---
title: "otelcol.receiver.datadog | Grafana Alloy documentation"
description: "Learn about otelcol.receiver.datadog"
---

# `otelcol.receiver.datadog`

> **EXPERIMENTAL**: This is an [experimental](/docs/release-life-cycle/) component. Experimental components are subject to frequent breaking changes, and may be removed with no equivalent replacement. To enable and use an experimental component, you must set the `stability.level` [flag](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/cli/run/) to `experimental`.

`otelcol.receiver.datadog` accepts Datadog metrics and traces over the network and forwards it to other `otelcol.*` components.

You can specify multiple `otelcol.receiver.datadog` components by giving them different labels.

> Note
> 
> `otelcol.receiver.datadog` is a wrapper over the upstream OpenTelemetry Collector [`datadog`](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/v0.147.0/receiver/datadogreceiver) receiver. Bug reports or feature requests will be redirected to the upstream repository, if necessary.

## Usage

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
otelcol.receiver.datadog "<LABEL>" {
  output {
    metrics = [...]
    traces  = [...]
  }
}
```

## Arguments

You can use the following arguments with `otelcol.receiver.datadog`:

Expand table

| Name                     | Type                       | Description                                                                  | Default                                                    | Required |
|--------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|----------|
| `auth`                   | `capsule(otelcol.Handler)` | Handler from an `otelcol.auth` component to use for authenticating requests. |                                                            | no       |
| `compression_algorithms` | `list(string)`             | A list of compression algorithms the server can accept.                      | `["", "gzip", "zstd", "zlib", "snappy", "deflate", "lz4"]` | no       |
| `endpoint`               | `string`                   | `host:port` to listen for traffic on.                                        | `"localhost:8126"`                                         | no       |
| `include_metadata`       | `bool`                     | Propagate incoming connection metadata to downstream consumers.              | `false`                                                    | no       |
| `keep_alives_enabled`    | `boolean`                  | Whether or not HTTP keep-alives are enabled                                  | `true`                                                     | no       |
| `max_request_body_size`  | `string`                   | Maximum request body size the server will allow.                             | `"20MiB"`                                                  | no       |
| `read_timeout`           | `duration`                 | Read timeout for requests of the HTTP server.                                | `"60s"`                                                    | no       |
| `trace_id_cache_size`    | `int`                      | Cache size for mapping 64-bit to 128-bit trace IDs.                          | `0`                                                        | no       |

By default, `otelcol.receiver.datadog` listens for HTTP connections on `localhost`. To expose the HTTP server to other machines on your network, configure `endpoint` with the IP address to listen on, or `0.0.0.0:8126` to listen on all network interfaces.

## Blocks

You can use the following blocks with `otelcol.receiver.datadog`:

No valid configuration blocks found.

### `output`

Required

The `output` block configures a set of components to forward resulting telemetry data to.

The following arguments are supported:

Expand table

| 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.

### `cors`

The `cors` block configures CORS settings for an HTTP server.

The following arguments are supported:

Expand table

| Name              | Type           | Description                                              | Default                | Required |
|-------------------|----------------|----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|----------|
| `allowed_origins` | `list(string)` | Allowed values for the `Origin` header.                  | `[]`                   | no       |
| `allowed_headers` | `list(string)` | Accepted headers from CORS requests.                     | `["X-Requested-With"]` | no       |
| `max_age`         | `number`       | Configures the `Access-Control-Max-Age` response header. | `0`                    | no       |

The `allowed_headers` argument specifies which headers are acceptable from a CORS request. The following headers are always implicitly allowed:

- `Accept`
- `Accept-Language`
- `Content-Type`
- `Content-Language`

If `allowed_headers` includes `"*"`, all headers are permitted.

### `intake`

The `intake` block configures how the `/intake` endpoint behaves. The Datadog Agent uses this endpoint to submit host tags and other metadata.

The following arguments are supported:

Expand table

| Name       | Type     | Description                                                   | Default | Required |
|------------|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `behavior` | `string` | How the `/intake` endpoint behaves: `"disable"` or `"proxy"`. |         | yes      |

Set `behavior` to `"proxy"` to forward `/intake` requests to Datadog’s API. Proxying requires a nested `proxy { api { ... } }` block with a Datadog API key. When set to `"disable"`, the endpoint returns an error for any incoming request.

### `proxy`

The `proxy` block configures how the `/intake` proxy operates. It’s only used when `behavior` is set to `"proxy"`. If `behavior` isn’t `"proxy"`, this block is ignored.

This block has no arguments and is configured with the nested \[`api`]\[api] block.

### `api`

The `api` block configures the Datadog API connection used by the intake proxy.

The following arguments are supported:

Expand table

| Name                  | Type     | Description                                | Default           | Required |
|-----------------------|----------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------|----------|
| `key`                 | `secret` | Datadog API key.                           |                   | yes      |
