---
title: "OpenTelemetry Usage"
description: "Using OpenTelemetry with Sentry."
url: https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/opentelemetry/usage/
---

# OpenTelemetry Usage | Sentry for Spring Boot

## [OpenTelemetry and Sentry](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/opentelemetry/usage.md#opentelemetry-and-sentry)

With Sentry’s OpenTelemetry SDK, an OpenTelemetry `Span` becomes a Sentry `Transaction` or `Span`. The first `Span` sent through the Sentry `SpanProcessor` is a `Transaction`, and any child `Span` gets attached to the first `Transaction` upon checking the parent `Span` context. This is true for the OpenTelemetry root `Span` and any top level `Span` in the system. For example, a request sent from frontend to backend will create an OpenTelemetry root `Span` with a corresponding Sentry `Transaction`. The backend request will create a new Sentry `Transaction` for the OpenTelemetry `Span`. The Sentry `Transaction` and `Span` are linked as a trace for navigation and error tracking purposes.

### [Manual Instrumentation with OpenTelemetry](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/opentelemetry/usage.md#manual-instrumentation-with-opentelemetry)

If you have the OpenTelemetry SDK in you classpath, you can also instrument your code manually using the OpenTelemetry API as documented [in the OpenTelemetry docs](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/java/api/#span).

A manually created span for HTTP requests needs to declare its `SpanKind` as well as the `HttpAttributes.HTTP_REQUEST_METHOD` attribute, so that `Sentry` can correctly process these:

```java
Span span = tracer.spanBuilder("myspan")
  .setAttribute(HTTP_REQUEST_METHOD, "GET")
  .setSpanKind(SpanKind.SERVER)
  .startSpan();
```

### [Capturing HTTP Headers](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/opentelemetry/usage.md#capturing-http-headers)

By default OpenTelemetry does not capture any HTTP headers. This, however, can be configured using system properties or environment variables as per OpenTelemetry's configuration documentation [here](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/zero-code/java/agent/instrumentation/http/#capturing-http-request-and-response-headers). Each variable is a comma-separated list of HTTP header names that should be captured.

##### ✨ Note

Please only enable headers you actually want to send to Sentry. Some may contain sensitive data like PII, cookies or tokens.

#### [Client variables](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/opentelemetry/usage.md#client-variables)

* `OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_HTTP_CLIENT_CAPTURE_REQUEST_HEADERS`
* `OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_HTTP_CLIENT_CAPTURE_RESPONSE_HEADERS`

#### [Server variables](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/opentelemetry/usage.md#server-variables)

* `OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_HTTP_SERVER_CAPTURE_REQUEST_HEADERS`
* `OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_HTTP_SERVER_CAPTURE_RESPONSE_HEADERS`

## [Additional Configuration](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/opentelemetry/usage.md#additional-configuration)

If you need more fine grained control over Sentry, take a look at the [Configuration page](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/configuration.md). In case you'd like to filter out transactions before sending them to Sentry (to get rid of health checks, for example), you may find the [Filtering page](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/guides/spring-boot/configuration/filtering.md#filtering-transaction-events) helpful.