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[receiver/postgresql] clarify postgresql.backends metric semantics - #49201

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[receiver/postgresql] clarify postgresql.backends metric semantics#49201
kartikgola wants to merge 16 commits into
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kartikgola:postgresqlreceiver-clarify-backends-semantics

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@kartikgola kartikgola commented Jun 21, 2026 •
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Description

  • Updated the README, metadata, documentation to correct the intent of the metric.
  • Updated the function comment in client.go file
  • Renamed internal activityMap to backendCountByDB to make the intention clear since it has references where it's being used as if activeConnections, ok := r.activityMap[dbName]; – assuming that activityMap always contains active connections which might not be the case.

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Testing

make test

Documentation

Updated receiver/postgresqlreceiver documentation with the new definition.

Authorship

  • I, a human, wrote this pull request description myself.

@github-actions github-actions Bot added the first-time contributor PRs made by new contributors label Jun 21, 2026
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@kartikgola kartikgola changed the title [chore] [receiver/postgresql] clarify backends metric semantics [chore] [receiver/postgresql] clarify postgresql.backends metric semantics Jun 21, 2026
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kartikgola marked this pull request as ready for review June 21, 2026 12:20
@kartikgola
kartikgola requested a review from a team as a code owner June 21, 2026 12:20
@kartikgola
kartikgola requested a review from TylerHelmuth June 21, 2026 12:20
@kartikgola kartikgola changed the title [chore] [receiver/postgresql] clarify postgresql.backends metric semantics receiver/postgresql] clarify postgresql.backends metric semantics Jun 22, 2026
@kartikgola kartikgola changed the title receiver/postgresql] clarify postgresql.backends metric semantics [receiver/postgresql] clarify postgresql.backends metric semantics Jun 22, 2026
@opentelemetry-pr-dashboard opentelemetry-pr-dashboard Bot mentioned this pull request Jul 9, 2026
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@antonblock

antonblock commented Jul 15, 2026

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@kartikgola I think this is a helpful docs change, we can probably add the Skip Changelog for it

@TylerHelmuth TylerHelmuth added the Skip Changelog PRs that do not require a CHANGELOG.md entry label Jul 15, 2026
@kartikgola
Merge branch 'main' into postgresqlreceiver-clarify-backends-semantics
ae0bf2f 
Resolve conflicts from main's OTel semconv feature-gate and query-conflicts
work: keep the backendCountByDB rename alongside main's dbConflictStats
field, and regenerate mdatagen output (metadata.yaml already merged
cleanly) instead of hand-resolving the generated test file.

Assisted-by: Claude Fable 5
ebrdarSplunk
ebrdarSplunk suggested changes Jul 17, 2026
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Comment thread receiver/postgresqlreceiver/documentation.md Outdated
### postgresql.backends

The number of backends.
The number of backend processes associated with each database, as reported by `pg_stat_activity`. Counts backends across all connection states (active, idle, idle-in-transaction) and all backend types, including non-client backends such as autovacuum and parallel workers.

@ebrdarSplunk ebrdarSplunk Jul 17, 2026

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I try to follow the rule of not disclosing the underlying datasoruce in documentation. How about:

"The number of backend processes associated with each database. Counts backends across all connection states (active, idle, idle-in-transaction) and all backend types, including non-client backends such as autovacuum and parallel workers." - {in all relevant places in the MR}

Comment thread receiver/postgresqlreceiver/README.md Outdated
GRANT pg_monitor TO otelu;
```

The `postgresql.backends` metric reports the number of PostgreSQL backend processes associated with each database,

@ebrdarSplunk ebrdarSplunk Jul 17, 2026

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The README paragraph is more of an extended explanation for users, and while it's debatable there, I'd still lean toward removing the explicit pg_stat_activity reference from the README too, since the review guidelines are clear about this.

@kartikgola kartikgola Jul 18, 2026

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Agreed. The only reason it was added here was because of the presence of pg_stat_activity. It makes sense to remove it from here since its an internal detail.

Comment thread receiver/postgresqlreceiver/internal/metadata/generated_logs_test.go

@ebrdarSplunk ebrdarSplunk Jul 17, 2026

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Heads up — the generated files (generated_package_test.go, generated_logs.go, generated_logs_test.go, generated_metrics.go, generated_resource_test.go) have import reordering where standard library packages ended up below third-party imports, which can cause CI lint failures.

What I do is run make generate from within receiver/postgresqlreceiver/ — that runs mdatagen and then applies gofumpt, goimports, and gci to fix import ordering automatically. If you only ran go generate ./... or make mdatagen, those formatting steps get skipped.

douglascamata and others added 2 commits July 18, 2026 16:39
@douglascamata @evan-bradley @kartikgola
[cmd/opampsupervisor] Support runtime config rollback (open-telemetry…
3ebc2d5 
…#47853)

Co-authored-by: Evan Bradley <11745660+evan-bradley@users.noreply.github.com>
Signed-off-by: Douglas Camata <159076+douglascamata@users.noreply.github.com>
@kartikgola
chore: fixing CI issues and addressing PR comments
c31b2e0
@kartikgola
Merge branch 'main' into postgresqlreceiver-clarify-backends-semantics
0608331
@kartikgola
chore: remove import-reordering noise from generated files
adc996d 
Local mdatagen regeneration used a different import-grouping convention
than the repo's pinned gci config; restore the standard grouping with
no functional change.
@kartikgola
removing readme changes
05b79de
@kartikgola
kartikgola requested a review from ebrdarSplunk July 18, 2026 13:38
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Pull request dashboard status

Status last refreshed: 2026-07-27 15:22:19 UTC.

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This automated status or its linked feedback items may be incorrect. If something looks wrong, please report it with the result you expected.

@kartikgola

kartikgola commented Jul 23, 2026

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bumping this!
cc @Caleb-Hurshman @antonblock @ebrdarSplunk @ishleenk17 @XSAM @splunk-shanu

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postgresql.backends metric is described only as The number of backends which looks ambiguous

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@kartikgola @antonblock @ebrdarSplunk @dashpole @TylerHelmuth @douglascamata