> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/observability/tracing-service/overview/trace-formats.md).

# Trace Formats

Tracing Service supports distributed trace ingestion using the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP). OTLP is a vendor-neutral format used by OpenTelemetry SDKs, agents, and collectors to export telemetry data.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** Tracing Service documentation focuses on OTLP trace ingestion. [Metrics](/cloud/observability/monitoring-service/overview.md) and [logs](/cloud/observability/logging-service/overview.md) use separate observability products and ingestion models.
{% endhint %}

## Supported trace formats

Tracing Service currently accepts traces through the following OTLP transport formats:

| **Protocol** | **Endpoint**                                     | **Note**               |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------- |
| OTLP/HTTP    | `https://<tracing-ingestion-endpoint>/v1/traces` | Sends traces over HTTP |
| OTLP/gRPC    | `grpcs://<tracing-ingestion-endpoint>/v1/traces` | Sends traces over gRPC |

## Trace payload contents

A trace payload can include the following common data structures:

* **Traces:** A logical end-to-end request or workflow.
* **Spans:** Individual operations within a trace.
* **Resource attributes:** Metadata describing the service or workload that emitted the spans, such as `service.name`.
* **Span attributes:** Key-value metadata attached to a span.
* **Events:** Timestamped annotations for notable events during span execution.
* **Links:** Relationships between spans that are not direct parent-child connections.
* **Status:** Success or error information attached to a span.


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