# otel-profiles

Sets up OpenTelemetry continuous profiling with eBPF across Linux hosts, containers, and Kubernetes clusters, wiring pipelines to backends like Pyroscope.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 116
- Author: ollygarden
- License: Apache-2.0 · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/otel-profiles/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-25
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/otel-profiles

## What it does

The skill guides configuring the `otelcol-ebpf-profiler` collector distribution and its `profiling` receiver. It captures execution profiles across all host processes without modifying application binaries or injecting runtime agents.

Running the profiler requires Linux kernel 5.10 or newer on `amd64` or `arm64`, plus elevated privileges such as `CAP_SYS_ADMIN` or `CAP_BPF` and a mounted `tracefs`. Because the distribution image is built `FROM scratch`, debugging directly through container `exec` commands fails; inspecting output logs is the only way to diagnose issues.

The collector service requires the `--feature-gates=+service.profilesSupport` flag enabled at launch. Note that this guide covers only the profiling signal, leaving standard SDK metrics and distributed tracing setups out of scope.

## Requirements
- Works with: Docker, Kubernetes, Grafana

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills --skill otel-profiles -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/otel-profiles/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/otel-profiles/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills --skill otel-profiles -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/otel-profiles/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills --skill otel-profiles -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/otel-profiles/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills otel-profiles
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/otel-profiles/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills --skill otel-profiles -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills --path skills/otel-profiles
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/otel-profiles/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills --skill otel-profiles -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/ollygarden/opentelemetry-agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/otel-profiles/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- set up continuous eBPF profiling on Linux or Docker
- configure a profiles pipeline targeting Pyroscope or Grafana Cloud
- create Kubernetes DaemonSet manifests for the profiling collector
- resolve collector startup failures related to tracefs and PID namespaces

## Example prompts
- Write a Docker configuration for otelcol-ebpf-profiler with tracefs mounted.
- Generate a Kubernetes DaemonSet manifest for the OpenTelemetry profiling collector.
- Help debug a missing service.profilesSupport feature gate error in the collector pipeline.

## Source text · SKILL.md · Apache-2.0

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 8bb3d7198274f469.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 8bb3d7198274f469
```text
---
name: otel-profiles
description: OpenTelemetry profiles signal and the eBPF profiler (otelcol-ebpf-profiler, `profiling` receiver). Use when setting up continuous profiling with OpenTelemetry, deploying the eBPF profiler on Linux hosts, Docker, or Kubernetes (DaemonSet, kind, k3d), building a profiles pipeline, sending OTLP profiles to Pyroscope, Grafana Cloud Profiles, or another backend, getting flame graphs from OTel, enabling off-CPU profiling, or debugging profiler errors about tracefs, PID namespaces, missing pods, or the service.profilesSupport feature gate. Not for SDK tracing or metrics setup.
---

# OpenTelemetry Profiles

The main OpenTelemetry producer is the [eBPF profiler](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-profiler), shipped as the `profiling` receiver in the [`otelcol-ebpf-profiler`](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/tree/main/distributions/otelcol-ebpf-profiler) Collector distribution. It profiles every process on a Linux host with no application changes.

Maturity: the signal entered [public Alpha](https://opentelemetry.io/blog/2026/profiles-alpha/) in March 2026, the OTLP profiles proto (`v1development`) is Development, the `profiling` receiver is Development, and the Collector gate `service.profilesSupport` is alpha. Expect breaking changes; pin the profiler, Collector, and backend versions together.

Collector-side component facts (OTLP receiver/exporter profile support, the fixed `/v1development/profiles` HTTP path, `k8s_attributes`, `memory_limiter`, `filter` `profile_conditions`) live in the `otel-collector` skill's component pages; OTTL `profile`/`profilesample` contexts live in `otel-ottl`.

`otelcol-ebpf-profiler` `0.163.1` bundles only: receivers `profiling`, `nop`; processors `memory_limiter`, `k8s_attributes`, `resource_detection`, `resource`, `transform` (plus `batch`, which does not support profiles); exporters `otlp_grpc`, `otlp_http`, `debug`, `file`, `nop`; extensions `health_check`, `pprof`, `opamp`, `offcpu`. For anything else (`filter`, the `basicauth` extension, vendor exporters), relay to a regular Collector or build a distribution (`otel-collector-builder` skill).

## Version matrix (Verified 2026-10-19)

| Artifact | Version | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| `otel/opentelemetry-collector-ebpf-profiler` | `0.163.0`, `0.163.1` (newest release at verification, 2026-10-16) | Pins ebpf-profiler `v0.0.202640`: `pid_namespace_translation_mode` ([#1801](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ebpf-profiler/pull/1801)); bundles the `offcpu` extension. |
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 8bb3d7198274f469

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 8bb3d7198274f469 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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