Add configurable OTLP resource attributes to workflow observability by Copilot · Pull Request #39636 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-06-16T18:19:05Z

Workflows could configure OTLP endpoints and headers, but not custom OTel resource attributes. This adds a first-class observability.otlp.resource-attributes field that is appended to the generated OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES, so workflow-defined metadata is carried across gh-aw and engine-emitted spans.

Schema and frontmatter support
- Adds observability.otlp.resource-attributes to the workflow schema and typed frontmatter parsing.
- Keeps the field shape as a string map so values can use GitHub Actions expressions.
OTEL resource attribute generation
- Merges user-defined resource attributes into OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES rather than replacing the built-in gh-aw attributes.
- Reuses spec-correct percent-encoding for static keys and values.
- Preserves GitHub Actions expressions in values so runtime context can still be injected.
Safety guardrails
- Rejects secrets.* and vars.* references in resource attribute values.
- This prevents exporting sensitive configuration into tracing backends via resource metadata.
Imported workflow behavior
- Merges imported resource-attributes with main-workflow precedence, matching the existing observability merge model.

Example:

observability:
  otlp:
    endpoint: ${{ secrets.OTLP_ENDPOINT }}
    resource-attributes:
      my.target-repo: ${{ github.event.client_payload.repository.full_name || github.repository }}
      my.actor: ${{ github.actor }}
      my.event: repository_dispatch

This compiles into OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES alongside the existing gh-aw attributes, with static values percent-encoded and expression values preserved for runtime evaluation.

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Note

Copilot was unable to run its full agentic suite in this review.

Adds support for workflow-defined OTLP resource attributes so custom metadata is appended to OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES (without replacing built-ins), including schema/frontmatter support, imported-workflow merge behavior, and safety validation to prevent leaking secrets.* / vars.*.

Changes:

Adds observability.otlp.resource-attributes to schema + typed frontmatter parsing.
Appends sorted user resource attributes to generated OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES with percent-encoding (static values) while preserving expressions.
Merges imported/main workflow resource attributes with main-workflow precedence and validates that values don’t reference secrets.* / vars.*.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
pkg/workflow/observability_otlp.go	Implements resource-attribute collection, merge helpers, validation, and `OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES` formatting/appending.
pkg/workflow/observability_otlp_test.go	Adds unit tests for injection, parsing, collection, and secrets/vars validation.
pkg/workflow/frontmatter_types.go	Extends `OTLPConfig` with a `ResourceAttributes` map and documentation.
pkg/workflow/compiler_validators.go	Hooks resource-attribute validation into the compiler validation pipeline.
pkg/workflow/compiler_orchestrator_workflow.go	Merges imported/main `resource-attributes` into raw frontmatter.
pkg/workflow/compiler_orchestrator_workflow_test.go	Tests imported observability merge behavior for resource attributes.
pkg/parser/schemas/main_workflow_schema.json	Adds `observability.otlp.resource-attributes` to the JSON schema.
pkg/parser/schema_test.go	Adds schema validation test for `resource-attributes`.

Copilot's findings

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Files reviewed: 8/8 changed files
Comments generated: 5

 var otlpLog = logger.New("workflow:observability_otlp")

 var sentryEndpointExpressionPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)^\$\{\{\s*secrets\.` + regexp.QuoteMeta(constants.OTELSentryEndpointSecretName) + `\s*\}\}$`)
+var otlpResourceAttributeSecretRefPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`\$\{\{\s*(secrets|vars)\.`)


+func validateOTLPResourceAttributes(workflowData *WorkflowData) error {
+	for key, value := range getOTLPResourceAttributes(workflowData) {
+		if otlpResourceAttributeSecretRefPattern.MatchString(value) {
+			return fmt.Errorf(
+				"observability.otlp.resource-attributes.%s must not reference secrets.* or vars.*; OTEL resource attributes are exported to tracing backends and are not treated as secret values",
+				key,
+			)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}


+func formatOTELResourceAttribute(key, value string) string {
+	trimmedKey := strings.TrimSpace(key)
+	trimmedValue := strings.TrimSpace(value)
+	if strings.Contains(trimmedValue, "${{") {
+		return encodeOTELResourceAttributeValue(trimmedKey) + "=" + trimmedValue
+	}
+	return encodeOTELResourceAttributeValue(trimmedKey) + "=" + encodeOTELResourceAttributeValue(trimmedValue)
+}


