I have searched for all existing open AND closed issues and discussions for similar requests. I have found none that is comparable to my request.
Verify Feature Scope
I have read through and understood the scope definition for feature requests in the Issues section. I believe my feature request meets the definition and belongs in the Issues section instead of the Discussions.
Problem Description
When ENABLE_OTEL=true, all instrumentors are unconditionally enabled via manual calls in backend/open_webui/utils/telemetry/instrumentors.py:
This causes 10,000+ spans per trace in high-traffic deployments, primarily from Redis operations. Each chat message triggers hundreds of Redis calls (session management, websocket coordination, caching), and every call creates a span.
Why this is a problem
APM costs - Datadog/Grafana/etc. charge by span volume; 10k spans/trace is expensive
Unreadable traces - Traces become impossible to analyze when flooded with Redis spans
No workaround - OTEL_PYTHON_DISABLED_INSTRUMENTATIONS=redis doesn't work because open-webui uses manual instrumentation, bypassing the standard OTEL env var
if ENABLE_OTEL_REDIS:
RedisInstrumentor().instrument(request_hook=redis_request_hook)
if ENABLE_OTEL_SQLALCHEMY:
SQLAlchemyInstrumentor().instrument(engine=self.db_engine)
... etc
This follows the existing pattern of ENABLE_OTEL_TRACES, ENABLE_OTEL_METRICS, ENABLE_OTEL_LOGS.
Alternatives Considered
Alternatively, respect the standard OpenTelemetry environment variable OTEL_PYTHON_DISABLED_INSTRUMENTATIONS by checking it before calling each instrumentor.
Environment
open-webui version: 0.6.22 (PyPI)
Deployment: Kubernetes with Redis for session/websocket management
OTEL exporter: Datadog via OTLP (port 4317)
Additional Context
No response
Originally created by @hcnimi on GitHub (Jan 14, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/issues/20655
### Check Existing Issues
- [x] I have searched for all existing **open AND closed** issues and discussions for similar requests. I have found none that is comparable to my request.
### Verify Feature Scope
- [x] I have read through and understood the scope definition for feature requests in the Issues section. I believe my feature request meets the definition and belongs in the Issues section instead of the Discussions.
### Problem Description
When ENABLE_OTEL=true, all instrumentors are unconditionally enabled via manual calls in backend/open_webui/utils/telemetry/instrumentors.py:
RedisInstrumentor().instrument(request_hook=redis_request_hook)
SQLAlchemyInstrumentor().instrument(engine=self.db_engine)
# ... etc
This causes 10,000+ spans per trace in high-traffic deployments, primarily from Redis operations. Each chat message triggers hundreds of Redis calls (session management, websocket coordination, caching), and every call creates a span.
Why this is a problem
1. APM costs - Datadog/Grafana/etc. charge by span volume; 10k spans/trace is expensive
2. Unreadable traces - Traces become impossible to analyze when flooded with Redis spans
3. No workaround - OTEL_PYTHON_DISABLED_INSTRUMENTATIONS=redis doesn't work because open-webui uses manual instrumentation, bypassing the standard OTEL env var
Evidence
Datadog APM trace showing ~10k spans, mostly Redis GET/SET operations:
- Service: open-webui
- Most spans: redis.GET, redis.SET, redis.HGET, etc.
### Desired Solution you'd like
Add granular environment variables following the existing pattern:
# In env.py
ENABLE_OTEL_REDIS = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_REDIS", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_SQLALCHEMY = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_SQLALCHEMY", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_HTTPX = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_HTTPX", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_REQUESTS = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_REQUESTS", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_AIOHTTP = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_AIOHTTP", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_LOGGING = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_LOGGING", "true").lower() == "true"
# In instrumentors.py
if ENABLE_OTEL_REDIS:
RedisInstrumentor().instrument(request_hook=redis_request_hook)
if ENABLE_OTEL_SQLALCHEMY:
SQLAlchemyInstrumentor().instrument(engine=self.db_engine)
# ... etc
This follows the existing pattern of ENABLE_OTEL_TRACES, ENABLE_OTEL_METRICS, ENABLE_OTEL_LOGS.
### Alternatives Considered
Alternatively, respect the standard OpenTelemetry environment variable OTEL_PYTHON_DISABLED_INSTRUMENTATIONS by checking it before calling each instrumentor.
Environment
- open-webui version: 0.6.22 (PyPI)
- Deployment: Kubernetes with Redis for session/websocket management
- OTEL exporter: Datadog via OTLP (port 4317)
### Additional Context
_No response_
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Originally created by @hcnimi on GitHub (Jan 14, 2026).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/issues/20655
Check Existing Issues
Verify Feature Scope
Problem Description
When ENABLE_OTEL=true, all instrumentors are unconditionally enabled via manual calls in backend/open_webui/utils/telemetry/instrumentors.py:
RedisInstrumentor().instrument(request_hook=redis_request_hook)
SQLAlchemyInstrumentor().instrument(engine=self.db_engine)
... etc
This causes 10,000+ spans per trace in high-traffic deployments, primarily from Redis operations. Each chat message triggers hundreds of Redis calls (session management, websocket coordination, caching), and every call creates a span.
Why this is a problem
Evidence
Datadog APM trace showing ~10k spans, mostly Redis GET/SET operations:
Desired Solution you'd like
Add granular environment variables following the existing pattern:
In env.py
ENABLE_OTEL_REDIS = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_REDIS", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_SQLALCHEMY = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_SQLALCHEMY", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_HTTPX = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_HTTPX", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_REQUESTS = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_REQUESTS", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_AIOHTTP = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_AIOHTTP", "true").lower() == "true"
ENABLE_OTEL_LOGGING = os.environ.get("ENABLE_OTEL_LOGGING", "true").lower() == "true"
In instrumentors.py
if ENABLE_OTEL_REDIS:
RedisInstrumentor().instrument(request_hook=redis_request_hook)
if ENABLE_OTEL_SQLALCHEMY:
SQLAlchemyInstrumentor().instrument(engine=self.db_engine)
... etc
This follows the existing pattern of ENABLE_OTEL_TRACES, ENABLE_OTEL_METRICS, ENABLE_OTEL_LOGS.
Alternatives Considered
Alternatively, respect the standard OpenTelemetry environment variable OTEL_PYTHON_DISABLED_INSTRUMENTATIONS by checking it before calling each instrumentor.
Environment
Additional Context
No response
@tjbck commented on GitHub (Jan 14, 2026):
PR Welcome.