Path to OTel Code Owner: Lessons from otelhttp (Grafana OpenTelemetry Community Call #10)

Grafana

Sep 29, 2026

In this episode of the Grafana OTel Community Call, we're joined by Sonal Gaud, code owner of otelhttp on opentelemetry-go-contrib. We'll trace her path from writing test-coverage PRs to owning the instrumentation library that most Go services use to get HTTP traces and metrics for free — and go deep on how otelhttp actually works under the hood: context propagation, metrics/attributes via the Labeler, route cardinality, and how the library evolves alongside HTTP semantic conventions.

We'll also talk about what it's like to review PRs and protect backward compatibility in a widely used contrib package, and where otelhttp is headed next.

Guest:
· Sonal Gaud (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonal-gaud/, https://sonalgaud12.github.io/)
Hosts:
· Imma Valls (https://www.linkedin.com/in/imma-valls/)

Join the conversation, bring your questions, and learn how this project evolves with contributions from across the community.

Links shared during the livestream:
· https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/tree/main/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp
· https://pkg.go.dev/go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp
· https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/blob/main/CODEOWNERS
· https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/pull/8801
· https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/http/
· https://clotributor.dev/
· https://github.com/open-telemetry/community/blob/main/policies/genai.md
· https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib/pull/8587
· https://fossunited.org/c/indiafoss/2026/cfp/9i6peimmer
· https://www.youtube.com/watch