Provide a no-op tracer

Use a no-op Tracer when code requires tracing capability but the application should not create or export spans. The no-op implementation is part of the backend-agnostic tracing API, so it does not require an SDK or exporter.

Use the no-op implicit

Import Tracer.Implicits.noop where the application assembles the instrumented program.

import cats.effect.IO
import org.typelevel.otel4s.trace.Tracer

def program(implicit tracer: Tracer[IO]): IO[Unit] =
  tracer.span("work").surround(IO.unit)

val result: IO[Unit] = {
  import Tracer.Implicits.noop
  program
}

The program runs normally, but the no-op tracer does not record or export the span.

Pass the no-op tracer explicitly

Use Tracer.noop when the application wires dependencies explicitly:

import cats.effect.IO
import org.typelevel.otel4s.trace.Tracer

def program(implicit tracer: Tracer[IO]): IO[Unit] =
  tracer.span("work").surround(IO.unit)

val result: IO[Unit] =
  program(Tracer.noop[IO])

If the program also requires metrics capability, see Provide a no-op meter.

Provide a no-op tracer

Use the no-op implicit

Pass the no-op tracer explicitly

Related material