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feat: add service.instance.cost_center.id attribute #3866

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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions .chloggen/add-service-instance-cost-center-id.yaml
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# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
change_type: enhancement
component: service
note: "Add `service.instance.cost_center.id` attribute to the service registry."
issues: [3754]
31 changes: 17 additions & 14 deletions docs/registry/attributes/service.md
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Expand Up @@ -15,14 +15,17 @@ A service instance.
| Key | Stability | Value Type | Description | Example Values |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| <a id="service-criticality" href="#service-criticality">`service.criticality`</a> | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) | string | The operational criticality of the service. [1] | `critical`; `high`; `medium`; `low` |
| <a id="service-instance-id" href="#service-instance-id">`service.instance.id`</a> | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | string | The string ID of the service instance. [2] | `627cc493-f310-47de-96bd-71410b7dec09` |
| <a id="service-name" href="#service-name">`service.name`</a> | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | string | Logical name of the service. [3] | `shoppingcart` |
| <a id="service-namespace" href="#service-namespace">`service.namespace`</a> | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | string | A namespace for `service.name`. [4] | `Shop` |
| <a id="service-instance-cost-center-id" href="#service-instance-cost-center-id">`service.instance.cost_center.id`</a> | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | string | Identifier of the cost center associated with the service instance. [2] | `94002`; `engineering-platform`; `marketing-campaigns-2026` |
| <a id="service-instance-id" href="#service-instance-id">`service.instance.id`</a> | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | string | The string ID of the service instance. [3] | `627cc493-f310-47de-96bd-71410b7dec09` |
| <a id="service-name" href="#service-name">`service.name`</a> | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | string | Logical name of the service. [4] | `shoppingcart` |
| <a id="service-namespace" href="#service-namespace">`service.namespace`</a> | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | string | A namespace for `service.name`. [5] | `Shop` |
| <a id="service-version" href="#service-version">`service.version`</a> | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | string | The version string of the service component. The format is not defined by these conventions. | `2.0.0`; `a01dbef8a` |

**[1] `service.criticality`:** Application developers are encouraged to set `service.criticality` to express the operational importance of their services. Telemetry consumers MAY use this attribute to optimize telemetry collection or improve user experience.

**[2] `service.instance.id`:** MUST be unique for each instance of the same `service.namespace,service.name` pair (in other words
**[2] `service.instance.cost_center.id`:** The cost center identifier enables tracking and attribution of service resource costs to organizational units or teams. This standardization ensures consistent cost allocation across cloud providers, Kubernetes clusters, and observability platforms.

**[3] `service.instance.id`:** MUST be unique for each instance of the same `service.namespace,service.name` pair (in other words
`service.namespace,service.name,service.instance.id` triplet MUST be globally unique). The ID helps to
distinguish instances of the same service that exist at the same time (e.g. instances of a horizontally scaled
service).
Expand All @@ -49,29 +52,29 @@ However, Collectors can set the `service.instance.id` if they can unambiguously
for that telemetry. This is typically the case for scraping receivers, as they know the target address and
port.

**[3] `service.name`:** MUST be the same for all instances of horizontally scaled services. If the value was not specified, SDKs MUST fallback to `unknown_service:` concatenated with the process executable name, e.g. `unknown_service:bash`. If the process executable name is not available, the value MUST be set to `unknown_service`.
**[4] `service.name`:** MUST be the same for all instances of horizontally scaled services. If the value was not specified, SDKs MUST fallback to `unknown_service:` concatenated with the process executable name, e.g. `unknown_service:bash`. If the process executable name is not available, the value MUST be set to `unknown_service`.
The process executable name is the name of the process executable, the same value as described by the [`process.executable.name`](process.md) resource attribute.

**[4] `service.namespace`:** A string value having a meaning that helps to distinguish a group of services, for example the team name that owns a group of services. `service.name` is expected to be unique within the same namespace. If `service.namespace` is not specified in the Resource then `service.name` is expected to be unique for all services that have no explicit namespace defined (so the empty/unspecified namespace is simply one more valid namespace). Zero-length namespace string is assumed equal to unspecified namespace.
**[5] `service.namespace`:** A string value having a meaning that helps to distinguish a group of services, for example the team name that owns a group of services. `service.name` is expected to be unique within the same namespace. If `service.namespace` is not specified in the Resource then `service.name` is expected to be unique for all services that have no explicit namespace defined (so the empty/unspecified namespace is simply one more valid namespace). Zero-length namespace string is assumed equal to unspecified namespace.