| `site`                | `string` | Datadog site to send data to.              | `"datadoghq.com"` | no       |
| `fail_on_invalid_key` | `bool`   | Exit on startup if the API key is invalid. | `false`           | no       |

### `debug_metrics`

The `debug_metrics` block configures the metrics that this component generates to monitor its state.

The following arguments are supported:

Expand table

| Name                               | Type      | Description                                          | Default | Required |
|------------------------------------|-----------|------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `disable_high_cardinality_metrics` | `boolean` | Whether to disable certain high cardinality metrics. | `true`  | no       |

`disable_high_cardinality_metrics` is the Alloy equivalent to the `telemetry.disableHighCardinalityMetrics` feature gate in the OpenTelemetry Collector. It removes attributes that could cause high cardinality metrics. For example, attributes with IP addresses and port numbers in metrics about HTTP and gRPC connections are removed.

> Note
> 
> If configured, `disable_high_cardinality_metrics` only applies to `otelcol.exporter.*` and `otelcol.receiver.*` components.

### `tls`

The `tls` block configures TLS settings used for a server. If the `tls` block isn’t provided, TLS won’t be used for connections to the server.

The following arguments are supported:

Expand table

| Name                           | Type           | Description                                                                                  | Default     | Required |
|--------------------------------|----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------|----------|
| `ca_file`                      | `string`       | Path to the CA file.                                                                         |             | no       |
| `ca_pem`                       | `string`       | CA PEM-encoded text to validate the server with.                                             |             | no       |
| `cert_file`                    | `string`       | Path to the TLS certificate.                                                                 |             | no       |
| `cert_pem`                     | `string`       | Certificate PEM-encoded text for client authentication.                                      |             | no       |
| `cipher_suites`                | `list(string)` | A list of TLS cipher suites that the TLS transport can use.                                  | `[]`        | no       |
| `client_ca_file`               | `string`       | Path to the TLS cert to use by the server to verify a client certificate.                    |             | no       |
| `curve_preferences`            | `list(string)` | Set of elliptic curves to use in a handshake.                                                | `[]`        | no       |
| `include_system_ca_certs_pool` | `boolean`      | Whether to load the system certificate authorities pool alongside the certificate authority. | `false`     | no       |
| `key_file`                     | `string`       | Path to the TLS certificate key.                                                             |             | no       |
| `key_pem`                      | `secret`       | Key PEM-encoded text for client authentication.                                              |             | no       |
| `max_version`                  | `string`       | Maximum acceptable TLS version for connections.                                              | `"TLS 1.3"` | no       |
| `min_version`                  | `string`       | Minimum acceptable TLS version for connections.                                              | `"TLS 1.2"` | no       |
| `reload_interval`              | `duration`     | The duration after which the certificate is reloaded.                                        | `"0s"`      | no       |

If `reload_interval` is set to `"0s"`, the certificate never reloaded.

The following pairs of arguments are mutually exclusive and can’t both be set simultaneously:

- `ca_pem` and `ca_file`
- `cert_pem` and `cert_file`
- `key_pem` and `key_file`

If `cipher_suites` is left blank, a safe default list is used. Refer to the [Go Cipher Suites documentation](https://go.dev/src/crypto/tls/cipher_suites.go) for a list of supported cipher suites.

`client_ca_file` sets the `ClientCA` and `ClientAuth` to `RequireAndVerifyClientCert` in the `TLSConfig`. Refer to the [Go TLS documentation](https://godoc.org/crypto/tls#Config) for more information.

The `curve_preferences` argument determines the set of elliptic curves to prefer during a handshake in preference order. If not provided, a default list is used. The set of elliptic curves available are `X25519`, `P521`, `P256`, and `P384`.

### `tpm`

The `tpm` block configures retrieving the TLS `key_file` from a trusted device.

The following arguments are supported:

Expand table

| Name         | Type     | Description                                                        | Default | Required |
|--------------|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `auth`       | `string` | The authorization value used to authenticate the TPM device.       | `""`    | no       |
| `enabled`    | `bool`   | Load the `tls.key_file` from TPM.                                  | `false` | no       |
| `owner_auth` | `string` | The owner authorization value used to authenticate the TPM device. | `""`    | no       |
| `path`       | `string` | Path to the TPM device or Unix domain socket.                      | `""`    | no       |

The [trusted platform module](https://trustedcomputinggroup.org/resource/trusted-platform-module-tpm-summary/) (TPM) configuration can be used for loading TLS key from TPM. Currently only TSS2 format is supported.

The `path` attribute is not supported on Windows.

In the following example, the private key `my-tss2-key.key` in TSS2 format is loaded from the TPM device `/dev/tmprm0`:

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
otelcol.example.component "<LABEL>" {
    ...
    tls {
        ...
        key_file = "my-tss2-key.key"
        tpm {
            enabled = true
            path = "/dev/tpmrm0"
        }
    }
}
```

