collector supports sampling, allowing you to control the amount of data collected and sent for tracing, reducing overhead and cost.
• Custom tracing exporter support: OpenTelemetry collector supports custom tracing exporters, allowing you to export your trace data to various monitoring and observability tools.
• Batched trace exporting: OpenTelemetry collector supports batched trace exporting, allowing you to collect and send trace data in batches instead of individual requests, improving efficiency and performance.

Documentation and usage: You can learn more about using the OpenTelemetry collector with Vercel and Next.js in the official documentation. The documentation provides detailed instructions on how to install and configure the OpenTelemetry collector for your applications.

Conclusion: The OpenTelemetry collector provides a powerful and flexible solution for instrumenting and tracing applications developed with Vercel and Next.js. With its extensive features and easy integration, it allows you to gain deep insights into the performance and behavior of your applications, enabling you to improve their reliability and efficiency.