OpenTelemetry .NET Instrumentation Skill

When to Use

• Adding OpenTelemetry instrumentation to .NET code (traces, metrics, logs)
• Creating or modifying ActivitySources, Meters, or ILogger usage
• Setting up the OpenTelemetry SDK, resources, exporters, or sampling
• Reviewing telemetry implementations for spec compliance
• Optimizing instrumentation performance
• Designing telemetry APIs that become part of the public surface
• Implementing context propagation across service boundaries

Architecture: .NET Is Different

CRITICAL: The .NET OpenTelemetry implementation is fundamentally different from other platforms. .NET provides tracing, metrics, and logging APIs in the framework itself. That means OTel does not provide a separate instrumentation API — it uses the built-in .NET APIs and acts as the collection/export layer.

The Three Built-in .NET APIs (Primary — Zero Dependencies)