---

`service.criticality` has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

| Value | Description | Stability |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `critical` | Service is business-critical; downtime directly impacts revenue, user experience, or core functionality. [5] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |
| `high` | Service is important but has degradation tolerance or fallback mechanisms. [6] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |
| `low` | Service is non-essential to core operations; used for background tasks or internal tools. [7] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |
| `medium` | Service provides supplementary functionality; degradation has limited user impact. [8] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |
| `critical` | Service is business-critical; downtime directly impacts revenue, user experience, or core functionality. [6] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |
| `high` | Service is important but has degradation tolerance or fallback mechanisms. [7] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |
| `low` | Service is non-essential to core operations; used for background tasks or internal tools. [8] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |
| `medium` | Service provides supplementary functionality; degradation has limited user impact. [9] | ![Alpha](https://img.shields.io/badge/alpha-mediumpurple) |

**[5]:** Examples include payment processing, authentication, and primary user-facing APIs.
**[6]:** Examples include payment processing, authentication, and primary user-facing APIs.

**[6]:** Examples include shopping cart, search, and recommendation engines.
**[7]:** Examples include shopping cart, search, and recommendation engines.

**[7]:** Examples include batch processors, cleanup jobs, and internal dashboards.
**[8]:** Examples include batch processors, cleanup jobs, and internal dashboards.

**[8]:** Examples include analytics, reporting, and non-essential integrations.
**[9]:** Examples include analytics, reporting, and non-essential integrations.

## Service Attributes for Peer Services

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7 changes: 5 additions & 2 deletions docs/registry/entities/service.md
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Expand Up @@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ The process executable name is the name of the process executable, the same valu
| Role | Key | Stability | [Requirement Level](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/general/attribute-requirement-level/) | Value Type | Description | Example Values |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Identity | [`service.instance.id`](/docs/registry/attributes/service.md) | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | `Required` | string | The string ID of the service instance. [7] | `627cc493-f310-47de-96bd-71410b7dec09` |
| Description | [`service.instance.cost_center.id`](/docs/registry/attributes/service.md) | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `Opt-In` | string | Identifier of the cost center associated with the service instance. [8] | `94002`; `engineering-platform`; `marketing-campaigns-2026` |

**[7] `service.instance.id`:** MUST be unique for each instance of the same `service.namespace,service.name` pair (in other words
`service.namespace,service.name,service.instance.id` triplet MUST be globally unique). The ID helps to
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -84,6 +85,8 @@ However, Collectors can set the `service.instance.id` if they can unambiguously
for that telemetry. This is typically the case for scraping receivers, as they know the target address and
port.

**[8] `service.instance.cost_center.id`:** The cost center identifier enables tracking and attribution of service resource costs to organizational units or teams. This standardization ensures consistent cost allocation across cloud providers, Kubernetes clusters, and observability platforms.

## Service Namespace

**Status:** ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen)
Expand All @@ -96,6 +99,6 @@ port.

| Role | Key | Stability | [Requirement Level](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/general/attribute-requirement-level/) | Value Type | Description | Example Values |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Identity | [`service.namespace`](/docs/registry/attributes/service.md) | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | `Required` | string | A namespace for `service.name`. [8] | `Shop` |
| Identity | [`service.namespace`](/docs/registry/attributes/service.md) | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | `Required` | string | A namespace for `service.name`. [9] | `Shop` |

