OpenTelemetry Environment Variables

This is an advanced configuration method. Most users should use Remote Configuration via the dashboard instead.

Environment variables provide an alternative way to configure OpenTelemetry, useful for self-hosted deployments, local development, CI/CD pipelines, or when you need to override organization settings.

When to Use

Self-hosted deployments without dashboard access
Local development and testing with your own collectors
CI/CD pipelines that need observability
Override organization settings with user-specific configuration

Environment variable configuration bypasses user telemetry settings and will export data regardless of individual preferences.

Environment Variables

Core Configuration

Variable	Description	Values
`CLINE_OTEL_TELEMETRY_ENABLED`	Enable OpenTelemetry export	`"true"` or `"false"`
`CLINE_OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER`	Metrics exporters (comma-separated)	`"console"`, `"otlp"`
`CLINE_OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER`	Logs exporters (comma-separated)	`"console"`, `"otlp"`

OTLP Configuration

Variable	Description	Values
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL`	OTLP protocol	`"grpc"`, `"http/json"`, or `"http/protobuf"`
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT`	OTLP collector endpoint (applies to both metrics and logs)	URL with optional port
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS`	Authentication headers (comma-separated `key=value` pairs)	`"key=value,key2=value2"`
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE`	Disable TLS for gRPC (local development only)	`"true"`

Advanced OTLP Configuration

For separate metrics and logs endpoints:

Variable	Description
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_PROTOCOL`	Metrics-specific protocol override
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_ENDPOINT`	Metrics-specific endpoint
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL`	Logs-specific protocol override
`CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_ENDPOINT`	Logs-specific endpoint

Export Tuning

Variable	Description	Default
`CLINE_OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL`	Milliseconds between metric exports	60000
`CLINE_OTEL_LOG_BATCH_SIZE`	Maximum batch size for log records	512
`CLINE_OTEL_LOG_BATCH_TIMEOUT`	Maximum time before exporting logs (ms)	5000
`CLINE_OTEL_LOG_MAX_QUEUE_SIZE`	Maximum queue size for log records	2048

Quick Start Examples

Datadog with gRPC

export CLINE_OTEL_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=true
export CLINE_OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=otlp
export CLINE_OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER=otlp
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=grpc
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://api.datadoghq.com:4317
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="dd-api-key=YOUR_API_KEY"

code .

The endpoint shown above is for Datadog’s US1 region. If you’re in a different region (EU, US3, US5, AP1, etc.), replace api.datadoghq.com with your region-specific hostname (e.g., api.datadoghq.eu for EU). See Datadog’s OTLP documentation for your region’s endpoint.

New Relic with HTTP

export CLINE_OTEL_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=true
export CLINE_OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=otlp
export CLINE_OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER=otlp
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://otlp.nr-data.net:4318
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="api-key=YOUR_LICENSE_KEY"

code .

Local Development (Insecure)

export CLINE_OTEL_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=true
export CLINE_OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=otlp
export CLINE_OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER=otlp
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=grpc
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4317
export CLINE_OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE=true

code .

Console Output (Testing)

export CLINE_OTEL_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=true
export CLINE_OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=console
export CLINE_OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER=console

code .

Debugging

Enable detailed OpenTelemetry diagnostic logging:

export TEL_DEBUG_DIAGNOSTICS=true
code .

This outputs:

Configuration being used
Exporters being created
Connection attempts
Export successes/failures

Check the VS Code Developer Tools Console (Help > Toggle Developer Tools) for diagnostic output.

Configuration Priority

When multiple configuration methods are present, Cline uses this priority order:

Environment variables (highest priority) - This method
Remote Configuration - Dashboard settings
Default settings - Built-in defaults

Environment variable configuration will override dashboard settings.

Dashboard Configuration

Configure OpenTelemetry via the web dashboard

Remote Configuration

Learn about Remote Configuration system

Enterprise Solutions

OpenTelemetry Environment Variables

When to Use

Environment Variables

Core Configuration

OTLP Configuration

Advanced OTLP Configuration

Export Tuning

Quick Start Examples

Datadog with gRPC

New Relic with HTTP

Local Development (Insecure)

Console Output (Testing)

Debugging

Configuration Priority

See Also

Dashboard Configuration

Remote Configuration

​When to Use

​Environment Variables

​Core Configuration

​OTLP Configuration

​Advanced OTLP Configuration

​Export Tuning

​Quick Start Examples

​Datadog with gRPC

​New Relic with HTTP

​Local Development (Insecure)

​Console Output (Testing)

​Debugging

​Configuration Priority

​See Also

Dashboard Configuration

Remote Configuration

When to Use

Environment Variables

Core Configuration

OTLP Configuration

Advanced OTLP Configuration

Export Tuning

Quick Start Examples

Datadog with gRPC

New Relic with HTTP

Local Development (Insecure)

Console Output (Testing)

Debugging

Configuration Priority

See Also