Asynchronous operations

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Updated at March 24, 2026

Naming convention
Attributes
Examples
- Multiple producers, one consumer
- One producer, multiple consumers

In asynchronous communication via message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ, etc.), span relationships are not modeled as parent–child; instead, span links are used. They connect spans from different traces, e.g., when multiple producers send messages and a consumer processes them in a single batch.

Naming convention

The span name has the {messaging.operation.name} {destination} format, e.g., send orders or process orders. For a topic name with high cardinality, use a template (messaging.destination.template). If the topic is unknown, use unknown. For more information, see the messaging span naming specification.

Attributes

Attribute	Description
`messaging.system`	Messaging system: `kafka`, `rabbitmq`, etc.
`messaging.destination.name`	Topic or queue name: `orders`
`messaging.operation.name`	System operation name: `send`, `poll`, or `process`
`messaging.operation.type`	Standardized type: `send`, `receive`, `process`, `create`, or `settle`
`messaging.message.id`	Message ID
`messaging.batch.message_count`	Number of messages in the batch

For a full list of attributes, see the OpenTelemetry specification for messaging spans.

Examples

Multiple producers, one consumer

Producer A and Producer B each send a message to the orders Kafka topic. The consumer receives both messages in a single batch (poll orders span) and then creates an individual process orders span for each message. Span links are attached to the process spans, connecting each message back to its producer:

Attribute	Producer A	Producer B	Consumer: receive	Consumer: process A	Consumer: process B
Name	`send orders`	`send orders`	`poll orders`	`process orders`	`process orders`
Kind	`PRODUCER`	`PRODUCER`	`CLIENT`	`CONSUMER`	`CONSUMER`
Status	`OK`	`OK`	`OK`	`OK`	`OK`
Links	—	—	—	→ `send orders` (Producer A)	→ `send orders` (Producer B)
`messaging.system`	`kafka`	`kafka`	`kafka`	`kafka`	`kafka`
`messaging.destination.name`	`orders`	`orders`	`orders`	`orders`	`orders`
`messaging.operation.name`	`send`	`send`	`poll`	`process`	`process`
`messaging.operation.type`	`send`	`send`	`receive`	`process`	`process`
`messaging.message.id`	`a1`	`a2`	—	`a1`	`a2`
`messaging.batch.message_count`	—	—	`2`	—	—

One producer, multiple consumers

A producer sends a message to the orders topic. Consumer X and Consumer Y from different consumer groups independently process this message. Each process span is connected to the producer's span via a span link:

Attribute	Producer	Consumer X	Consumer Y
Name	`send orders`	`process orders`	`process orders`
Kind	`PRODUCER`	`CONSUMER`	`CONSUMER`
Status	`OK`	`OK`	`OK`
Links	—	→ `send orders` (Producer)	→ `send orders` (Producer)
`messaging.system`	`kafka`	`kafka`	`kafka`
`messaging.destination.name`	`orders`	`orders`	`orders`
`messaging.operation.name`	`send`	`process`	`process`
`messaging.operation.type`	`send`	`process`	`process`
`messaging.message.id`	`a1`	`a1`	`a1`

Asynchronous operations

Naming conventionNaming convention

AttributesAttributes

ExamplesExamples

Multiple producers, one consumerMultiple producers, one consumer

One producer, multiple consumersOne producer, multiple consumers

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Naming convention

Attributes

Examples

Multiple producers, one consumer

One producer, multiple consumers