Fix OTel invoke_agent span: prefix the operation name and omit empty agent name/description attributes

[PratikDhanave]

What

Two GenAI-semantic-convention fixes in the invoke_agent span setup in provider/otelprovider/otel.go:

1. Span name. The span was started with the raw agent name (tracer.Start(ctx, a.Name(), ...)); invoke_agent was only used for the gen_ai.operation.name attribute, never the span name. It is now named <operation> <target> (e.g. invoke_agent helper), falling back to the agent id when the name is empty so the span still carries a target.

2. Empty attributes. gen_ai.agent.name and gen_ai.agent.description were set unconditionally, so an agent with no name/description produced empty-string attributes. They are now appended only when non-empty. The provider name still keeps its unknown default (parity with Python).

Why

The GenAI semantic conventions require the span be named operation + target. The sibling tool span already does this — startToolSpan in toolautocall/autocall.go builds execute_tool <tool> — so the agent span was inconsistent within this repo and diverged from the .NET and Python SDKs. Both .NET and Python also omit gen_ai.agent.name/gen_ai.agent.description when they are empty rather than emitting empty strings.

Tests

Extended provider/otelprovider/otel_test.go using the existing tracetest in-memory exporter harness:

• TestOtel_Run_SpanNamePrefixedWithOperation — asserts the span Name is invoke_agent helper.
• TestOtel_Run_OmitsEmptyAgentNameAndDescription — asserts no gen_ai.agent.name/gen_ai.agent.description keys for an unnamed/undescribed agent.
• Updated TestOtel_Run_SpanHasCorrectAttributes to expect the prefixed span name.

go build ./..., go vet ./provider/otelprovider/..., and go test ./provider/otelprovider/... all pass.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This pull request updates the OpenTelemetry invoke_agent span emitted by the OTel middleware to better align with GenAI semantic conventions (span naming and attribute emission), and extends the existing in-memory trace exporter tests to lock in the behavior.

Changes:

• Rename the invoke_agent span to "<operation> <target>" (e.g., invoke_agent helper) with fallback from agent name to agent ID.
• Stop emitting gen_ai.agent.name and gen_ai.agent.description attributes when those values are empty.
• Extend/update unit tests in provider/otelprovider to validate the new span naming and attribute omission behavior.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
provider/otelprovider/otel.go	Adjusts invoke_agent span naming and conditionally emits agent name/description attributes.
provider/otelprovider/otel_test.go	Updates existing assertions and adds new tests for span name and omitted empty attributes.

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[github-actions]

Cross-Repo Parity Review — ✅ Aligned

This PR fixes two OTel invoke_agent span issues in provider/otelprovider/otel.go.

Change 1: Span name follows <operation> <target> convention

The span is now named invoke_agent <agent_name_or_id> instead of the bare agent name. This matches:

• Python (observability.py → _start_streaming_span): builds the span name as f"{operation} {span_name}" where operation = OtelAttr.AGENT_INVOKE_OPERATION ("invoke_agent") and the agent name/id is the target.
• .NET (OpenTelemetryAgent.cs): delegates to OpenTelemetryChatClient which follows the same GenAI semantic convention <operation> <target> pattern.
• The sibling execute_tool <name> span in toolautocall/autocall.go already used this convention, so this also restores internal consistency.

Change 2: gen_ai.agent.name / gen_ai.agent.description omitted when empty

Attributes are now conditional on being non-empty. This matches upstream:

• Python: passes agent_name=getattr(self, "name", None) or getattr(self, "id", "unknown") — empty string names fall back to agent ID rather than being emitted as empty strings; agent_description=getattr(self, "description", None) is filtered out by _get_span_attributes when None, so absent descriptions are never emitted.
• .NET tests (OpenTelemetryAgentTests.cs): confirms gen_ai.agent.name presence is conditional on the agent having a name.

Both changes are consistent with the GenAI semantic conventions and restore alignment with the Python and .NET SDKs.

No parity issues found. The parity-approved label is retained.

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