Article Series

OpenTelemetry NodeJS Tutorial

Complete guide to implementing OpenTelemetry in Node.js microservices applications

10 Articles

50 Learning Outcomes

Beginner to Advanced

OpenTelemetry NodeJS Tutorial Hero Image

Articles in this Series

10 articles • Start with Part 1 and progress sequentially

This comprehensive tutorial series will transform your Node.js microservices from isolated components into a fully observable distributed system using OpenTelemetry and SigNoz. Starting with environment setup, you'll progress through automatic and manual instrumentation to production-ready observability.

Learn to implement end-to-end observability: distributed tracing across microservices, custom metrics for business logic, structured logging with trace correlation, and unified visualization in SigNoz. You'll work with a real microservices application including Order, Product, User, and Payment services, gaining hands-on experience with OpenTelemetry Collector, custom spans, and advanced monitoring techniques.

By the end, you'll have mastered observability for Node.js microservices, from automatic instrumentation to custom metrics and log correlation, all visualized in SigNoz for enhanced debugging and performance monitoring.

What You'll Learn

Master OpenTelemetry observability in Next.js with these comprehensive learning outcomes

Part 1

Overview - Implementing OpenTelemetry in NodeJS with SigNoz

Understand the scope and structure of the NodeJS OpenTelemetry tutorial series

Learn about microservices observability challenges and solutions

Identify prerequisites for implementing OpenTelemetry in NodeJS

Set expectations for mastering distributed tracing, metrics, and logging

Overview of the sample microservices application architecture

Part 2

Setting Up Docker and Your Local Environment - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Install and configure Docker and Docker Compose for containerization

Set up NodeJS development environment with proper version management

Install and configure MongoDB Compass for database management

Set up Postman for API testing and validation

Verify all tools are working correctly for the tutorial series

Part 3

Understanding and Cloning the Sample Application - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Clone and understand the sample microservices application structure

Set up Order, Product, User, and Payment services with Docker

Configure MongoDB database with mock data for testing

Test service communication and API endpoints

Understand the baseline application before adding observability

Part 4

Autoinstrumentation for Traces - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Install and configure OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation libraries

Set up automatic trace collection across multiple microservices

Configure SigNoz as the observability backend for trace data

Understand trace propagation between distributed services

Analyze automatically generated traces in SigNoz dashboard

Part 5

Exploring Metrics Created via Traces in SigNoz - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Understand how metrics are derived from OpenTelemetry traces

Explore RED metrics (Rate, Errors, Duration) in SigNoz

Analyze latency distributions and request patterns

Set up alerts and thresholds for key performance indicators

Create custom dashboards for monitoring microservices health

Part 6

Setting up the Otel Collector - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Understand when to use OpenTelemetry Collector vs direct export

Configure Collector for centralized telemetry data management

Set up data processing, filtering, and enrichment pipelines

Configure multiple exporters for different observability backends

Troubleshoot common Collector configuration and connectivity issues

Part 7

Manual Instrumentation for Traces - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Implement manual span creation for custom business logic

Add attributes and events to spans for enhanced context

Track specific operations like order validation processes

Handle span lifecycle management and error recording

Visualize custom spans alongside auto-instrumented traces

Part 8

Setting up Custom Metrics - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Understand different types of OpenTelemetry metrics (Counter, Gauge, Histogram)

Implement custom metrics for business-specific measurements

Configure MeterProvider and metric exporters

Track performance metrics like order validation duration

Create custom metric dashboards in SigNoz

Part 9

Sending Logs to SigNoz - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Set up structured logging with Pino library

Configure OpenTelemetry logging SDK for NodeJS

Implement log correlation with trace and span IDs

Send logs to SigNoz through OpenTelemetry Collector

Analyze correlated logs and traces in SigNoz interface

Part 10

Correlating Traces, Logs, and Metrics - OpenTelemetry NodeJS

Understand the benefits of correlating observability signals

Configure trace ID and span ID injection in logs

Navigate between traces, logs, and metrics in SigNoz

Debug complex issues using correlated observability data

Implement best practices for unified observability

Ready to Start Learning?

Begin your journey to mastering OpenTelemetry observability in Next.js applications

Start with Part 1 Get Started with SigNoz - Free