Highlight (highlight.io)

Highlight OTLP Traces API

Native OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) HTTP/JSON ingestion endpoint for distributed traces. Accepts standard OTLP `ResourceSpans` payloads at `https://otel.highlight.io/v1/traces`. Spans carry the `highlight.project_id` resource attribute and optional `highlight.session_id` / `highlight.trace_id` so server-side spans correlate with frontend session replay.

Highlight OTLP Traces API is one of 7 APIs that Highlight (highlight.io) publishes on the APIs.io network, described by a machine-readable OpenAPI specification.

This API exposes 1 machine-runnable capability that can be deployed as REST, MCP, or Agent Skill surfaces via Naftiko and 1 JSON Schema definition.

Tagged areas include Observability, OpenTelemetry, Traces, Tracing, and Distributed Tracing. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes API documentation, an OpenAPI specification, 1 Naftiko capability spec, and 1 JSON Schema.

Documentation GitHub OpenAPI

OpenAPI Specification

openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Highlight OTLP Traces API
  description: >
    Native OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) HTTP/JSON ingestion endpoint for distributed
    traces. Accepts standard OTLP `ExportTraceServiceRequest` payloads. Spans must
    carry the `highlight.project_id` resource attribute; optional
    `highlight.session_id` and `highlight.trace_id` enable correlation with the
    browser session and other backend signals.
  version: '1.0'
  contact:
    name: Highlight Support
    url: https://www.highlight.io/community
  license:
    name: Apache 2.0
    url: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
servers:
  - url: https://otel.highlight.io
    description: Highlight hosted OTLP collector
  - url: http://localhost:4318
    description: Self-hosted OTLP collector (Hobby / Enterprise)
tags:
  - name: Traces
    description: OpenTelemetry trace ingestion
paths:
  /v1/traces:
    post:
      summary: Export Trace Service
      description: >
        Submit a batch of OpenTelemetry spans. The body must be an
        `ExportTraceServiceRequest` encoded as JSON or Protobuf. The hosted
        collector strips the `highlight.project_id` resource attribute and routes
        the spans to the matching Highlight project.
      operationId: exportTraces
      tags:
        - Traces
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/ExportTraceServiceRequest'
          application/x-protobuf:
            schema:
              type: string
              format: binary
              description: Protobuf-encoded ExportTraceServiceRequest.
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Spans accepted.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ExportTraceServiceResponse'
        '400':
          description: Malformed payload or missing `highlight.project_id`.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '413':
          description: Payload too large.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '429':
          description: Rate limited.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
components:
  schemas:
    ExportTraceServiceRequest:
      type: object
      description: OpenTelemetry export envelope for trace data.
      required:
        - resourceSpans
      properties:
        resourceSpans:
          type: array
          description: Resource-scoped spans batched in this export.
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResourceSpans'
    ResourceSpans:
      type: object
      properties:
        resource:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Resource'
        scopeSpans:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ScopeSpans'
        schemaUrl:
          type: string
    Resource:
      type: object
      description: Resource attributes describing the entity emitting the spans.
      properties:
        attributes:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/KeyValue'
          description: >
            MUST include `highlight.project_id`. SHOULD include
            `service.name`, `service.version`, and `deployment.environment`.
    ScopeSpans:
      type: object
      properties:
        scope:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/InstrumentationScope'
        spans:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Span'
    InstrumentationScope:
      type: object
      properties:
        name:
          type: string
        version:
          type: string
    Span:
      type: object
      required:
        - traceId
        - spanId
        - name
        - startTimeUnixNano
        - endTimeUnixNano
      properties:
        traceId:
          type: string
          description: 16-byte trace identifier encoded as hex.
        spanId:
          type: string
          description: 8-byte span identifier encoded as hex.
        parentSpanId:
          type: string
        name:
          type: string
        kind:
          type: string
          enum: [SPAN_KIND_UNSPECIFIED, SPAN_KIND_INTERNAL, SPAN_KIND_SERVER, SPAN_KIND_CLIENT, SPAN_KIND_PRODUCER, SPAN_KIND_CONSUMER]
        startTimeUnixNano:
          type: string
          description: Span start time in nanoseconds since UNIX epoch.
        endTimeUnixNano:
          type: string
        attributes:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/KeyValue'
          description: >
            Recommended Highlight attributes: `highlight.session_id`,
            `highlight.trace_id`, `http.method`, `http.url`, `http.status_code`,
            `db.system`, `db.statement`.
        status:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Status'
        events:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/SpanEvent'
        links:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/SpanLink'
    Status:
      type: object
      properties:
        message:
          type: string
        code:
          type: string
          enum: [STATUS_CODE_UNSET, STATUS_CODE_OK, STATUS_CODE_ERROR]
    SpanEvent:
      type: object
      properties:
        timeUnixNano:
          type: string
        name:
          type: string
        attributes:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/KeyValue'
    SpanLink:
      type: object
      properties:
        traceId:
          type: string
        spanId:
          type: string
        attributes:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/KeyValue'
    KeyValue:
      type: object
      required: [key, value]
      properties:
        key:
          type: string
        value:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/AnyValue'
    AnyValue:
      type: object
      properties:
        stringValue:
          type: string
        boolValue:
          type: boolean
        intValue:
          type: string
        doubleValue:
          type: number
        arrayValue:
          type: object
          properties:
            values:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/AnyValue'
    ExportTraceServiceResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        partialSuccess:
          type: object
          properties:
            rejectedSpans:
              type: string
            errorMessage:
              type: string
    ErrorResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        code:
          type: integer
        message:
          type: string
        details:
          type: array
          items:
            type: object

Highlight OTLP Traces API

Documentation

Specifications

Schemas & Data

Other Resources

OpenAPI Specification