OpenTelemetry Collector

This skill covers the configuration surface of individual OpenTelemetry Collector components. It targets opentelemetry-collector and opentelemetry-collector-contrib.

It does not cover OTTL expressions (see otel-ottl), declarative SDK configuration (otel-declarative-config), or end-to-end pipeline design choices. Reach for those skills when the question is about transformation language, SDK setup, or pipeline composition.

Workflow

1. Identify the component. Find the type in the user's config or question (log_dedup, interval, otlp, …). Note that several components were renamed to snake_case across v0.146.0–v0.154.0 with deprecated aliases preserved — see Recent renames.
2. Load the component page before answering. If the component is in the Component index, always read components/<type>/README.md first — the top-level index is only a routing aid, not enough evidence for an answer. Follow its Details index to the smallest relevant file: read configuration.md for versioned keys, defaults, or validation; quirks.md for stability, availability, failure behavior, or migration traps; and the other detail files only as the question requires. Do not infer exact configuration or status from the summary row or memory.
3. If the component is not indexed, say so explicitly and fall back to the upstream README under processor/<name>/, receiver/<name>/, exporter/<name>/, connector/<name>/, or extension/<name>/ in opentelemetry-collector-contrib. Don't invent config keys from memory — Collector components evolve quickly.
4. Apply Collector-wide conventions. Named instances (type/name), stability levels, and pipeline placement rules in Collector-wide conventions apply to every component.
5. Verify. Run the component page's Verification recipe — telemetrygen (see the otel-telemetrygen skill) plus a debug or file exporter — to confirm the component behaves as the docs claim. Alpha- and Development-stability components are common here, and behavior changes between releases. See Verification harness for how to run a recipe end-to-end.

Component index

Each component is a directory under components/<type>/. The File column points at the lean README.md (metadata, description, main use-cases, and a Details index); the full config reference, verification recipe, advanced use-cases, and quirks live in on-demand detail files linked from that README.

Coverage is intentionally selective. If a component is not indexed here, fall back to the upstream component README for the user's Collector version.