URN Format for OTAP Dataflow (config=model-v1)

This document defines the canonical URN format for node identifiers in OTAP dataflow configuration files. All nodes MUST use the format below.

Canonical format

Full form (always valid):

urn:<namespace>:<kind>:<id>

Where:

• <namespace> is a vendor or vendor+product identifier (e.g., otel, microsoft).
• otel is reserved for OpenTelemetry-provided nodes.
• <id> identifies the node type.
• <kind> is one of: receiver, processor, exporter.

Note: the namespace reflects ownership/standardization of the node type, not the Rust crate or module that implements it. OpenTelemetry-provided nodes use the otel namespace even if their implementation lives in the otap crate.

OTel shortcut form

For OpenTelemetry nodes only, a shortcut form is permitted:

<kind>:<id>

This is expanded internally to:

urn:otel:<kind>:<id>

The shortcut form MUST NOT be used for any namespace other than otel. Identifiers starting with urn: are always treated as fully-qualified URNs.

Identifier rules

• : is a reserved separator and MUST NOT appear inside any component.
• Components are treated as opaque identifiers, but for OTAP dataflow we restrict components to [a-z0-9._-] for unambiguous parsing.
• Empty components are not allowed.

Examples

Full form examples:

urn:otel:receiver:otlp
urn:otel:processor:debug
urn:otel:exporter:otap
urn:microsoft:exporter:azure_monitor

Shortcut form (OTel only):

receiver:otlp
processor:debug