OpenTelemetry Go API and SDK
This report presents the forensic synthetic code analysis of open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go, a Go project with 6,463 GitHub stars. SynthScan v2.0 examined 876,250 lines of code across 1433 source files, recording 14177 pattern matches distributed across 5 syntactic categories. The overall adjusted score of 9.9 places this repository in the Low AI signal band.
The scanner applied 160+ deterministic lexical heuristics, multi-line block detectors, abstract syntax tree depth profilers, and a cross-file Jaccard similarity matrix to construct a statistically normalised synthetic code estimate. All matches are individually weighted by severity coefficient and contextual multiplier before summation, and the resulting headline score is temporally discounted to account for the repository's development history relative to the commercial emergence of large language model coding tooling (November 2022 onward).
Longitudinal tracking requires multiple scan runs. Once this repository is re-scanned after new commits land, this chart will visualise how the synthetic code signal evolves over time — enabling you to detect whether AI authorship is growing, stabilising, or being actively corrected by human engineers.
Classifies detected patterns by their diagnostic confidence and structural impact. CRITICAL patterns (coefficient 10) represent definitive synthetic signatures — hallucinated imports, explicit LLM attribution metadata — virtually never produced by human authors. HIGH (5) indicates strong structural tells such as cross-file repetition or cross-linguistic idioms. MEDIUM (2) covers recognisable conversational padding and AI-specific vocabulary. LOW (1) captures subtle indicators like tautological comments and generic boilerplate that require density to carry independent signal.
This horizontal bar chart decomposes the repository's raw synthetic code score by top-level directory, allowing you to pinpoint precisely which modules or components carry the highest AI authorship density. Directories with disproportionately high scores relative to their size warrant targeted manual review: concentrated AI signatures often trace back to mass-generated configuration layers, auto-ported test suites, LLM-scaffolded boilerplate classes, or entire subsystems authored under heavy copilot assistance. Use this view to prioritise your human code-review effort.
The scanner identified 14177 distinct pattern matches across 5 syntactic categories. Each entry below represents a discrete location in the source code where the engine recorded a statistically significant AI authorship indicator. Expand any category row to inspect the individual file paths, line numbers, code snippets, and the lexical context (CODE, COMMENT, or STRING) in which each match was detected.
Reading the findings table: The Severity column indicates the diagnostic confidence level (CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW). The Context column identifies whether the match occurred inside executable code, an inline comment, or a string literal — comment-context matches receive a ×1.5 weight because LLMs systematically over-annotate. The ⚡ bolt icon marks clustered matches: three or more patterns within a 10-line window, each receiving an additional ×1.5 density multiplier as dense clusters constitute far stronger evidence of synthetic authorship than isolated hits.
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | handler.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | handler.go | 21 | // to the new ErrorHandler for prior returned instances. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace.go | 21 | // | COMMENT |
| LOW | metric.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | metric.go | 21 | // the new MeterProvider. | COMMENT |
| LOW | error_handler.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/provider.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/provider.go | 21 | // | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/provider.go | 41 | // libraries may sometimes use traces to communicate different domains of | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/tracestate.go | 101 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | trace/tracestate.go | 161 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | trace/noop.go | 81 | // SetName does nothing. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/hex.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/auto.go | 381 | // UTF-8 is supported. When truncating, all invalid characters are dropped | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/auto.go | 621 | Attrs int | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/tracer.go | 21 | embedded.Tracer | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/span.go | 21 | // default behavior for unimplemented methods. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/span.go | 41 | AddLink(link Link) | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/span.go | 61 | SetStatus(code codes.Code, description string) | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/span.go | 81 | // the same Trace or across different Traces. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/span.go | 121 | // SpanKindUnspecified is an unspecified SpanKind and is not a valid | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/noop/noop.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 21 | // the same `trace_id`. The ID is a 16-byte array. An ID with all zeroes OR | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 41 | // Flags, a bit field. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 61 | // [Optional]. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 81 | // is the time when the server's application handler starts running. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 101 | // The OpenTelemetry API specification further restricts the allowed value types: | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 241 | // expression like: | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 261 | // remote. Bit 8 (`HAS_IS_REMOTE`) indicates whether the value is known. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 281 | // RPC or other remote network request. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 381 | } | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/span.go | 401 | // then no attributes were dropped. | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/internal/telemetry/test/doc.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/embedded/embedded.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/embedded/embedded.go | 21 | // experience a compilation error, signaling they need to update to your latest | COMMENT |
