DataDog · sameerank · Jun 25, 2026
@@ -18,22 +18,27 @@ The OpenFeature SDK (`dev.openfeature:sdk`) is included as a transitive dependen
 
 ### Evaluation metrics (optional)
 
-To enable evaluation metrics (`feature_flag.evaluations` counter), add the OpenTelemetry SDK dependencies:
+To enable evaluation metrics (`feature_flag.evaluations` counter), enable the Datadog Java agent's
+OpenTelemetry metrics pipeline:
+
+```shell
+DD_METRICS_OTEL_ENABLED=true
+```
+
+The provider records metrics through the OpenTelemetry Metrics API. Add `opentelemetry-api` if your
+application does not already use the OpenTelemetry API for custom metrics:
 
 ```xml
 <dependency>
     <groupId>io.opentelemetry</groupId>
-    <artifactId>opentelemetry-sdk-metrics</artifactId>
-    <version>1.47.0</version>
-</dependency>
-<dependency>
-    <groupId>io.opentelemetry</groupId>
-    <artifactId>opentelemetry-exporter-otlp</artifactId>
+    <artifactId>opentelemetry-api</artifactId>
     <version>1.47.0</version>
 </dependency>
 ```
 
-Any OpenTelemetry API 1.x version is compatible. If these dependencies are absent, the provider operates normally without metrics.
+The OpenTelemetry SDK and OTLP exporter are not required on the application classpath. The Datadog
+Java agent collects the API metric and exports it through the same OTLP pipeline as other custom OTel
+metrics.
 
 ## Usage
 
@@ -52,15 +57,20 @@ boolean enabled = client.getBooleanValue("my-feature", false,
 
 ## Evaluation metrics
 
-When the OTel SDK dependencies are on the classpath, the provider records a `feature_flag.evaluations` counter via OTLP HTTP/protobuf. Metrics are exported every 10 seconds to the Datadog Agent's OTLP receiver.
+When `DD_METRICS_OTEL_ENABLED=true` and the OpenTelemetry API is on the classpath, the provider
+records a `feature_flag.evaluations` counter. The Datadog Java agent exports it to the Datadog
+Agent's OTLP receiver using the configured OpenTelemetry metrics export interval.
 
 ### Configuration
 
-| Environment variable | Description | Default |
-|---|---|---|
-| `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_ENDPOINT` | Signal-specific OTLP endpoint (used as-is) | — |
-| `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT` | Generic OTLP endpoint (`/v1/metrics` appended) | — |
-| (none set) | Default endpoint | `http://localhost:4318/v1/metrics` |
+Configure the OTLP endpoint and protocol using the standard Datadog Java agent OpenTelemetry metrics
+settings. For example, to export metrics over OTLP/gRPC:
+
+```shell
+DD_METRICS_OTEL_ENABLED=true
+OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://<agent-host>:4317
+OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=grpc
+```
 
 ### Metric attributes
 

@@ -44,19 +44,13 @@ dependencies {
   api("dev.openfeature:sdk:1.20.1")
 
   compileOnly(project(":products:feature-flagging:feature-flagging-bootstrap"))
-  compileOnly(project(":utils:config-utils"))
   compileOnly("io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-api:1.47.0")
-  compileOnly("io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-metrics:1.47.0")
-  compileOnly("io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-otlp:1.47.0")
 
   testImplementation(project(":products:feature-flagging:feature-flagging-bootstrap"))
   testImplementation("io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-api:1.47.0")
-  testImplementation("io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-metrics:1.47.0")
-  testImplementation("io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-otlp:1.47.0")
   testImplementation(libs.bundles.junit5)
   testImplementation(libs.bundles.mockito)
   testImplementation(libs.moshi)
-  testImplementation("io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-testing:1.47.0")
   testImplementation("org.awaitility:awaitility:4.3.0")
 }
 

