> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chronosphere.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# OpenTelemetry support in Observability Platform

Chronosphere Observability Platform supports OpenTelemetry ingestion for logs,
metrics, and traces.

```mermaid actions={false} theme={null}
flowchart TD
  accTitle: OpenTelemetry support in Observability Platform
  accDescr: Use the OpenTelemetry SDK, OpenTelemetry Collector, and OTLP ingestion endpoints to send logs, metrics, and traces to Chronosphere Observability Platform.
  subgraph env [Your environment]
    SDK[OpenTelemetry SDK]
    Coll[OpenTelemetry Collector]
    StatsD[OpenTelemetry Collector<br> with StatsD receiver]
  end
  subgraph op [Observability Platform]
    OTLP[OTLP ingestion endpoints]
  end
  SDK -- Logs, metrics, and traces --> Coll
  SDK -- DogStatsD metrics --> StatsD
  Coll --> OTLP
  StatsD --> OTLP
```

This ingestion process varies depending on your environment, configuration settings,
and telemetry type, but always follows the same general path:

1. Your app is instrumented with the OpenTelemetry SDK to emit telemetry data.
2. The OpenTelemetry Collector aggregates and processes this telemetry data.
3. Observability Platform ingests this telemetry data through the
   OpenTelemetry protocol (OTLP) ingestion endpoints.

## OpenTelemetry support for metrics

You can use the [OpenTelemetry Collector](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel) to send
metrics to Observability Platform. Observability Platform ingests these metrics through
[OpenTelemetry protocol gRPC and HTTP ingestion endpoints](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel/otlp-endpoints).

To ingest DogStatsD metrics, add
the [StatsD receiver](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel/ingest-dogstatsd) to the
OpenTelemetry Collector.

When Observability Platform ingests metrics from OpenTelemetry, it
[converts those metrics to a Prometheus-compatible format](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel#conversion-from-opentelemetry-to-prometheus-compatible-metrics).

The [Live Telemetry Analyzer](/investigate/analyze/telemetry-analyzer)
displays [special request metadata](/investigate/analyze/telemetry-analyzer#special-request-metadata)
relevant to OpenTelemetry metrics.

## OpenTelemetry support for traces

You can use the [OpenTelemetry Collector](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel) to send
traces to Observability Platform. Observability Platform ingests these traces through
[OpenTelemetry protocol gRPC and HTTP ingestion endpoints](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel/otlp-endpoints).

You can also use the OpenTelemetry Collector to
[configure head sampling](/control/shaping/sample-traces/head-sampling#configure-head-sampling)
for traces.

## OpenTelemetry support for logs

You can use the [OpenTelemetry Collector](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel) to send
logs to Observability Platform.

Observability Platform ingests these logs through an
[OpenTelemetry protocol HTTP ingestion endpoint](/ingest/logs/otel-logs).

## Monitor your OpenTelemetry Collector health and ingestion volume

When you configure the OpenTelemetry Collector to ingest metrics or traces, you can
[send operational metrics about the OpenTelemetry Collector](/ingest/metrics-traces/otel/otel-ingest#send-operational-metrics-about-the-opentelemetry-collector)
to Observability Platform.

Chronosphere provides the
[OpenTelemetry Ingestion & Health](/observe/dashboards/managed-dashboards#opentelemetry-ingestion-health)
dashboard, which displays information about the health of your OpenTelemetry Collector
instances and the amount of data they're ingesting and processing.