| LOW | trace/embedded/embedded.go | 41 | // compilation error, signaling they need to update to your latest | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/encoder.go | 21 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | attribute/kv.go | 61 | // | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/kv.go | 101 | // | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/kv.go | 121 | // | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/key.go | 21 | // BoolSlice returns a [KeyValue] for a []bool value. | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/key.go | 41 | // If creating both a key and value at the same time, use the package-level [Int] | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/key.go | 81 | // Note that many observability backends are not optimized to query, index, or | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/key.go | 121 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | attribute/key.go | 181 | // Map returns a [KeyValue] for a []KeyValue value. | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/filter.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/set.go | 21 | // This type will remain comparable for backwards compatibility. The | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/set.go | 201 | return encoder.Encode(l.Iter()) | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/set.go | 261 | if div := filteredToFront(kvs, filter); div != 0 { | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/set.go | 281 | // can avoid memory allocations by: | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/value.go | 41 | // INT64 identifies a Value containing an int64. | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/value.go | 81 | // aggregate complex attribute values. Complex values may also carry | COMMENT |
| LOW | attribute/value.go | 181 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | attribute/value.go | 201 | func SliceValue(v ...Value) Value { | COMMENT |
| LOW | semconv/v1.16.0/trace.go | 1 | // Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors | COMMENT |
| LOW | semconv/v1.16.0/trace.go | 21 | // The exception message. | COMMENT |
| LOW | semconv/v1.16.0/trace.go | 41 | ) | COMMENT |
| LOW | semconv/v1.16.0/trace.go | 61 | COMMENT | |
| LOW | semconv/v1.16.0/trace.go | 81 | // Note: This may be different from `faas.id` if an alias is involved. | COMMENT |
| LOW | semconv/v1.16.0/trace.go | 101 | // Examples: 'https://github.com/cloudevents', '/cloudevents/spec/pull/123', 'my- | COMMENT |
| 14064 more matches not shown… | ||||
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.39.0/attribute_group.go | 6299 | // `gen_ai.data_source.id` MAY also leverage additional attributes, such as | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.39.0/attribute_group.go | 11827 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.39.0/attribute_group.go | 11830 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.33.0/attribute_group.go | 6120 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.33.0/attribute_group.go | 6123 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.37.0/attribute_group.go | 6020 | // `gen_ai.data_source.id` MAY also leverage additional attributes, such as | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.37.0/attribute_group.go | 10862 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.37.0/attribute_group.go | 10865 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.30.0/attribute_group.go | 5331 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.30.0/attribute_group.go | 5334 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.34.0/attribute_group.go | 5889 | // `gen_ai.data_source.id` MAY also leverage additional attributes, such as | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.34.0/attribute_group.go | 6425 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.34.0/attribute_group.go | 6428 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.41.0/attribute_group.go | 6389 | // `gen_ai.data_source.id` MAY also leverage additional attributes, such as | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.41.0/attribute_group.go | 12656 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.41.0/attribute_group.go | 12659 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.31.0/attribute_group.go | 5574 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.31.0/attribute_group.go | 5577 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.40.0/attribute_group.go | 6370 | // `gen_ai.data_source.id` MAY also leverage additional attributes, such as | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.40.0/attribute_group.go | 12271 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.40.0/attribute_group.go | 12274 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.32.0/attribute_group.go | 5903 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.32.0/attribute_group.go | 5906 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.38.0/attribute_group.go | 6278 | // `gen_ai.data_source.id` MAY also leverage additional attributes, such as | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.38.0/attribute_group.go | 11506 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.38.0/attribute_group.go | 11509 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.36.0/attribute_group.go | 5904 | // `gen_ai.data_source.id` MAY also leverage additional attributes, such as | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.36.0/attribute_group.go | 6440 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.36.0/attribute_group.go | 6443 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.28.0/attribute_group.go | 4981 | // The system will utilize scale tier credits until they are exhausted. | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.28.0/attribute_group.go | 4984 | // The system will utilize the default scale tier. | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.39.0/attribute_group.go | 521 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.39.0/attribute_group.go | 1253 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.37.0/attribute_group.go | 475 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.37.0/attribute_group.go | 1207 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.42.0/attribute_group.go | 546 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.42.0/attribute_group.go | 1278 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.34.0/attribute_group.go | 398 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.34.0/attribute_group.go | 1130 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.41.0/attribute_group.go | 521 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.41.0/attribute_group.go | 1253 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.40.0/attribute_group.go | 521 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.40.0/attribute_group.go | 1253 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.38.0/attribute_group.go | 521 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.38.0/attribute_group.go | 1253 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.36.0/attribute_group.go | 398 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM | semconv/v1.36.0/attribute_group.go | 1130 | // [guardrail]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/guardrails.html | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEDIUM⚡ | .github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml | 6 | # ┌───────────── minute (0 - 59) | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | .github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml | 7 | # │ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23) | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | .github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml | 8 | # │ │ ┌───────────── day of the month (1 - 31) | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | .github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml | 9 | # │ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12 or JAN-DEC) | COMMENT |
| MEDIUM⚡ | .github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml | 10 | # │ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of the week (0 - 6 or SUN-SAT) | COMMENT |
| Severity | File | Line | Snippet | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOW | sdk/trace/trace_test.go | 1808 | // NOTE: This function tests ReadWriteSpan which is an interface which | COMMENT |