xk6_otel_instrumentation

README

xk6-otel-instrumentation

A highly flexible OpenTelemetry extension for Grafana k6, currently in active development (Beta phase).

Instead of using complex JavaScript wrapper functions or generating disconnected synthetic "noise" traces, this extension performs a native monkey-patching intercept on the core k6/http module directly within the Go runtime.

Once initialized, any standard http.get(), http.post(), or http.request() call automatically spawns a real OpenTelemetry client span, injects official W3C traceparent headers across the wire, and exports precise nanosecond-level client-side traces to your APM backend (Jaeger, Tempo, OpenTelemetry Collector, etc.).

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🚀 Key Features

• Zero-Code Refactoring: Seamlessly integrates into your existing test repositories. Your teams keep writing standard k6/http scripts while tracing happens transparently under the hood.
• True E2E Network Hop Visibility: Captures real client-side transport latency (DNS resolution, TLS handshake, and network transit) and displays your downstream application's internal spans nested perfectly inside the k6 root trace.
• Dual-Write Semantic Conventions: Supports both modern Stable and Legacy (retro-compatible) OpenTelemetry HTTP conventions simultaneously to ensure perfect alignment with older APM integrations (like older Python FastAPI setups).
• High-Cardinality Span Naming Protection: Native evaluation of url.template attributes to cleanly name client spans (e.g., GET /api/v1/inventory/:id) instead of raw high-cardinality URI paths.
• Dynamic Request-Level Attributes: Allows attaching on-the-fly custom metadata, tags, or IDs (such as Virtual User ID or iteration) directly to individual request spans using native k6 parameter options.
• Dynamic Resource Attributes: Pass any custom JSON object from JavaScript (e.g., domain, service.environment, pipeline.id), and the Go core will dynamically parse and bind them as OTel Resource Attributes.
• Production-Ready Sampling Strategies: Supports adaptive sampling rules (like TraceIDRatioBased) directly from the test script to optimize network bandwidth and APM storage during high-throughput load tests.
• Agnostic OTLP Exporting: Ships spans natively using the standard OTLP/gRPC protocol to any compliant OpenTelemetry ingestion engine.

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🛠️ Installation & Compilation

To build a custom k6 binary packed with this extension, you will need Go installed on your machine.

1. Install the official xk6 bundler tool:

   go install go.k6.io/xk6/cmd/xk6@latest
   

2. Compile your customized k6 binary fetching this extension directly from GitHub:

   xk6 build --with github.com/AleksuKey/xk6-otel-instrumentation@v1.0.2
   

This will output a native ./k6 executable binary in your current working directory.

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💻 Usage Quickstart

Simply import the extension and call the .instrument() method at the very beginning of your k6 script (the init context). Pass your native http module along with your custom configuration block.

import { sleep } from 'k6';
import http from 'k6/http';
import otel from 'k6/x/otel-instrumentation';

otel.instrument(http, {
  endpoint: __ENV.OTLP_ENDPOINT || "localhost:4317",
  insecure: true,
  sampler: "ratio", 
  samplingRatio: 0.2, 
  legacySemconv: true, 
  resourceAttributes: {
    "service.product": "k6",
    "service.name": "k6-agent",
    "service.environment": __ENV.ENVIRONMENT || "trn",
    "custom.pipeline.id": __ENV.BUILD_BUILDID || "local-run"
  }
});

export const options = {
  vus: 1,
  duration: '10s',
};

export default function (data) {
  http.get('http://localhost:8000/api/v1/inventory/12345', {
    headers: { 'Accept': 'application/json' },
    attributes: {
      'url.template': '/api/v1/inventory/:id',
      'client.id': '111222333',
      'test.iteration': String(__ITER),
      'is.loadtest': true
    }
  });

  sleep(1);
}

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⚙️ Configuration Options

The .instrument(httpModule, config) method accepts a flexible configuration object with the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
endpoint	String	(Required)	The OTLP gRPC endpoint where traces will be sent (e.g., localhost:4317). Do not include protocols like http://.
insecure	Boolean	false	Disables client transport security (TLS) for the gRPC exporter connection. Set to true for local development.
sampler	String	"always_on"	Trace sampling strategy. Options: "always_on", "always_off", or "ratio".
samplingRatio	Float	1.0	Controlled sample rate ratio. Used only if sampler is set to "ratio". Accepts values between 0.0 (0%) and 1.0 (100%).
legacySemconv	Boolean	false	Enables Dual-Write mode, writing both modern Stable (e.g., http.request.method) and Legacy (e.g., http.method) semantic conventions side-by-side. Useful for older APM environments.
resourceAttributes	Object	{}	A key-value map of custom strings, booleans, integers, or floats to register as OpenTelemetry global process attributes.

