Python Support

OpenTelemetry exporter for AWS Lambda that writes telemetry data to stdout in OTLP format.

Quick Links

• Source Code
• PyPI Package
• Examples
• Change Log

Installation

Install the adapter and its dependencies:

pip install otlp-stdout-adapter \
          opentelemetry-api \
          opentelemetry-sdk \
          opentelemetry-exporter-otlp

The package supports Python 3.11 and later.

Basic Usage

The following example shows an AWS Lambda function that:

• Handles API Gateway requests
• Creates a tracer provider with AWS Lambda resource detection
• Creates a span for each invocation
• Ensures telemetry is flushed before the function exits

The key integration is using StdoutAdapter with the OTLP exporter, which redirects all telemetry data to stdout instead of making HTTP calls.

from opentelemetry import trace
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import TracerProvider
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import BatchSpanProcessor
from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.http.trace_exporter import OTLPSpanExporter
from otlp_stdout_adapter import StdoutAdapter, get_lambda_resource
from opentelemetry.trace import SpanKind
import json

def init_telemetry(service_name: str = __name__) -> tuple[trace.Tracer, TracerProvider]:
    """Initialize OpenTelemetry with AWS Lambda-specific configuration"""
    # Create a provider with Lambda resource attributes
    provider = TracerProvider(resource=get_lambda_resource())
    
    # Configure the OTLP exporter with StdoutAdapter
    exporter = OTLPSpanExporter(
        http_adapter=StdoutAdapter()
    )
    
    # Add the exporter to the provider
    provider.add_span_processor(BatchSpanProcessor(exporter))
    trace.set_tracer_provider(provider)
    
    return trace.get_tracer(service_name), provider

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    tracer, provider = init_telemetry()
    
    with tracer.start_as_current_span(
        "lambda-invocation",
        kind=SpanKind.SERVER
    ) as span:
        try:
            result = {"message": "Hello from Lambda!"}
            return {
                "statusCode": 200,
                "body": json.dumps(result)
            }
        except Exception as e:
            span.record_exception(e)
            span.set_status(trace.StatusCode.ERROR, str(e))
            raise
        finally:
            # Ensure all spans are flushed before the Lambda ends
            provider.force_flush()

Configuration

Configuration is handled through environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL	Protocol for OTLP data (http/protobuf or http/json)	http/protobuf
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_COMPRESSION	Compression type (gzip or none)	none
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME	Name of your service	Falls back to AWS_LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME or “unknown-service”

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

1. No Data in Logs
   • Verify force_flush() is called before the function exits
   • Check that the StdoutAdapter is properly configured in the exporter
   • Ensure spans are being created and closed properly
2. JSON Parsing Errors
   • Verify the correct protocol is set in OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL
   • Check for valid JSON in your attributes and events