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+# Semantic conventions for messaging system metrics
+
+The conventions described in this section are specific to messaging systems. When interactions with messaging systems occur,
+metric events about those operations will be generated and reported, providing insight into those 
+operations.
+
+**Disclaimer:** These are initial messaging system metric instruments and labels, more may be added
+ in the future.
+ 
+## Definitions
+
+The [Trace Messaging Semantic Conventions Definitions](../../trace/semantic_conventions/messaging.md#definitions) is a resource for the messaging system terminology used in this document.
+
+## Common Labels
+
+The following labels **SHOULD** be applied to all messaging metric instruments.
+
+| Label | Description  | Example  | Required |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `messaging.system` | A string identifying the messaging system. | `kafka`<br>`rabbitmq`<br>`activemq` | Yes |
+| `messaging.destination` | The message destination name. | `MyQueue`<br>`MyTopic` | Yes |
+| `messaging.destination_kind` | The kind of message destination | `queue` | Conditional [1] |
+| `messaging.temp_destination` | A boolean that is true if the message destination is temporary. | true | Conditional<br>If missing, it is assumed to be false. |
+| `messaging.protocol` | The name of the transport protocol. | `AMQP`<br>`MQTT` | No |
+| `messaging.protocol_version` | The version of the transport protocol. | `0.9.1` | No |
+| `messaging.url` | Connection string. | `tibjmsnaming://localhost:7222`<br>`https://queue.amazonaws.com/80398EXAMPLE/MyQueue` | No [2] |
+| `net.peer.name`    | See [general network connection attributes](../../trace/semantic_conventions/span-general.md#general-network-connection-attributes) | kafka-pool-us-east | No [2] |
+| `net.peer.port`    | See [general network connection attributes](../../trace/semantic_conventions/span-general.md#general-network-connection-attributes) | 9092 | No [2] |
+| `net.peer.ip`      | See [general network connection attributes](../../trace/semantic_conventions/span-general.md#general-network-connection-attributes) | 127.0.0.1 | No [2] |
+| `net.transport`      | See [general network connection attributes](../../trace/semantic_conventions/span-general.md#general-network-connection-attributes) | IP.TCP | No [2] |
+
+**[1]:** Required only if the message destination is either a `queue` or `topic`.
+
+**[2]** For messaging metric labels, one of the following sets of labels is RECOMMENDED (in order of usual preference unless for a particular messaging system it is known that some other set is preferable for some reason; all strings must be non-empty):
+
+* `messaging.url`
+* `net.peer.name`, `net.peer.port`, `net.peer.ip`, `net.transport`
+
+## Send Message Metric Instruments
+
+The following metric instruments SHOULD be captured for every message send operation.
+
+| Name                 | Instrument    | Units        | Description |
+|----------------------|---------------|--------------|-------------|
+| `messaging.sent.messages` | Counter | messages | Sum of messages sent. |
+| `messaging.sent.duration` | ValueRecorder | milliseconds | Time spent sending a message. |
+| `messaging.sent.bytes` | ValueRecorder | bytes | The (uncompressed) size of the payload sent in bytes. Also use this metric if it is unknown whether the compressed or uncompressed payload size is reported. |
+| `messaging.sent.compressed.bytes` | ValueRecorder | bytes | The compressed size of the payload sent in bytes. |
+
+## Receive Message Metric Instruments
+
+The following metric instruments SHOULD be captured for every message receive operation.
+
+| Name                 | Instrument    | Units        | Description |
+|----------------------|---------------|--------------|-------------|
+| `messaging.received.messages` | Counter | messages | Sum of messages received. |
+| `messaging.received.duration` | ValueRecorder | milliseconds | Time spent receiving a message or batch if batching messages. |
+| `messaging.received.bytes` | ValueRecorder | bytes | The (uncompressed) size of the message received in bytes. Also use this metric if it is unknown whether the compressed or uncompressed payload size is reported. |
+| `messaging.received.compressed.bytes` | ValueRecorder | bytes | The compressed size of the payload sent in bytes. |
+
+## Process Message Metric Instruments
+
+The following metric instruments SHOULD be captured for every message process operation.
+
+| Name                 | Instrument    | Units        | Description |
+|----------------------|---------------|--------------|-------------|
+| `messaging.processed.messages` | Counter | messages | Sum of messages processed. |
+| `messaging.processed.duration` | ValueRecorder | milliseconds | Time spent processing a message. |