Configuration Reference

All configuration is via environment variables with the K6_OTEL_ prefix.

Endpoint

Variable	Default	Description
K6_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT	localhost:4317	OTLP endpoint (host:port, no scheme)
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT		Standard OTel env var (also supported)
K6_OTEL_EXPORTER_TYPE	grpc	Protocol: grpc or http
K6_OTEL_GRPC_EXPORTER_INSECURE	false	Disable TLS for gRPC
K6_OTEL_HTTP_EXPORTER_INSECURE	false	Disable TLS for HTTP
K6_OTEL_HEADERS		Headers: k1=v1,k2=v2 (URL-encoded)

Service Identity

Variable	Default	Description
K6_OTEL_SERVICE_NAME	k6	OTel service.name resource attribute
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME		Standard OTel env var (also supported)
K6_OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION	1.6.1	OTel service.version

Feature Toggles

Variable	Default	Description
K6_OTEL_TRACES_ENABLED	true	Export traces/spans
K6_OTEL_METRICS_ENABLED	true	Export metrics
K6_OTEL_BAGGAGE_ENABLED	true	Inject W3C Baggage headers
K6_OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE	1.0	Trace sampling rate (0.0 to 1.0)

Intervals

Variable	Default	Description
K6_OTEL_FLUSH_INTERVAL	1s	How often k6 flushes its sample buffer
K6_OTEL_EXPORT_INTERVAL	10s	How often the OTel SDK exports metrics

Metrics

Variable	Default	Description
K6_OTEL_METRIC_PREFIX	``	Prefix added to all metric names

Examples

Metrics only (no traces)

K6_OTEL_TRACES_ENABLED=false \
K6_OTEL_GRPC_EXPORTER_INSECURE=true \
./k6 run --out opentelemetry test.js

Traces only (no metrics)

K6_OTEL_METRICS_ENABLED=false \
K6_OTEL_GRPC_EXPORTER_INSECURE=true \
./k6 run --out opentelemetry test.js

10% trace sampling

K6_OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE=0.1 \
./k6 run --out opentelemetry test.js