Honeycomb.io

Exports logs, metrics, and traces from a Bindplane pipeline to Honeycomb over OTLP. Telemetry is sent to the Honeycomb OTLP endpoint, authenticated with a Honeycomb API key, using either OTLP/gRPC or OTLP/HTTP.

Supported Telemetry

Metrics	Logs	Traces
✓	✓	✓

Prerequisites

You need a Honeycomb team (account) and an API key before this destination can send telemetry.

• Team and environment. A Honeycomb team with at least one environment.
• API key. An API key scoped to the target environment. The key must hold the Send Events permission. If you point the destination at a dataset that does not yet exist, the key must also hold the Create Dataset permission so Honeycomb can create it on first ingest. See Manage Environment API Keys for creating and scoping keys.
• Endpoint. A reachable Honeycomb OTLP endpoint for your region: api.honeycomb.io (US) or api.eu1.honeycomb.io (EU). Telemetry is sent to port 443. See Send Data with the OpenTelemetry Collector.

Configuration

Connection

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Choose Telemetry Type	Telemetry Selector	No	Logs, Metrics, Traces	Which signals this destination exports.
OTLP Endpoint	Enum (creatable)	Yes	api.honeycomb.io	Honeycomb OTLP endpoint to send to. Endpoints are location-specific: use api.honeycomb.io (US) or api.eu1.honeycomb.io (EU). A custom value may be entered.
API Key	String	Yes	(empty)	API key used to authenticate to Honeycomb (sent as the x-honeycomb-team header). Must have the "Send Events" permission, plus "Create Dataset" if the target dataset does not yet exist. Sensitive value.

Datasets

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Metrics Dataset	String	Yes	bindplane_metrics	Honeycomb dataset that metrics are sent to. Created if it does not exist. Shown when Metrics is selected.
Logs Dataset	String	No	(empty)	Honeycomb dataset that logs are sent to. Created if it does not exist. If unset, the service.name resource attribute is used. Shown when Logs is selected.

Advanced

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Protocol	Enum	No	grpc	OTLP protocol used to send to Honeycomb: grpc or http.
Compression	Enum	No	gzip	Compression algorithm applied to outgoing data: none or gzip.
Additional Headers	Map	No	(empty)	Extra headers attached to each request.
Drop Raw Copy	Boolean	No	true	When enabled, drops the raw copy of the log stored in log.record.original. Applies to logs.

Retry on Failure (Advanced)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Enable Retry on Failure	Boolean	No	true	Resend telemetry that failed to transmit to Honeycomb.
Initial interval	Integer	No	5	Seconds to wait after the first failure before retrying. Shown when retry is enabled.
Max interval	Integer	No	30	Upper bound, in seconds, on retry backoff. Shown when retry is enabled.
Max elapsed time	Integer	No	300	Maximum seconds spent retrying a batch before giving up. Shown when retry is enabled.

Sending Queue (Advanced)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Enable Sending Queue	Boolean	No	true	Buffer telemetry before sending so it is not lost during a temporary network outage.
Number of Consumers	Integer	No	10	Number of consumers that dequeue batches. Shown when the sending queue is enabled.
Queue Size	Integer	No	5000	Maximum number of batches kept in memory before dropping. Shown when the sending queue is enabled.
Enable Persistent Queuing	Boolean	No	true	Buffer telemetry to disk so it survives network outages or collector restarts. Shown when the sending queue is enabled.
Persistent Queue Storage	Extension	Yes	file_storage_persistent_queue	Storage extension backing the persistent queue. Shown when both the sending queue and persistent queuing are enabled. See persistent queue storage.

Examples

Export logs, metrics, and traces to the US Honeycomb endpoint over OTLP/gRPC with gzip compression. Metrics go to a bindplane_metrics dataset and logs to a bindplane_logs dataset; both are created on first ingest if the API key has the "Create Dataset" permission.

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Destination
metadata:
  name: honeycomb
spec:
  type: honeycomb
  parameters:
    - name: telemetry_types
      value:
        - Logs
        - Metrics
        - Traces
    - name: endpoint
      value: api.honeycomb.io
    - name: api_key
      value: <YOUR_HONEYCOMB_API_KEY>
    - name: metrics_dataset
      value: bindplane_metrics
    - name: logs_dataset
      value: bindplane_logs
    - name: protocol
      value: grpc
    - name: compression
      value: gzip

Configuration Tips

• Match the endpoint to your region. Use api.honeycomb.io for US-based teams and api.eu1.honeycomb.io for EU-based teams. Sending to the wrong region rejects the API key.
• Route logs by dataset or by service. Set Logs Dataset to pin all logs to one dataset, or leave it empty to let Honeycomb route by the service.name resource attribute. Use the Add Fields processor to set service.name for dynamic routing.
• Keep the persistent queue enabled for durability. With the sending queue and persistent queuing on, buffered telemetry survives collector restarts and short network outages instead of being dropped.

Troubleshooting

Telemetry rejected with an authentication error

Symptoms: requests fail with 401/403, or data never appears in Honeycomb.

Solutions:

1. Verify the API Key is valid for the target environment and holds the "Send Events" permission.
2. If you are sending to a dataset that does not exist yet, confirm the key also has the "Create Dataset" permission.
3. Confirm the OTLP Endpoint region matches the team's region (US vs EU); a key for one region is rejected by the other.

Data is delayed or dropped under load

Symptoms: gaps in Honeycomb, or collector logs showing queue-full or retry messages.

Solutions:

1. Keep the sending queue enabled and raise Queue Size or Number of Consumers if batches back up.
2. Enable persistent queuing so buffered data survives restarts.
3. Confirm Retry on Failure is enabled so transient transport errors are retried.

Standalone Destination

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Destination
metadata:
  name: honeycomb
spec:
  type: honeycomb
  parameters:
    - name: telemetry_types
      value:
        - Logs
        - Metrics
        - Traces
    - name: endpoint
      value: api.honeycomb.io
    - name: api_key
      value: <YOUR_HONEYCOMB_API_KEY>
    - name: metrics_dataset
      value: bindplane_metrics
    - name: persistent_queue_storage_extension
      value:
        type: file_storage_persistent_queue
        parameters:
          - name: persistent_queue_directory
            value: ${OIQ_OTEL_COLLECTOR_HOME}/storage
          - name: timeout
            value: 1
          - name: persistent_queue_fsync
            value: true

Related Resources

• OTLP Exporter (OpenTelemetry Collector)
• OTLP/HTTP Exporter (OpenTelemetry Collector)
• Send Data with the OpenTelemetry Collector (Honeycomb)
• Manage Environment API Keys (Honeycomb)