Environment variables

Core

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_SDK_DISABLED`	Disable the OpenTelemetry SDK entirely. No telemetry data is collected or exported.	`false`
`OTEL_SERVICE_NAME`	Logical name of your service, reported on all telemetry.	Slugified `APP_NAME`
`OTEL_SERVICE_INSTANCE_ID`	Unique identifier for this instance of the service. A random ID is generated per request when not set.	—
`OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES`	Additional resource attributes attached to all telemetry. Format: `key1=value1,key2=value2`.	—
`OTEL_USER_CONTEXT`	Attach the authenticated user ID as `user.id` on root spans and log records.	`true`
`OTEL_PROPAGATORS`	Comma-separated list of context propagators. Options: `tracecontext`, `baggage`, `b3`, `b3multi`, `none`.	`tracecontext`

Exporters

OTLP (default exporter)

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT`	Base URL of the OTLP receiver for all signals.	`http://localhost:4318`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL`	Transport protocol for all signals. Options: `grpc`, `http/protobuf`, `http/json`.	`http/protobuf`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS`	Default HTTP headers for all OTLP export requests. Format: `key=value,key=value`.	—
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT`	Default export timeout in milliseconds for all signals.	`10000`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_MAX_RETRIES`	Number of retry attempts on transient failures.	`3`

Per-signal overrides — Traces

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_PROTOCOL`	Override transport protocol for traces.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_HEADERS`	Override HTTP headers for trace export requests.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_TIMEOUT`	Override timeout (ms) for trace export requests.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT`

Per-signal overrides — Metrics

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_PROTOCOL`	Override transport protocol for metrics.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_HEADERS`	Override HTTP headers for metrics export requests.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_TIMEOUT`	Override timeout (ms) for metrics export requests.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT`

Per-signal overrides — Logs

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL`	Override transport protocol for logs.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_HEADERS`	Override HTTP headers for log export requests.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_TIMEOUT`	Override timeout (ms) for log export requests.	`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT`

Zipkin

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_EXPORTER_ZIPKIN_ENDPOINT`	Base URL of the Zipkin server. The `/api/v2/spans` path is appended automatically.	`http://localhost:9411`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_ZIPKIN_TIMEOUT`	Export timeout in milliseconds.	`10000`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_ZIPKIN_MAX_RETRIES`	Number of retry attempts on transient failures.	`3`

Signals

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER`	Exporter driver for traces. Options: `otlp`, `zipkin`, `console`, `memory`, `null`.	`otlp`
`OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER`	Exporter driver for metrics. Options: `otlp`, `console`, `memory`, `null`.	`otlp`
`OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER`	Exporter driver for logs. Options: `otlp`, `console`, `memory`, `null`.	`otlp`
`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_TEMPORALITY_PREFERENCE`	Preferred aggregation temporality for OTLP metrics. Options: `Delta`, `Cumulative`.	SDK default

Trace sampling

Head sampling

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_PARENT`	Wrap the sampler in a `ParentBasedSampler` so child spans follow the parent’s decision.	`true`
`OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_TYPE`	Head sampler type. Options: `always_on`, `always_off`, `traceidratio`.	`always_on`
`OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_TRACEIDRATIO_RATIO`	Sampling ratio for the `traceidratio` sampler. `0.05` means 5% of traces are kept.	`0.05`

Tail sampling

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_TRACES_TAIL_SAMPLING_ENABLED`	Enable tail sampling. When enabled, sampling decisions are deferred until the trace ends.	`false`
`OTEL_TRACES_TAIL_SAMPLING_DECISION_WAIT`	Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for a trace to complete before making a decision.	`5000`
`OTEL_TRACES_TAIL_SAMPLING_RULE_KEEP_ERRORS`	Enable the built-in `ErrorsRule` that keeps traces containing error spans.	`true`
`OTEL_TRACES_TAIL_SAMPLING_RULE_SLOW_TRACES`	Enable the built-in `SlowTraceRule` that keeps traces exceeding the duration threshold.	`true`
`OTEL_TRACES_TAIL_SAMPLING_SLOW_TRACES_THRESHOLD_MS`	Duration threshold in milliseconds for the `SlowTraceRule`.	`2000`

Application-level tail sampling is intended for single-service deployments. For multi-service tail sampling, use the OpenTelemetry Collector.

Worker mode

Variable	Description	Default
`OTEL_WORKER_MODE_FLUSH_AFTER_EACH_ITERATION`	Flush all telemetry after each request or job. When `false`, data is batched and flushed periodically.	`false`
`OTEL_WORKER_MODE_COLLECT_INTERVAL`	Metrics collection and export interval in seconds when running in worker mode. Ignored when `OTEL_WORKER_MODE_FLUSH_AFTER_EACH_ITERATION` is `true`.	`60`

Instrumentations

Each variable enables or disables a specific instrumentation. Set to false to disable.

Variable	Instrumentation	Default
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_HTTP_SERVER`	Incoming HTTP request tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_HTTP_CLIENT`	Outgoing HTTP request tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_QUERY`	Database query tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_QUEUE`	Queue job dispatch and execution tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_REDIS`	Redis command tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_CACHE`	Cache operation events	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_EVENT`	Laravel event recording	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_VIEW`	View render tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_LIVEWIRE`	Livewire component render tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_CONSOLE`	Artisan command tracing	`true`
`OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_SCOUT`	Laravel Scout search operation tracing	`true`

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