**[8] `service.namespace`:** A string value having a meaning that helps to distinguish a group of services, for example the team name that owns a group of services. `service.name` is expected to be unique within the same namespace. If `service.namespace` is not specified in the Resource then `service.name` is expected to be unique for all services that have no explicit namespace defined (so the empty/unspecified namespace is simply one more valid namespace). Zero-length namespace string is assumed equal to unspecified namespace.
**[9] `service.namespace`:** A string value having a meaning that helps to distinguish a group of services, for example the team name that owns a group of services. `service.name` is expected to be unique within the same namespace. If `service.namespace` is not specified in the Resource then `service.name` is expected to be unique for all services that have no explicit namespace defined (so the empty/unspecified namespace is simply one more valid namespace). Zero-length namespace string is assumed equal to unspecified namespace.
3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions docs/resource/service.md
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Expand Up @@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ The process executable name is the name of the process executable, the same valu
| Role | Key | Stability | [Requirement Level](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/general/attribute-requirement-level/) | Value Type | Description | Example Values |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Identity | [`service.instance.id`](/docs/registry/attributes/service.md) | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) | `Required` | string | The string ID of the service instance. [1] | `627cc493-f310-47de-96bd-71410b7dec09` |
| Description | [`service.instance.cost_center.id`](/docs/registry/attributes/service.md) | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) | `Opt-In` | string | Identifier of the cost center associated with the service instance. [2] | `94002`; `engineering-platform`; `marketing-campaigns-2026` |

**[1] `service.instance.id`:** MUST be unique for each instance of the same `service.namespace,service.name` pair (in other words
`service.namespace,service.name,service.instance.id` triplet MUST be globally unique). The ID helps to
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -138,6 +139,8 @@ likely be wrong, as the Collector might not know from which container within tha
However, Collectors can set the `service.instance.id` if they can unambiguously determine the service instance
for that telemetry. This is typically the case for scraping receivers, as they know the target address and
port.

**[2] `service.instance.cost_center.id`:** The cost center identifier enables tracking and attribution of service resource costs to organizational units or teams. This standardization ensures consistent cost allocation across cloud providers, Kubernetes clusters, and observability platforms.
<!-- prettier-ignore-end -->
<!-- END AUTOGENERATED TEXT -->
<!-- endsemconv -->
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions model/service/entities.yaml
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Expand Up @@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ groups:
- ref: service.instance.id
role: identifying
requirement_level: required
- ref: service.instance.cost_center.id
requirement_level: opt_in
role: descriptive
- id: entity.service.namespace
type: entity
name: service.namespace
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10 changes: 10 additions & 0 deletions model/service/registry.yaml
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Expand Up @@ -112,6 +112,16 @@ groups:
consumers MAY use this attribute to optimize telemetry collection
or improve user experience.
examples: ["critical", "high", "medium", "low"]
- id: service.instance.cost_center.id

@joaopgrassi joaopgrassi Jul 9, 2026

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Is it really an id? Was name considered? I wonder if that's the best way forward. Sounds weird to call it id when I imagine usually we will have the name of the cost center.

@Ayushi-12 Ayushi-12 Jul 9, 2026

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We could likely have both.
cost_center IDs are also relevant as they represent a direct mapping to some account ID of a cloud provider.

@joaopgrassi joaopgrassi Jul 9, 2026

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I see. To me name sounds the most likely thing we will see. I wonder if we should discuss it more, find more examples. I particularly find id for cost center a bit unknown of. I always see it as a "human-friendly" string, usually the name of a department or smt.

Having both is fine, I just then think we need to make sure it's clear when both/or not should be populated.

@joaopgrassi joaopgrassi Jul 9, 2026

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In Dynatrace we have for example this guidance: https://docs.dynatrace.com/docs/manage-your-costs/allocate/plan-and-set-up#choose-an-allocation-model

@Ayushi-12 Ayushi-12 Jul 13, 2026

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Let's discuss this over slack. I like the idea of having both, but I would want more opinions for narrowing down the definition.

type: string
stability: development
brief: >
Identifier of the cost center associated with the service instance.
note: >
The cost center identifier enables tracking and attribution of service resource costs to
organizational units or teams. This standardization ensures consistent cost allocation
across cloud providers, Kubernetes clusters, and observability platforms.
examples: ["94002", "engineering-platform", "marketing-campaigns-2026"]
- id: registry.service.peer
type: attribute_group
display_name: Service Attributes for Peer Services
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