## Exported fields

`otelcol.receiver.datadog` doesn’t export any fields.

## Component health

`otelcol.receiver.datadog` is only reported as unhealthy if given an invalid configuration.

## Debug information

`otelcol.receiver.datadog` doesn’t expose any component-specific debug information.

## Example

This example forwards received telemetry through a batch processor before finally sending it to an OTLP-capable endpoint:

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
otelcol.receiver.datadog "default" {
  output {
    metrics = [otelcol.processor.batch.default.input]
    traces  = [otelcol.processor.batch.default.input]
  }
}

otelcol.processor.batch "default" {
  output {
    metrics = [otelcol.exporter.otlphttp.default.input]
    traces  = [otelcol.exporter.otlphttp.default.input]
  }
}

otelcol.exporter.otlphttp "default" {
  client {
    endpoint = sys.env("OTLP_ENDPOINT")
  }
}
```

## Proxy `/intake` requests to Datadog

You can configure the receiver to forward `/intake` requests (host tags and metadata) to Datadog’s API while processing metrics and traces locally:

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
otelcol.receiver.datadog "default" {
  intake {
    behavior = "proxy"
    proxy {
      api {
        key  = sys.env("DD_API_KEY")
        site = "datadoghq.eu"
      }
    }
  }

  output {
    metrics = [otelcol.processor.batch.default.input]
    traces  = [otelcol.processor.batch.default.input]
  }
}
```

## Enable authentication

You can create a `otelcol.receiver.datadog` component that requires authentication for requests. This is useful for limiting who can push data to the server.

> Note
> 
> Not all OpenTelemetry Collector authentication plugins support receiver authentication. Refer to the [documentation](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/otelcol/) for each `otelcol.auth.*` component to determine its compatibility.

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
otelcol.receiver.datadog "default" {
  output {
    metrics = [otelcol.processor.batch.default.input]
    traces  = [otelcol.processor.batch.default.input]
  }
  auth = otelcol.auth.basic.creds.handler
}

otelcol.auth.basic "creds" {
    username = sys.env("<USERNAME>")
    password = sys.env("<PASSWORD>")
}
```

## Compatible components

`otelcol.receiver.datadog` can accept arguments from the following components:

- Components that export [OpenTelemetry `otelcol.Consumer`](../../../compatibility/#opentelemetry-otelcolconsumer-exporters)

> Note
> 
> Connecting some components may not be sensible or components may require further configuration to make the connection work correctly. Refer to the linked documentation for more details.