Summary

diagnostics-otel loads successfully, but OpenClaw does not emit any OTLP traffic to the configured endpoint.

Environment date: February 17, 2026
OpenClaw version: 2026.2.15
Host: Linux (user service)

What I configured

1. Enabled plugin:

openclaw plugins enable diagnostics-otel

2. Configured diagnostics:

"diagnostics": {
  "enabled": true,
  "otel": {
    "enabled": true,
    "endpoint": "http://localhost:4318",
    "serviceName": "openclaw-gateway",
    "traces": true,
    "metrics": true,
    "logs": true
  }
}

3. Started local OTLP HTTP collector on :4318.

Initial issue and fix

Initially plugin failed with:
Cannot find module '@opentelemetry/api'

Installed required @opentelemetry/* packages in OpenClaw runtime and restarted gateway. After that, plugin status became loaded.

Evidence after plugin is loaded

• openclaw plugins info diagnostics-otel -> Status: loaded
• Gateway logs show:
  • diagnostics-otel: logs exporter enabled (OTLP/HTTP)
  • many diagnostic events during agent runs (lane enqueue/dequeue, run start/done, heartbeat, etc.)
• Collector is listening on 0.0.0.0:4318

Expected

When diagnostic events occur, OpenClaw should send OTLP HTTP data to http://localhost:4318.

Actual

No outgoing TCP activity from OpenClaw to port 4318 during multiple agent runs.

Repro check used:

ss -tn '( sport = :4318 or dport = :4318 )'

Observed result during runs: no ESTAB/no traffic.

Collector logs show startup only, with no received traces/metrics/logs.

Reproduction

openclaw plugins enable diagnostics-otel
# set diagnostics.otel.enabled=true endpoint=http://localhost:4318
openclaw gateway restart
openclaw agent --channel telegram --session-id otel-test --message "health ping" --timeout 60

Notes

• This might be a plugin/runtime wiring issue where diagnostics events are logged but not exported.
• Please let me know if there is an additional config key required beyond diagnostics.otel.*.