add OTel introduction blog

[tgummerer]

Add a blog announcing the introduction of our OTel tracing infrastructure.

Proposed changes

Unreleased product version (optional)

Related issues (optional)

[claude]

Docs Review — PR #18316

Thanks for the blog post on OTel tracing! Here's the review:

Issues

1. meta_desc is just the title repeated (line 5)
   The meta description should be a unique, informative summary of the post (≤160 characters), not a copy of the title. This hurts SEO because search engines will display it as the page snippet.

   meta_desc: "The Pulumi CLI now supports OpenTelemetry tracing, replacing the deprecated OpenTracing integration. Learn how to export traces via gRPC or to a file."
   

2. "easy decision" — avoid "easy/simple" (line 31)
   Per STYLE-GUIDE.md: Avoid words like "easy" or "simple." These judge difficulty and may alienate readers.

   In the end it was a relatively straightforward decision to move to the more modern and fully supported OTel, especially as more and more tooling around it starts emerging.
   

3. "pulumi" should be capitalized (line 35)
   "pulumi's plugin system" → "Pulumi's plugin system" (proper noun).

4. "future proof" should be hyphenated (line 23)
   "future proof" → "future-proof" (compound adjective before a noun/implied noun).

5. First mention of OpenTelemetry/OTel is not hyperlinked (line 23)
   Per blog review criteria, first mention of every tool, technology, or product must be hyperlinked. Link "OTel" to https://opentelemetry.io/ on its first use.

6. linkedin social copy is blank (line 19)
   The social: block has empty linkedin copy. Consider adding a slightly longer version for LinkedIn (up to 3000 chars) to maximize social reach when the post auto-publishes.

7. No CTA or closing section (after line 43)
   The post ends abruptly after the --otel-traces flag description. Blog review criteria require a specific CTA and strong conclusion with specific next steps. Consider adding:

   • A link to the relevant CLI reference docs (e.g., pulumi up --help or the CLI commands page)
   • A link to the Pulumi CLI install/upgrade page
   • A closing sentence encouraging readers to try it and share feedback

8. No link to Pulumi CLI docs (general)
   Per criteria: internal Pulumi features must link to /docs/. The post should link to the relevant CLI documentation page(s), e.g., the CLI commands reference.

9. Dense paragraphs (lines 29, 35)
   The "Background" and "Enter OTel" sections each contain long, dense paragraphs. Consider breaking them into shorter paragraphs (3–4 sentences max) for scannability.

10. gRPC not hyperlinked on first mention (line 37)
    First mention of gRPC should be linked to https://grpc.io/.

11. Documentation gap: This blog announces the --otel-traces CLI flag but there doesn't appear to be dedicated documentation for OTel tracing in content/docs/. The auto-generated CLI command pages mention --otel-traces but a guide or conceptual page on how to use OTel tracing with Pulumi would be valuable. Consider adding documentation to content/docs/iac/cli/ or a related section.

Publishing readiness checklist

• <!--more--> break present after intro
• meta_image set and not the default placeholder
• meta_image uses current Pulumi logos — unable to verify image content in CI
• Author profile exists (thomas-gummerer.toml)
• All links resolve — links look correct but not verified in CI
• Code examples correct with language specifiers (N/A — no code blocks)
• No animated GIFs used as meta_image
• Images have alt text — no alt text verifiable for feature.png/meta.png (binary images)
• Title ≤60 chars (42 chars)
• social: block present with copy for all platforms — linkedin is empty

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Mention me (@claude) if you'd like additional reviews or help fixing any of the above.

[pulumi-bot]

Your site preview for commit fc08d25 is ready! 🎉

http://www-testing-pulumi-docs-origin-pr-18316-fc08d25e.s3-website.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.