Taming log noise with OpenTelemetry's drain processor
How a single processor cut our trace volume by 40 percent on the OpenRegister API.
Conduction·4 mei 20261 min read
A short note on a single OpenTelemetry collector processor that disproportionately moved the needle for us. This post is a placeholder while we draft the full version.
What changed
We added the drain processor to the OpenRegister API's collector pipeline. It clusters near-identical log lines and emits one templated trace instead of N near-duplicates. Trace volume dropped 40 percent, alert noise dropped further, and the dashboards still answered every question we asked of them.
What is next
- Roll out to OpenConnector and DocuDesk
- Document the templating rules so app authors can self-serve
- Add a guard against over-clustering on rare error paths