> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.n8n.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.n8n.io/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/basic-configuration/use-environment-variables/opentelemetry.md).

# OpenTelemetry

{% hint style="info" %}
**File-based configuration**

You can add `_FILE` to individual variables to provide their configuration in a separate file. Refer to [Keeping sensitive data in separate files](/deploy/host-n8n/configure-n8n/basic-configuration.md#keeping-sensitive-data-in-separate-files) for more details.
{% endhint %}

n8n can export workflow and node execution traces over OTLP to an OpenTelemetry collector. Refer to [OpenTelemetry tracing](/deploy/host-n8n/keep-n8n-running/trace-executions-with-opentelemetry.md) for details.

| Variable                                   | Type    | Default                 | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                | Available from |
| ------------------------------------------ | ------- | ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| `N8N_OTEL_ENABLED`                         | Boolean | `false`                 | Whether to enable OpenTelemetry tracing. When set to `false`, n8n doesn't load the OpenTelemetry SDK.                                                                                                      | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT`          | String  | `http://localhost:4318` | Base URL of the OTLP HTTP endpoint to export traces to. n8n appends the value of `N8N_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACING_PATH` to this URL.                                                                        | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACING_PATH`      | String  | `/v1/traces`            | Path appended to `N8N_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT` for exporting traces.                                                                                                                                   | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS`           | String  | -                       | Comma-separated list of `key=value` pairs to send as HTTP headers with each OTLP request. Use this for authentication tokens or tenant headers. For example: `authorization=Bearer <token>,x-tenant=acme`. | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_EXPORTER_SERVICE_NAME`           | String  | `n8n`                   | Value of the `service.name` resource attribute on exported spans.                                                                                                                                          | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE`              | Number  | `1.0`                   | Fraction of traces to export, between `0` and `1`. n8n uses a trace ID ratio sampler, so all spans in a trace are either sampled or dropped together.                                                      | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_TRACES_INCLUDE_NODE_SPANS`       | Boolean | `true`                  | Whether to emit a `node.execute` span for each node execution. Set to `false` to export workflow-level spans only.                                                                                         | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_TRACES_PRODUCTION_ONLY`          | Boolean | `true`                  | Whether to export traces for [production executions](/build/understand-workflows/understand-executions/types-of-executions.md) only. Set to `false` to export traces for all workflow executions.          | 2.25.2         |
| `N8N_OTEL_TRACES_INJECT_OUTBOUND`          | Boolean | `true`                  | Whether to inject the W3C `traceparent`/`tracesstate` headers into outbound HTTP requests made by nodes that use n8n's HTTP helpers.                                                                       | 2.19.0         |
| `N8N_OTEL_STARTUP_CONNECTIVITY_TIMEOUT_MS` | Number  | `2000`                  | Timeout (in milliseconds) for the startup connectivity check against the OTLP endpoint. n8n logs a warning if the endpoint isn't reachable within this period.                                             | 2.19.0         |


---

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