OpenTelemetry Semantic Conventions Cheat Sheet

1. HTTP Server Spans

• Span Name: Must be low-cardinality route template (e.g. GET /v1/users/{userId}, NOT GET /v1/users/12345).
• Required Attributes:
• http.method: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
• http.status_code: 200, 404, 500
• http.route: Target route template
• http.target: Raw URI path

2. Database Spans

• Span Name: Operation + Table (e.g. SELECT users, UPDATE orders).
• Required Attributes:
• db.system: postgresql, mysql, redis, mongodb
• db.name: Database name
• db.statement: Parameterized query (strip literals/PII)

3. RPC / gRPC Spans

• Span Name: Package + Service / Method (e.g. billing.v1.PaymentService/ProcessPayment).
• Required Attributes:
• rpc.system: grpc
• rpc.service: billing.v1.PaymentService
• rpc.method: ProcessPayment
• rpc.grpc.status_code: 0 (OK), 14 (UNAVAILABLE)