@@ -12,28 +12,14 @@ com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305:3.0.2=compileClasspath,spotbugs,testCompileClass
 com.google.code.gson:gson:2.13.2=spotbugs
 com.google.errorprone:error_prone_annotations:2.41.0=spotbugs
 com.squareup.moshi:moshi:1.11.0=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-com.squareup.okhttp3:okhttp:4.12.0=testRuntimeClasspath
-com.squareup.okio:okio-jvm:3.6.0=testRuntimeClasspath
-com.squareup.okio:okio:1.17.5=testCompileClasspath
-com.squareup.okio:okio:3.6.0=testRuntimeClasspath
+com.squareup.okio:okio:1.17.5=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
 com.thoughtworks.qdox:qdox:1.12.1=codenarc
 commons-io:commons-io:2.20.0=spotbugs
 de.thetaphi:forbiddenapis:3.10=compileClasspath
 dev.openfeature:sdk:1.20.1=compileClasspath,runtimeClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
 io.leangen.geantyref:geantyref:1.3.16=testRuntimeClasspath
 io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-api:1.47.0=compileClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
 io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-context:1.47.0=compileClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-common:1.47.0=testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-common:1.47.0=testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-otlp:1.47.0=compileClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-sender-okhttp:1.47.0=testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-common:1.47.0=compileClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-extension-autoconfigure-spi:1.47.0=testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-logs:1.47.0=compileClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-metrics:1.47.0=compileClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-testing:1.47.0=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk-trace:1.47.0=compileClasspath,testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
-io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk:1.47.0=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
 jaxen:jaxen:2.0.0=spotbugs
 net.bytebuddy:byte-buddy-agent:1.18.10=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
 net.bytebuddy:byte-buddy:1.18.10=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
@@ -64,11 +50,6 @@ org.jacoco:org.jacoco.agent:0.8.14=jacocoAgent,jacocoAnt
 org.jacoco:org.jacoco.ant:0.8.14=jacocoAnt
 org.jacoco:org.jacoco.core:0.8.14=jacocoAnt
 org.jacoco:org.jacoco.report:0.8.14=jacocoAnt
-org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-common:1.9.10=testRuntimeClasspath
-org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk7:1.9.10=testRuntimeClasspath
-org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk8:1.9.10=testRuntimeClasspath
-org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:1.9.10=testRuntimeClasspath
-org.jetbrains:annotations:13.0=testRuntimeClasspath
 org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api:5.14.1=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath
 org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-engine:5.14.1=testRuntimeClasspath
 org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-params:5.14.1=testCompileClasspath,testRuntimeClasspath

@@ -1,19 +1,13 @@
 package datadog.trace.api.openfeature;
 
-import datadog.trace.config.inversion.ConfigHelper;
 import dev.openfeature.sdk.ErrorCode;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.GlobalOpenTelemetry;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.common.AttributeKey;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.common.Attributes;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.common.AttributesBuilder;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.metrics.LongCounter;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.metrics.Meter;
-import io.opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.http.metrics.OtlpHttpMetricExporter;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.SdkMeterProvider;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.export.AggregationTemporalitySelector;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.export.PeriodicMetricReader;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.resources.Resource;
 import java.io.Closeable;
-import java.time.Duration;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -25,17 +19,6 @@ class FlagEvalMetrics implements Closeable {
   private static final String METRIC_NAME = "feature_flag.evaluations";
   private static final String METRIC_UNIT = "{evaluation}";
   private static final String METRIC_DESC = "Number of feature flag evaluations";
-  private static final Duration EXPORT_INTERVAL = Duration.ofSeconds(10);
-
-  private static final String DEFAULT_ENDPOINT = "http://localhost:4318/v1/metrics";
-  // Signal-specific env var (used as-is, must include /v1/metrics path)
-  private static final String ENDPOINT_ENV = "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_ENDPOINT";
-  // Generic env var fallback (base URL, /v1/metrics is appended)
-  private static final String ENDPOINT_GENERIC_ENV = "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT";
-  // OTel standard env vars for service name
-  private static final String SERVICE_NAME_ENV = "OTEL_SERVICE_NAME";
-  private static final AttributeKey<String> SERVICE_NAME_KEY =
-      AttributeKey.stringKey("service.name");
 
