---
id: opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace
version: "0.65b0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace — OT Trace Propagator for OpenTelemetry

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 3.0M/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package implements a trace context propagator for OpenTelemetry that follows the OT Trace format, a lightweight header-based protocol for passing distributed trace information across service boundaries. It handles serialization of trace IDs, span IDs, sampling decisions, and baggage key-value pairs into HTTP headers, and deserializes them on the receiving end to reconstruct trace context.

The propagator integrates with OpenTelemetry's instrumentation ecosystem and is designed for systems that need to interoperate with services using the OT Trace format. Trace IDs are truncated to 64-bits before sending on the wire, retaining the least significant bits to preserve trace identity across format boundaries.

Use it for:

- Propagate trace context in microservices that use the OT Trace format instead of other trace context standards.
- Enable distributed tracing in legacy systems or third-party services that expect ot-tracer-traceid and ot-tracer-spanid headers.
- Pass baggage metadata (ot-baggage-* headers) alongside trace context for correlation and context propagation.
- Integrate OpenTelemetry instrumentation with existing systems compatible with the OT Trace format.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides OpenTelemetry trace context propagation using the OT Trace format, enabling distributed tracing across services by serializing and deserializing trace IDs, span IDs, and baggage in HTTP headers.

Yes, if your system requires OT Trace format propagation for interoperability with legacy or third-party services. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries a permissive Apache-2.0 license, and supports current Python versions (3.10 through 3.14). However, if you are building new distributed systems, consider whether alternative trace context standards would be more appropriate.

## Install

pip install opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace
uv add opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace
poetry add opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace

## Installing opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace

Before you install: Low friction: pure Python wheel with only two runtime dependencies (opentelemetry-api and opentelemetry-sdk). Actively maintained as of 2026-08-14 with recent releases; repo is not archived and receives ongoing commits.

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in most commercial and open-source projects without significant restrictions on derivative works or redistribution.

Quickstart:

pip install opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace

from opentelemetry.propagators.ot_trace import OTTracePropagator
from opentelemetry.propagators import set_global_textmap

set_global_textmap(OTTracePropagator())

Requires Python >=3.10; opentelemetry-api and opentelemetry-sdk must be installed as runtime dependencies.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the OT Trace format specification remains stable or is expected to evolve given the note that no formal specification currently exists.
- Performance characteristics when propagating baggage with many key-value pairs across high-volume trace contexts.
- Interoperability testing results with non-OpenTelemetry systems using the OT Trace format.
- How OpenTelemetry's trace IDs are truncated to 64-bit format and whether this truncation preserves trace identity.

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 3.0M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

opentelemetry trace propagation, ot trace format propagator, distributed tracing context, trace id span id propagation, opentelemetry baggage headers, http trace context serialization, distributed-tracing, opentelemetry, observability

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/opentelemetry-propagator-ot-trace/)