Open Telemetry CI/CD Action

This action exports Github CI/CD workflows to any endpoint compatible with OpenTelemetry.

This is a fork of otel-export-trace-action with more features and better support.

Compliant with OpenTelemetry CICD semconv. Look at Sample OpenTelemetry Output for the list of attributes and their values.

Usage

We provide sample code for popular platforms. If you feel one is missing, please open an issue.

Code Sample	File
Inside an existing workflow	build.yml
From a private repository	private.yml
Axiom	axiom.yml
New Relic	newrelic.yml
Honeycomb	honeycomb.yml
Dash0	dash0.yml
Jaeger	WIP
Grafana	WIP

On workflow_run event

workflow_run github documentation

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows:
      # The name of the workflow(s) that triggers the export
      - "Build"
    types: [completed]

jobs:
  otel-cicd-actions:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: corentinmusard/otel-cicd-action@v2
        with:
          otlpEndpoint: grpc://api.honeycomb.io:443/
          otlpHeaders: ${{ secrets.OTLP_HEADERS }}
          githubToken: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          runId: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.id }}

Inside an existing workflow

jobs:
  build:
    # ... existing code
  otel-cicd-action:
    if: always()
    name: OpenTelemetry Export Trace
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [build] # must run when all jobs are completed
    steps:
      - name: Export workflow
        uses: corentinmusard/otel-cicd-action@v2
        with:
          otlpEndpoint: grpc://api.honeycomb.io:443/
          otlpHeaders: ${{ secrets.OTLP_HEADERS }}
          githubToken: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

On workflow_run event vs Inside an existing workflow

Both methods must be run when the workflow is completed, otherwise, the trace will be incomplete.

Differences	On workflow_run event	Inside an existing workflow
Shows in PR page	No	Yes
Shows in Actions tab	Yes	Yes
Needs extra consideration to be run as the last job	No	Yes
Must be duplicated for multiple workflows	No	Yes

Private Repository

If you are using a private repository, you need to set the following permissions in your workflow file. It can be done at the global level or at the job level.

permissions:
  contents: read # To access the private repository
  actions: read # To read workflow runs
  pull-requests: read # To read PR labels
  checks: read # Optional. To read run annotations

Adding arbitrary resource attributes

You can use extraAttributes to set any additional string resource attributes. Attributes are splitted on , and then each key/value are splitted on the first =.

- name: Export workflow
  uses: corentinmusard/otel-cicd-action@v2
  with:
    otlpEndpoint: "CHANGE ME"
    otlpHeaders: "CHANGE ME"
    githubToken: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    extraAttributes: "extra.attribute=1,key2=value2"

Action Inputs

name	description	required	default	example
otlpEndpoint	The destination endpoint to export OpenTelemetry traces to. It supports https://, http:// and grpc:// endpoints.	true		https://api.axiom.co/v1/traces
otlpHeaders	Headers to add to the OpenTelemetry exporter .	true		x-honeycomb-team=YOUR_API_KEY,x-honeycomb-dataset=YOUR_DATASET
otelServiceName	OpenTelemetry service name	false	<The name of the exported workflow>	Build CI
githubToken	The repository token with Workflow permissions. Required for private repos	false		${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
runId	Workflow Run ID to Export	false	env.GITHUB_RUN_ID	${{ github.event.workflow_run.id }}
extraAttributes	Extra resource attributes to add to each span	false		extra.attribute=1,key2=value2

Action Outputs

name	description
traceId	The OpenTelemetry Trace ID of the root span