   private static final AttributeKey<String> ATTR_FLAG_KEY =
       AttributeKey.stringKey("feature_flag.key");
@@ -48,75 +31,34 @@ class FlagEvalMetrics implements Closeable {
       AttributeKey.stringKey("feature_flag.result.allocation_key");
 
   private volatile LongCounter counter;
-  // Typed as Closeable to avoid loading SdkMeterProvider at class-load time
-  // when the OTel SDK is absent from the classpath
-  private volatile Closeable meterProvider;
 
   FlagEvalMetrics() {
     try {
-      String endpoint = ConfigHelper.env(ENDPOINT_ENV);
-      if (endpoint == null || endpoint.isEmpty()) {
-        String base = ConfigHelper.env(ENDPOINT_GENERIC_ENV);
-        if (base != null && !base.isEmpty()) {
-          endpoint = base.endsWith("/") ? base + "v1/metrics" : base + "/v1/metrics";
-        } else {
-          endpoint = DEFAULT_ENDPOINT;
-        }
-      }
-
-      OtlpHttpMetricExporter exporter =
-          OtlpHttpMetricExporter.builder()
-              .setEndpoint(endpoint)
-              .setAggregationTemporalitySelector(AggregationTemporalitySelector.deltaPreferred())
-              .build();
-
-      PeriodicMetricReader reader =
-          PeriodicMetricReader.builder(exporter).setInterval(EXPORT_INTERVAL).build();
-
-      // Build resource with service name from OTEL_SERVICE_NAME env var
-      // Resource.getDefault() only provides unknown_service:java, so we read env vars manually
-      Resource resource = buildResource();
-
-      SdkMeterProvider sdkMeterProvider =
-          SdkMeterProvider.builder().setResource(resource).registerMetricReader(reader).build();
-      meterProvider = sdkMeterProvider;
-
-      Meter meter = sdkMeterProvider.meterBuilder(METER_NAME).build();
+      Meter meter = GlobalOpenTelemetry.get().getMeterProvider().meterBuilder(METER_NAME).build();
       counter =
           meter
               .counterBuilder(METRIC_NAME)
               .setUnit(METRIC_UNIT)
               .setDescription(METRIC_DESC)
               .build();
 
-      log.debug("Flag evaluation metrics initialized, exporting to {}", endpoint);
+      log.debug("Flag evaluation metrics initialized");
     } catch (NoClassDefFoundError e) {
       log.error(
-          "OpenTelemetry SDK is not on the classpath — evaluation metrics disabled. Add"
-              + " opentelemetry-sdk-metrics and opentelemetry-exporter-otlp to your dependencies to"
-              + " enable flag evaluation metrics.",
+          "OpenTelemetry API is not on the classpath — evaluation metrics disabled. Add"
+              + " opentelemetry-api to your dependencies and enable DD_METRICS_OTEL_ENABLED to"
+              + " export flag evaluation metrics through the Datadog Java agent.",
           e);
       counter = null;
-      meterProvider = null;
     } catch (Exception e) {
       log.error("Failed to initialize flag evaluation metrics", e);
       counter = null;
-      meterProvider = null;
     }
   }
 
