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Deprecate OpenTracing compatibility requirements #4938

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Deprecate OpenTracing compatibility requirements #4938

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4326cf4
Deprecate OpenTracing compatibility requirements
adp2201 Mar 11, 2026
a2b1a12
Clarify OpenTracing deprecation and earliest removal dates
adp2201 Mar 12, 2026
3a245fb
chore: rerun CI for markdown-link-check
adp2201 Mar 16, 2026
d92c7de
Merge branch 'main' into codex/deprecate-opentracing-spec-4849
adp2201 Mar 16, 2026
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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions CHANGELOG.md
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Expand Up @@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ release.

### Compatibility

- Deprecate OpenTracing compatibility requirements in the specification.
([#4849](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/issues/4849))
- Stabilize Prometheus Classic Histogram to OTLP Explicit Histogram transformation.
([#4874](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/4874))

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17 changes: 14 additions & 3 deletions specification/compatibility/opentracing.md
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Expand Up @@ -4,7 +4,15 @@ linkTitle: OpenTracing

# OpenTracing Compatibility

**Status**: [Stable](../document-status.md).
**Status**: [Deprecated](../document-status.md)

> [!NOTE]
> OpenTracing compatibility requirements are deprecated.
> Existing OpenTracing shims MAY continue to be supported for backwards
> compatibility, but implementing new OpenTracing compatibility is not required
> by this specification.
>
> Future removal criteria and timeline will be discussed separately.
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@carlosalberto carlosalberto Mar 12, 2026

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I'd like us to go with the Zipkin approach and give ourselves a year for support plus mentioning a date (specially important as this is a Specification, not an OTEP that could be more vague).

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@adp2201 adp2201 Mar 12, 2026

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thanks, that makes sense.
Let’s align this with the Zipkin deprecation pattern in this PR:

  • state that OpenTracing compatibility requirements are deprecated as of March 2026,
  • state that spec removal will happen no earlier than March 2027.

We originally planned to add this in a follow-up phase, but it makes sense to frontload this clarification in Stage 1 for spec-level clarity.

I’ll update the PR with these changes.

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@adp2201 adp2201 Mar 16, 2026 •
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Follow-up: this has now been updated in commit a2b1a12.

The note now states:

  • OpenTracing compatibility requirements are deprecated as of March 2026.
  • OpenTracing compatibility requirements in this specification will be removed no earlier than March 2027.

@carlosalberto Please let me know if you’d like any further wording adjustments.


<details>
<summary>Table of Contents</summary>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -51,8 +59,9 @@ More specifically, the intention is to allow OpenTracing instrumentation to be
recorded using OpenTelemetry. This Shim Layer MUST NOT publicly expose any
upstream OpenTelemetry API.

This functionality MUST be defined in its own OpenTracing Shim Layer, not in the
OpenTracing nor the OpenTelemetry API or SDK.
Historically, this functionality was defined in its own OpenTracing Shim Layer,
not in the OpenTracing nor the OpenTelemetry API or SDK. Since this
compatibility is deprecated, new implementations are not required.

Semantic convention mapping SHOULD NOT be performed, with the
exception of error mapping, as described in the [Set Tag](#set-tag) and
Expand All @@ -69,6 +78,8 @@ is not recommended for the following scenarios:
semantics and may lead to incorrect `Context` usage and incorrect traces.
See [Implicit and Explicit support mismatch](#implicit-and-explicit-support-mismatch).

This section remains for migration and backwards compatibility guidance.

## Language version support

Users are encouraged to check and update their language and runtime
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