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OTEL-042: Duplicate processor in same pipeline

Severity: warn (advisory)

Rule Details​

Listing the same processor name twice in a pipeline's processors: list makes it run twice on the same data. For memory_limiter that is harmless; for anything that mutates (attributes, transform, filter, tail_sampling) it doubles side effects and is almost always a copy/paste artifact from a merge conflict or a refactor.

This rule fires when the same processor name appears more than once in a single pipeline's processors: list.

Options​

This rule has no options.

Examples​

Avoid
service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, attributes, attributes, batch]
      exporters: [otlp/backend]
Prefer
service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, attributes, batch]
      exporters: [otlp/backend]

When Not To Use It​

A deliberate two-stage transform that legitimately runs the same processor instance twice — very rare. Use differently named instances (attributes/first, attributes/second) instead to make the intent explicit.

  • OTEL-022 — unused processor
  • OTEL-013 — batch processor should be last in pipeline

Version​

Available since augur v0.1.0.

Further Reading​

Resources​