Caution
Grafana Alloy is the new name for our distribution of the OTel collector. Grafana Agent has been deprecated and is in Long-Term Support (LTS) through October 31, 2025. Grafana Agent will reach an End-of-Life (EOL) on November 1, 2025. Read more about why we recommend migrating to Grafana Alloy.
Important: This documentation is about an older version. It's relevant only to the release noted, many of the features and functions have been updated or replaced. Please view the current version.
otelcol.processor.transform
EXPERIMENTAL: This is an experimental component. Experimental components are subject to frequent breaking changes, and may be removed with no equivalent replacement.
otelcol.processor.transform
accepts telemetry data from other otelcol
components and modifies it using the OpenTelemetry Transformation Language (OTTL).
OTTL statements consist of OTTL functions, which act on paths.
A path is a reference to a telemetry data such as:
- Resource attributes.
- Instrumentation scope name.
- Span attributes.
In addition to the standard OTTL functions, there is also a set of metrics-only functions:
- convert_sum_to_gauge
- convert_gauge_to_sum
- convert_summary_count_val_to_sum
- convert_summary_sum_val_to_sum
OTTL statements can also contain constructs such as:
- Booleans:
not true
not IsMatch(name, "http_.*")
- Boolean Expressions consisting of a
where
followed by one or more booleans:set(attributes["whose_fault"], "ours") where attributes["http.status"] == 500
set(attributes["whose_fault"], "theirs") where attributes["http.status"] == 400 or attributes["http.status"] == 404
- Math expressions:
1 + 1
end_time_unix_nano - start_time_unix_nano
sum([1, 2, 3, 4]) + (10 / 1) - 1
Note
Some characters inside River strings need to be escaped with a\
character. For example, the OTTL statementset(description, "Sum") where type == "Sum"
is written in River as"set(description, \"Sum\") where type == \"Sum\""
.
Note
otelcol.processor.transform
is a wrapper over the upstream OpenTelemetry Collectortransform
processor. If necessary, bug reports or feature requests will be redirected to the upstream repository.
You can specify multiple otelcol.processor.transform
components by giving them different labels.
Warning
otelcol.processor.transform
allows you to modify all aspects of your telemetry. Some specific risks are given below, but this is not an exhaustive list. It is important to understand your data before using this processor.
- Unsound Transformations: Transformations between metric data types are not defined in the metrics data model. To use these functions, you must understand the incoming data and know that it can be meaningfully converted to a new metric data type or can be used to create new metrics.
- Although OTTL allows you to use the
set
function withmetric.data_type
, its implementation in the transform processor is a no-op. To modify a data type, you must use a specific function such asconvert_gauge_to_sum
.- Identity Conflict: Transformation of metrics can potentially affect a metric’s identity, leading to an Identity Crisis. Be especially cautious when transforming a metric name and when reducing or changing existing attributes. Adding new attributes is safe.
- Orphaned Telemetry: The processor allows you to modify
span_id
,trace_id
, andparent_span_id
for traces andspan_id
, andtrace_id
logs. Modifying these fields could lead to orphaned spans or logs.
Usage
otelcol.processor.transform "LABEL" {
output {
metrics = [...]
logs = [...]
traces = [...]
}
}
Arguments
otelcol.processor.transform
supports the following arguments:
Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
---|---|---|---|---|
error_mode | string | How to react to errors if they occur while processing a statement. | "propagate" | no |
The supported values for error_mode
are:
ignore
: Ignore errors returned by statements and continue on to the next statement. This is the recommended mode.propagate
: Return the error up the pipeline. This will result in the payload being dropped from the Agent.
Blocks
The following blocks are supported inside the definition of
otelcol.processor.transform
:
Hierarchy | Block | Description | Required |
---|---|---|---|
trace_statements | trace_statements | Statements which transform traces. | no |
metric_statements | metric_statements | Statements which transform metrics. | no |
log_statements | log_statements | Statements which transform logs. | no |
output | output | Configures where to send received telemetry data. | yes |
trace_statements block
The trace_statements
block specifies statements which transform trace telemetry signals.
Multiple trace_statements
blocks can be specified.
Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
---|---|---|---|---|
context | string | OTTL Context to use when interpreting the associated statements. | yes | |
statements | list(string) | A list of OTTL statements. | yes |
The supported values for context
are:
resource
: Use when interacting only with OTLP resources (for example, resource attributes).scope
: Use when interacting only with OTLP instrumentation scope (for example, the name of the instrumentation scope).span
: Use when interacting only with OTLP spans.spanevent
: Use when interacting only with OTLP span events.
See OTTL Context for more information about how ot use contexts.
metric_statements block
The metric_statements
block specifies statements which transform metric telemetry signals.
Multiple metric_statements
blocks can be specified.
Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
---|---|---|---|---|
context | string | OTTL Context to use when interpreting the associated statements. | yes | |
statements | list(string) | A list of OTTL statements. | yes |
The supported values for context
are:
resource
: Use when interacting only with OTLP resources (for example, resource attributes).scope
: Use when interacting only with OTLP instrumentation scope (for example, the name of the instrumentation scope).metric
: Use when interacting only with individual OTLP metrics.datapoint
: Use when interacting only with individual OTLP metric data points.
Refer to OTTL Context for more information about how to use contexts.
log_statements block
The log_statements
block specifies statements which transform log telemetry signals.
Multiple log_statements
blocks can be specified.
Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
---|---|---|---|---|
context | string | OTTL Context to use when interpreting the associated statements. | yes | |
statements | list(string) | A list of OTTL statements. | yes |
The supported values for context
are:
resource
: Use when interacting only with OTLP resources (for example, resource attributes).scope
: Use when interacting only with OTLP instrumentation scope (for example, the name of the instrumentation scope).log
: Use when interacting only with OTLP logs.
See OTTL Context for more information about how ot use contexts.
OTTL Context
Each context allows the transformation of its type of telemetry.
For example, statements associated with a resource
context will be able to transform the resource’s
attributes
and dropped_attributes_count
.
Each type of context
defines its own paths and enums specific to that context.
Refer to the OpenTelemetry documentation for a list of paths and enums for each context:
Contexts NEVER supply access to individual items “lower” in the protobuf definition.
- This means statements associated to a
resource
WILL NOT be able to access the underlying instrumentation scopes. - This means statements associated to a
scope
WILL NOT be able to access the underlying telemetry slices (spans, metrics, or logs). - Similarly, statements associated to a
metric
WILL NOT be able to access individual datapoints, but can access the entire datapoints slice. - Similarly, statements associated to a
span
WILL NOT be able to access individual SpanEvents, but can access the entire SpanEvents slice.
For practical purposes, this means that a context cannot make decisions on its telemetry based on telemetry “lower” in the structure.
For example, the following context statement is not possible because it attempts to use individual datapoint
attributes in the condition of a statement associated to a metric
:
metric_statements {
context = "metric"
statements = [
"set(description, \"test passed\") where datapoints.attributes[\"test\"] == \"pass\"",
]
}
Context ALWAYS supply access to the items “higher” in the protobuf definition that are associated to the telemetry being transformed.
- This means that statements associated to a
datapoint
have access to a datapoint’s metric, instrumentation scope, and resource. - This means that statements associated to a
spanevent
have access to a spanevent’s span, instrumentation scope, and resource. - This means that statements associated to a
span
/metric
/log
have access to the telemetry’s instrumentation scope, and resource. - This means that statements associated to a
scope
have access to the scope’s resource.
For example, the following context statement is possible because datapoint
statements can access the datapoint’s metric.
metric_statements {
context = "datapoint"
statements = [
"set(metric.description, \"test passed\") where attributes[\"test\"] == \"pass\"",
]
}
The protobuf definitions for OTLP signals are maintained on GitHub:
Whenever possible, associate your statements to the context which the statement intens to transform.
The contexts are nested, and the higher-level contexts don’t have to iterate through any of the
contexts at a lower level. For example, although you can modify resource attributes associated to a
span using the span
context, it is more efficient to use the resource
context.
output block
The output
block configures a set of components to forward resulting telemetry data to.
The following arguments are supported:
Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
---|---|---|---|---|
logs | list(otelcol.Consumer) | List of consumers to send logs to. | [] | no |
metrics | list(otelcol.Consumer) | List of consumers to send metrics to. | [] | no |
traces | list(otelcol.Consumer) | List of consumers to send traces to. | [] | no |
You must specify the output
block, but all its arguments are optional.
By default, telemetry data is dropped.
Configure the metrics
, logs
, and traces
arguments accordingly to send telemetry data to other components.
Exported fields
The following fields are exported and can be referenced by other components:
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
input | otelcol.Consumer | A value that other components can use to send telemetry data to. |
input
accepts otelcol.Consumer
data for any telemetry signal (metrics,
logs, or traces).
Component health
otelcol.processor.transform
is only reported as unhealthy if given an invalid
configuration.
Debug information
otelcol.processor.transform
does not expose any component-specific debug
information.
Debug metrics
otelcol.processor.transform
does not expose any component-specific debug metrics.
Examples
Perform a transformation if an attribute does not exist
This example sets the attribute test
to pass
if the attribute test
does not exist.
otelcol.processor.transform "default" {
error_mode = "ignore"
trace_statements {
context = "span"
statements = [
// Accessing a map with a key that does not exist will return nil.
"set(attributes[\"test\"], \"pass\") where attributes[\"test\"] == nil",
]
}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
}
}
Each "
is escaped with \"
inside the River string.