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🏷️ Custom Request-Level Span Attributes

You can dynamically inject custom metadata on a per-request basis. This is incredibly helpful to map virtual users, database targets, or business IDs directly onto your trace timeline.

To attach attributes to a specific request span, use the attributes or tags properties inside the k6 params argument:

// Using custom OpenTelemetry attributes
http.get('http://localhost:8000/api/v1/inventory', {
  attributes: {
    "url.template": "/api/v1/inventory",
    "my.custom.attribute": "custom-value",
    "user.tier": "premium"
  }
});

// Using standard k6 tags (they will be automatically converted to OTel attributes)
http.post('http://localhost:8000/api/v1/discounts', JSON.stringify({ discountId: "DISC-9" }), {
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  tags: {
    "url.template": "/api/v1/discounts",
    "action.name": "activate-discount",
    "custom.tag": "discounts-engine"
  }
});

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📂 Runnable Examples

We provide a collection of ready-to-use script templates to help you test the extension in your environment instantly. You can find them in the examples/ directory:

• Basic GET Request Template: Shows how to trace simple GET requests, pass parameters, and preserve high-cardinality protection using url.template.
• Complex POST Request Template: Demonstrates tracing structured POST JSON payloads and converting standard k6 tags blocks into clean OTel span attributes.

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🧠 How it Works Under the Hood

When .instrument() is executed, the extension leverages the Sobek JavaScript Runtime engine inside k6 to target and swap out native JavaScript functions (http.get, http.post, etc.) with customized Go interceptors.

 [ k6 Script ] ──> ( Native http.post ) ──> [ xk6 Interceptor (Go) ]
                                                      │
             ┌────────────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────┐
             ▼                                                                                 ▼
[ OpenTelemetry Client Span ]                                                       [ HTTP Wire Request ]
- Injects standard W3C 'traceparent'                                                - Transmits HTTP Payload
- Tracks nanosecond metrics (DNS/TLS/Transit)                                       - Propagates Context to Python/Java/Go
- Captures custom request attributes & tags                                        - Triggers seamless downstream cascades
- Ships directly via OTLP/gRPC to Jaeger                                            

This hybrid execution guarantees that you maintain the incredible raw performance and low memory footprint of k6, while achieving 100% compliant distributed tracing context propagation.

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📄 License

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.

Copyright (c) 2026 AleksuKey.

Documentation

Index

• type ClientConfig
• type OtelModule
  • func (m *OtelModule) Exports() modules.Exports
  • func (m *OtelModule) Instrument(httpObj *sobek.Object, config ClientConfig)
• type RootModule
  • func New() *RootModule
  • func (r *RootModule) NewModuleInstance(vu modules.VU) modules.Instance

Types

type ClientConfig

type ClientConfig struct {
	Endpoint           string                 `js:"endpoint"`
	Insecure           bool                   `js:"insecure"`
	Sampler            string                 `js:"sampler"`
	SamplingRatio      float64                `js:"samplingRatio"`
	ResourceAttributes map[string]interface{} `js:"resourceAttributes"`
	LegacySemconv      bool                   `js:"legacySemconv"`
}

type OtelModule

type OtelModule struct {
	// contains filtered or unexported fields
}

func (*OtelModule) Exports

func (m *OtelModule) Exports() modules.Exports

func (*OtelModule) Instrument

func (m *OtelModule) Instrument(httpObj *sobek.Object, config ClientConfig)

type RootModule

type RootModule struct{}

func New

func New() *RootModule

func (*RootModule) NewModuleInstance

func (r *RootModule) NewModuleInstance(vu modules.VU) modules.Instance