Enhanced display for OpenTelemetry log lines
Enhanced display for OpenTelemetry log lines
Grafana now provides smarter defaults for browsing OpenTelemetry log lines, optimized for the way OpenTelemetry structures log data.
What changed
OpenTelemetry log producers send less information in the log body and more data as structured metadata, or key–value pairs for resource attributes, log fields, and log attributes. Previously, much of this information was only visible when expanding a log line, making important context easy to miss.
Grafana now detects OpenTelemetry log lines and surfaces relevant metadata directly in the log view.
How OpenTelemetry log lines are identified
A log line is treated as an OpenTelemetry log when it contains OpenTelemetry-related fields, such as severity_number. For these logs, Grafana applies OpenTelemetry-specific rendering logic by default.
What is shown by default
For OpenTelemetry log lines, Grafana now displays the following fields inline when present:
- Thread name
- Exception type
- Exception message
- Log message (body)
- Log attributes (new)
Along with these fields, the logs panel displays by default the corresponding timestamp and a colored level, for every log line, OpenTelemetry or not.
Log attributes
The new Log attributes field groups together key–value pairs from the log metadata that are likely to be application-specific and relevant for debugging.
It includes metadata fields that do not match the following categories:
- OpenTelemetry resource attributes. For example, infrastructure and platform metadata such as
k8s\_\*,cloud\_\*,host\_\*,service\_\*. - OpenTelemetry internal log fields such as severity, trace or span IDs, timestamps, and flags.
This means infrastructure-level and internal OpenTelemetry fields remain available in log details, while application-level metadata is promoted to the main log line view.
Suggested fields in the field selector
To make these fields easier to work with, Grafana now surfaces suggested fields in the field selector shown to the left of each log line.
For OpenTelemetry logs, the suggested fields include when present:
- Thread name
- Exception type
- Exception message
- Log attributes
- Scope name
These suggestions help you quickly add, remove, or reorder the most relevant OpenTelemetry fields without searching through the full field list.
Why this matters
Less empty log lines: As log bodies become smaller, important context no longer disappears into collapsed metadata.
Better signal at a glance: Exception details and meaningful attributes are visible without expanding every log entry.
Cleaner defaults: High-volume, low-value metadata stays out of the way while still being accessible when needed.
Overall, this change makes OpenTelemetry logs easier to scan, faster to understand, and more useful by default, especially in high-cardinality or highly structured logging environments.