Rename a resource attribute
The are two ways to rename an attribute key. One way is to set a new attribute and delete the old one:
otelcol.processor.transform "default" {
error_mode = "ignore"
trace_statements {
context = "resource"
statements = [
"set(attributes[\"namespace\"], attributes[\"k8s.namespace.name\"])",
"delete_key(attributes, \"k8s.namespace.name\")",
]
}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
}
}
Another way is to update the key using regular expressions:
otelcol.processor.transform "default" {
error_mode = "ignore"
trace_statements {
context = "resource"
statements = [
"replace_all_patterns(attributes, \"key\", \"k8s\\\\.namespace\\\\.name\", \"namespace\")",
]
}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
}
}
Some values in the River string are escaped:
\
is escaped with\\
"
is escaped with\"
Create an attribute from the contents of a log body
This example sets the attribute body
to the value of the log body:
otelcol.processor.transform "default" {
error_mode = "ignore"
log_statements {
context = "log"
statements = [
"set(attributes[\"body\"], body)",
]
}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
}
}
Each "
is escaped with \"
inside the River string.
Combine two attributes
This example sets the attribute test
to the value of attributes service.name
and service.version
combined.
otelcol.processor.transform "default" {
error_mode = "ignore"
trace_statements {
context = "resource"
statements = [
// The Concat function combines any number of strings, separated by a delimiter.
"set(attributes[\"test\"], Concat([attributes[\"service.name\"], attributes[\"service.version\"]], \" \"))",
]
}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
}
}
Each "
is escaped with \"
inside the River string.
Parsing JSON logs
Given the following JSON body:
{
"name": "log",
"attr1": "example value 1",
"attr2": "example value 2",
"nested": {
"attr3": "example value 3"
}
}
You can add specific fields as attributes on the log:
otelcol.processor.transform "default" {
error_mode = "ignore"
log_statements {
context = "log"
statements = [
// Parse body as JSON and merge the resulting map with the cache map, ignoring non-json bodies.
// cache is a field exposed by OTTL that is a temporary storage place for complex operations.
"merge_maps(cache, ParseJSON(body), \"upsert\") where IsMatch(body, \"^\\\\{\") ",
// Set attributes using the values merged into cache.
// If the attribute doesn't exist in cache then nothing happens.
"set(attributes[\"attr1\"], cache[\"attr1\"])",
"set(attributes[\"attr2\"], cache[\"attr2\"])",
// To access nested maps you can chain index ([]) operations.
// If nested or attr3 do no exist in cache then nothing happens.
"set(attributes[\"nested.attr3\"], cache[\"nested\"][\"attr3\"])",
]
}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
}
}
Some values in the River strings are escaped:
\
is escaped with\\
"
is escaped with\"
Various transformations of attributes and status codes
The example takes advantage of context efficiency by grouping transformations with the context which it intends to transform.
otelcol.receiver.otlp "default" {
http {}
grpc {}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.processor.transform.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.processor.transform.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.processor.transform.default.input]
}
}
otelcol.processor.transform "default" {
error_mode = "ignore"
trace_statements {
context = "resource"
statements = [
"keep_keys(attributes, [\"service.name\", \"service.namespace\", \"cloud.region\", \"process.command_line\"])",
"replace_pattern(attributes[\"process.command_line\"], \"password\\\\=[^\\\\s]*(\\\\s?)\", \"password=***\")",
"limit(attributes, 100, [])",
"truncate_all(attributes, 4096)",
]
}
trace_statements {
context = "span"
statements = [
"set(status.code, 1) where attributes[\"http.path\"] == \"/health\"",
"set(name, attributes[\"http.route\"])",
"replace_match(attributes[\"http.target\"], \"/user/*/list/*\", \"/user/{userId}/list/{listId}\")",
"limit(attributes, 100, [])",
"truncate_all(attributes, 4096)",
]
}
metric_statements {
context = "resource"
statements = [
"keep_keys(attributes, [\"host.name\"])",
"truncate_all(attributes, 4096)",
]
}
metric_statements {
context = "metric"
statements = [
"set(description, \"Sum\") where type == \"Sum\"",
]
}
metric_statements {
context = "datapoint"
statements = [
"limit(attributes, 100, [\"host.name\"])",
"truncate_all(attributes, 4096)",
"convert_sum_to_gauge() where metric.name == \"system.processes.count\"",
"convert_gauge_to_sum(\"cumulative\", false) where metric.name == \"prometheus_metric\"",
]
}
log_statements {
context = "resource"
statements = [
"keep_keys(attributes, [\"service.name\", \"service.namespace\", \"cloud.region\"])",
]
}
log_statements {
context = "log"
statements = [
"set(severity_text, \"FAIL\") where body == \"request failed\"",
"replace_all_matches(attributes, \"/user/*/list/*\", \"/user/{userId}/list/{listId}\")",
"replace_all_patterns(attributes, \"value\", \"/account/\\\\d{4}\", \"/account/{accountId}\")",
"set(body, attributes[\"http.route\"])",
]
}
output {
metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
logs = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
traces = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default.input]
}
}
otelcol.exporter.otlp "default" {
client {
endpoint = env("OTLP_ENDPOINT")
}
}
Some values in the River strings are escaped:
\
is escaped with\\
"
is escaped with\"