Snippets · Destinations

Send to Honeycomb over OTLP

Honeycomb ingests OTLP directly, so the standard otlphttp exporter is all you need, with the API key in the x-honeycomb-team header. The endpoint here is Honeycomb's EU region; use api.honeycomb.io for US teams.

OpenTelemetry Collector

OpenTelemetry Collector YAML

receivers:
  otlp:
    protocols:
      grpc:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4317

processors:
  memory_limiter:
    check_interval: 1s
    limit_percentage: 80
    spike_limit_percentage: 25
  batch:
    timeout: 5s

exporters:
  otlphttp/honeycomb:
    endpoint: https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io
    headers:
      x-honeycomb-team: ${env:HONEYCOMB_API_KEY}
    compression: gzip
    sending_queue:
      enabled: true
      queue_size: 5000
    retry_on_failure:
      enabled: true
      initial_interval: 5s
      max_interval: 30s
      max_elapsed_time: 300s

service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/honeycomb]
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/honeycomb]
    metrics:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/honeycomb]

LinkMesh

LinkMesh has no built-in template for this job. Add it as a custom destination in raw mode, with otlphttp as the component type and this body - the same lines as under otlphttp/honeycomb in the collector config:

Custom destination body (otlphttp)

endpoint: https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io
headers:
  x-honeycomb-team: ${env:HONEYCOMB_API_KEY}
compression: gzip
sending_queue:
  enabled: true
  queue_size: 5000
retry_on_failure:
  enabled: true
  initial_interval: 5s
  max_interval: 30s
  max_elapsed_time: 300s

How custom components are validated and rolled out: create a custom destination.

Download config.yamlValidated with otelcol-contrib v0.161.0 on 2026-10-26

Complete config files, each checked with the collector's own validate command (otelcol-contrib v0.161.0).

The gotcha

An unset key does not stop anything locally. In our test, with HONEYCOMB_API_KEY unset, the collector started cleanly and sent its requests with an empty x-honeycomb-team header, logging nothing about it. Nothing on the collector side tells you; check the variable before a rollout.

Manage this across a fleet

LinkMesh manages collector configuration across a fleet from one self-hosted control plane, so a change like this is made once rather than host by host. The first 25 Collectors are free after a no-card registration in the OpenSight Customer Portal (5 without one).

Doing this in LinkMesh: Create a custom source or destination

Install LinkMesh →See all snippets

Send to Honeycomb over OTLP

OpenTelemetry Collector

LinkMesh

The gotcha

Manage this across a fleet

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