   /** Package-private constructor for testing with a mock counter. */
   FlagEvalMetrics(LongCounter counter) {
     this.counter = counter;
-    this.meterProvider = null;
-  }
-
-  /** Package-private constructor for integration testing with an injected SdkMeterProvider. */
-  FlagEvalMetrics(SdkMeterProvider sdkMeterProvider) {
-    meterProvider = sdkMeterProvider;
-    Meter meter = sdkMeterProvider.meterBuilder(METER_NAME).build();
-    counter =
-        meter.counterBuilder(METRIC_NAME).setUnit(METRIC_UNIT).setDescription(METRIC_DESC).build();
   }
 
   void record(
@@ -153,27 +95,5 @@ public void close() {
 
   void shutdown() {
     counter = null;
-    Closeable mp = meterProvider;
-    if (mp != null) {
-      meterProvider = null;
-      try {
-        mp.close();
-      } catch (Exception e) {
-        // Ignore shutdown errors
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Builds a Resource with the service name from OTEL_SERVICE_NAME environment variable. Falls back
-   * to Resource.getDefault() if OTEL_SERVICE_NAME is not set.
-   */
-  private static Resource buildResource() {
-    String serviceName = ConfigHelper.env(SERVICE_NAME_ENV);
-    if (serviceName != null && !serviceName.isEmpty()) {
-      return Resource.getDefault()
-          .merge(Resource.builder().put(SERVICE_NAME_KEY, serviceName).build());
-    }
-    return Resource.getDefault();
   }
 }
@@ -53,9 +53,8 @@ public Provider(final Options options) {
       metrics = new FlagEvalMetrics();
       hook = new FlagEvalHook(metrics);
     } catch (LinkageError | Exception e) {
-      // FlagEvalMetrics logs the detailed error when it can load but OTel SDK init fails.
-      // This outer catch fires when the class itself can't load (OTel API absent entirely).
-      log.warn("Evaluation metrics unavailable — OTel classes not on classpath", e);
+      // This outer catch fires when the metrics helper itself can't load (OTel API absent).
+      log.warn("Evaluation metrics unavailable — OTel API classes not on classpath", e);
     }
     this.flagEvalMetrics = metrics;
     this.flagEvalHook = hook;

@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package datadog.trace.api.openfeature;
 
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.eq;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
@@ -9,13 +8,6 @@
 import dev.openfeature.sdk.ErrorCode;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.common.Attributes;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.metrics.LongCounter;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.SdkMeterProvider;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.data.AggregationTemporality;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.data.LongPointData;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.data.MetricData;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.export.AggregationTemporalitySelector;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.testing.exporter.InMemoryMetricReader;
-import java.util.Collection;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
 
@@ -146,35 +138,9 @@ void shutdownClearsCounter() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  void multipleRecordCallsAccumulateWithDeltaTemporality() {
-    // Use delta temporality to match the deltaPreferred() selector configured on the production
-    // OTLP exporter in FlagEvalMetrics. Delta temporality exports only increments since last
-    // collection, which is what OTLP receivers expect.
-    InMemoryMetricReader reader =
-        InMemoryMetricReader.builder()
-            .setAggregationTemporalitySelector(AggregationTemporalitySelector.deltaPreferred())
-            .build();
-    SdkMeterProvider provider = SdkMeterProvider.builder().registerMetricReader(reader).build();
-
-    try (FlagEvalMetrics metrics = new FlagEvalMetrics(provider)) {
-      for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
-        metrics.record("count-flag", "on", "STATIC", null, "default-alloc");
-      }
-
-      Collection<MetricData> data = reader.collectAllMetrics();
-      MetricData metric =
-          data.stream()
-              .filter(m -> m.getName().equals("feature_flag.evaluations"))
-              .findFirst()
-              .orElseThrow(() -> new AssertionError("feature_flag.evaluations metric not found"));
-
-      assertEquals(
-          AggregationTemporality.DELTA,
-          metric.getLongSumData().getAggregationTemporality(),
-          "Exported metric must use DELTA temporality");
-
-      LongPointData point = metric.getLongSumData().getPoints().iterator().next();
-      assertEquals(5L, point.getValue(), "5 record() calls must produce a delta sum of 5");
+  void defaultConstructorUsesOpenTelemetryApiOnly() {
+    try (FlagEvalMetrics metrics = new FlagEvalMetrics()) {
+      metrics.record("count-flag", "on", "STATIC", null, "default-alloc");
     }
   }