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This page provides a brief overview of the Observability API and
the Telemetry (OTLP) API.
About the Observability API
The Observability API lets you configure the observability scope
for your project. This scope controls which resources are searched by the
explorer pages for log, metric, and trace data.
For more information, see Observability scopes overview.
About the Telemetry API
The Telemetry (OTLP) API lets you send OTLP-formatted trace data to
your project. This API provides compatibility and support for the open source
OpenTelemetry ecosystem. Also, the limits for theTelemetry API are often more
generous than for the Cloud Trace API. For more information, see the following
documents:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[],[],null,["# API overview\n\nThis page provides a brief overview of the Observability API and\nthe Telemetry (OTLP) API.\n\nAbout the Observability API\n---------------------------\n\nThe Observability API lets you configure the observability scope\nfor your project. This scope controls which resources are searched by the\nexplorer pages for log, metric, and trace data.\nFor more information, see [Observability scopes overview](/stackdriver/docs/scopes/configure).\n\nAbout the Telemetry API\n-----------------------\n\nThe Telemetry (OTLP) API lets you send OTLP-formatted trace data to\nyour project. This API provides compatibility and support for the open source\nOpenTelemetry ecosystem. Also, the limits for theTelemetry API are often more\ngenerous than for the Cloud Trace API. For more information, see the following\ndocuments:\n\n- [OpenTelemetry OTLP Protocol](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/otlp/#protocol-details).\n- [Telemetry API overview](/stackdriver/docs/reference/telemetry/overview)."]]