+	resourceAttrs := getOTLPResourceAttributes(workflowData)
+	if len(resourceAttrs) > 0 {
+		keys := make([]string, 0, len(resourceAttrs))
+		for key := range resourceAttrs {
+			keys = append(keys, key)
+		}
+		sort.Strings(keys)
+		for _, key := range keys {
+			attrs = append(attrs, formatOTELResourceAttribute(key, resourceAttrs[key]))
+		}
 	}


+		assert.Contains(
+			t,
+			wd.Env,
+			"OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES: 'gh-aw.workflow.name=triage%20weekly,gh-aw.repository=${{ github.repository }},gh-aw.run.id=${{ github.run_id }},github.run_id=${{ github.run_id }},gh-aw.engine.id=copilot,my.actor=${{ github.actor }},my.target%20repo=owner%2Frepo%2Cweekly'",
+		)


github-actions · 2026-06-16T19:31:00Z

@copilot review all comments and address unresolved review feedback for this PR.

Generated by 👨‍🍳 PR Sous Chef · ◷

github-actions · 2026-06-16T19:32:25Z

🔭 OTel Triage — This PR introduces configurable OTLP resource attributes (observability). Per customer triage rules, it has been labeled otel and is routed to @mnkeifer for review.

Generated by 🔧 PR Triage Agent · ◷

pelikhan · 2026-06-16T20:11:06Z

@@ -290,11 +302,12 @@ func applyMergedRawObservability(
 	rawFrontmatter map[string]any,
 	mergedEndpoints []any,
 	mergedAttrs map[string]string,


@copilot check that the next feature is not just a duplicate of mergeAttrs

Confirmed — mergeOTLPCustomAttributes was indeed just a one-line wrapper around mergeOTLPStringMaps and added no value. Removed it and updated both the mergeImportedObservability call site and the test to use mergeOTLPStringMaps directly, so both span-attribute and resource-attribute merges now use the same function consistently (commit Remove redundant mergeOTLPCustomAttributes wrapper).

…ngMaps directly Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-06-16T20:24:56Z

@copilot review existing otel attribute to see if it wasn't supported yet

Copilot · 2026-06-16T20:30:05Z

@copilot review existing otel attribute to see if it wasn't supported yet

The existing observability.otlp.attributes is a different, pre-existing feature — it carries custom per-span attributes via GH_AW_OTLP_ATTRIBUTES (a JSON env var consumed by the gh-aw runtime to attach attributes to individual spans). This PR adds observability.otlp.resource-attributes, which is a distinct OTel concept: resource attributes describe the emitting resource and are injected into OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES, which is inherited by all spans including those from child OTel SDKs (Copilot CLI, MCP gateway, etc.). No duplication — both fields are needed and serve different OTel layers.

Initial plan

a7939fe

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and pelikhan Jun 16, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan June 16, 2026 18:19 View session

Add OTLP resource attributes support

1a7de87

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Add support for configurable custom OTel resource attributes~~ Add configurable OTLP resource attributes to workflow observability Jun 16, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan June 16, 2026 18:37

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan June 16, 2026 18:37

pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review June 16, 2026 18:50

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings June 16, 2026 18:50

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of pelikhan June 16, 2026 18:50 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jun 16, 2026

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github-actions Bot added the otel label Jun 16, 2026

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Jun 16, 2026

[PR Triage Report] 🤖 PR Triage Report — 2026-06-16 (Run §27642308894) #39659

Closed

pelikhan reviewed Jun 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan June 16, 2026 20:12 View session

Remove redundant mergeOTLPCustomAttributes wrapper, use mergeOTLPStri…

c7f2d65

…ngMaps directly Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan June 16, 2026 20:23

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan June 16, 2026 20:23

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan June 16, 2026 20:25 View session

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan June 16, 2026 20:30

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/feature-custom-otel-resource-attributes

510e161

pelikhan merged commit 401bd13 into main Jun 16, 2026
29 checks passed

pelikhan deleted the copilot/feature-custom-otel-resource-attributes branch June 16, 2026 21:13

Copilot AI mentioned this pull request Jun 18, 2026

Surface recent AWF schema features in canonical docs and regenerate frontmatter reference #39956

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Add configurable OTLP resource attributes to workflow observability#39636

Add configurable OTLP resource attributes to workflow observability#39636
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