Microsoft OpenTelemetry Distro — Greenfield Setup

When to Use

• User asks to "add observability" or "add telemetry" to a .NET app
• User wants to set up Agent 365, Azure Monitor, or OTLP export
• User is starting a new agent project and needs tracing
• User asks about Microsoft.OpenTelemetry package

Procedure

1. Detect App Type

Scan the project to determine the app type:

• ASP.NET Core — has WebApplication.CreateBuilder() or IHostApplicationBuilder → use hosted pattern
• Console / Background Service — no web host, uses OpenTelemetrySdk.Create() → use console pattern
• Agent Framework — references Microsoft.Agents.Builder or Microsoft.Agents.AI → use Agent Framework pattern

2. Install Package

Add to the project's .csproj:

<PackageReference Include="Microsoft.OpenTelemetry" Version="<latest>" />

Remove any individual OpenTelemetry packages the distro replaces:

• OpenTelemetry.Extensions.Hosting
• OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.AspNetCore
• OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.Http
• OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.SqlClient
• OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console
• OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol

3. Configure Exporters

See export targets reference for all options.

Minimal setup in Program.cs:

using Microsoft.OpenTelemetry;

builder.UseMicrosoftOpenTelemetry(o =>
{
    o.Exporters = ExportTarget.Console | ExportTarget.Agent365;
});

4. Set Up Authentication

See token resolver patterns.

• Agent Framework apps: No code needed — DI token cache auto-registers
• Custom apps: Set o.Agent365.TokenResolver

5. Add Baggage Context

See baggage setup.

Baggage propagates tenant/agent identity to all child spans.

6. Tune Instrumentation (optional)

See instrumentation options.

7. Verify

• Build the project
• Run with ExportTarget.Console to see spans in stdout
• Verify gen_ai.agent.id and microsoft.tenant.id appear on spans
• See troubleshooting if spans are missing