diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md index 50a816baa30..71ec5ceaeb6 100644 --- a/CHANGELOG.md +++ b/CHANGELOG.md @@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ release. ### Common +- ⚠️ **IMPORTANT**: Extending the set of standard attribute value types is no longer a breaking change. + ([#4614](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/4614)) + ### Supplementary Guidelines ### OTEPs diff --git a/specification/common/README.md b/specification/common/README.md index 4b95d8b8508..82f634d5dc9 100644 --- a/specification/common/README.md +++ b/specification/common/README.md @@ -83,21 +83,6 @@ reflects that LogRecord attributes are expected to model data produced from external log APIs, which do not necessarily have the same value type restrictions as the standard attribute definition. -Note: Extending the set of standard attribute value types is a breaking change. -This was decided after extensive debate, with arguments as follows: - -* Limiting the types of attribute values to a set which has proved sufficient - during several years of OpenTelemetry's development is a useful guardrail for - design. In taking additional value types off the table, we narrow the solution - space and have more productive design conversations. -* Upon proposing to extend support for complex value types, we received significant - pushback. Limiting attribute value types to primitives and arrays of primitives - simplifies data consumers' efforts to create search indexes and perform statistical - analysis. -* To address concerns over restricting standard attributes to primitive types, it was - called out that complex types can be encoded as existing primitive types, such as - representing datetime as a string or 64 bit integer. - ### Attribute Limits Execution of erroneous code can result in unintended attributes. If there are no