googleapis/mcp-toolbox · error

unable to set up trace provider: %w

Error message

unable to set up trace provider: %w

What it means

SetupOTel failed to create the OTLP/GCP trace provider. After the resource is built, newTracerProvider configures the tracer provider with the requested exporter (OTLP or GCP Cloud Trace); an exporter or batcher setup failure is wrapped as 'unable to set up trace provider' and passed to handleErr, aborting telemetry setup.

Source

Thrown at internal/telemetry/telemetry.go:74

	// handleErr calls shutdown for cleanup and makes sure that all errors are returned.
	handleErr := func(inErr error) {
		err = errors.Join(inErr, shutdown(ctx))
	}

	// Configure Context Propagation to use the default W3C traceparent format.
	otel.SetTextMapPropagator(autoprop.NewTextMapPropagator())

	res, err := newResource(ctx, versionString, telemetryServiceName)
	if err != nil {
		errMsg := fmt.Errorf("unable to set up resource: %w", err)
		handleErr(errMsg)
		return
	}

	tracerProvider, err := newTracerProvider(ctx, res, telemetryOTLP, telemetryGCP, telemetryGCPProject)
	if err != nil {
		errMsg := fmt.Errorf("unable to set up trace provider: %w", err)
		handleErr(errMsg)
		return
	}
	shutdownFuncs = append(shutdownFuncs, tracerProvider.Shutdown)
	otel.SetTracerProvider(tracerProvider)

	meterProvider, err := newMeterProvider(ctx, res, telemetryOTLP, telemetryGCP, telemetryGCPProject)
	if err != nil {
		errMsg := fmt.Errorf("unable to set up meter provider: %w", err)
		handleErr(errMsg)
		return
	}
	shutdownFuncs = append(shutdownFuncs, meterProvider.Shutdown)
	otel.SetMeterProvider(meterProvider)

	return shutdown, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 8cc6e09de2)

Solutions

1. Read the error passed to handleErr; for OTLP, verify the endpoint URL and that the collector is reachable (curl the OTLP port).
2. For GCP exporter, ensure GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS/ADC is set and the project ID is valid.
3. Check the --telemetry-traces / OTLP / GCP flags for typos; use a supported combination.
4. Test network egress to the collector/Cloud Trace from the toolbox host (proxy/firewall rules).
5. If tracing is optional, disable it to let the server start without telemetry.

Example fix

// before
--telemetry-otlp-endpoint="http://collector:4317" // collector not deployed
// after
# deploy collector or point to the correct endpoint
--telemetry-otlp-endpoint="http://otel-collector.observability:4317"

// Pre-flight: is the OTLP collector reachable?
import net from 'node:net';
const [h, p] = process.env.OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT.replace('http://','').split(':');
net.createConnection({ host: h, port: Number(p ?? 4317) })
  .on('connect', function(){ this.end(); })
  .on('error', () => console.error('OTLP endpoint unreachable'));

try { await setupOTel(); }
catch (e) {
  if (String(e.message).includes("unable to set up trace provider")) {
    // check OTLP endpoint/GCP creds; optionally restart with tracing disabled
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Setup/SetupOTel with telemetry tracing enabled where newTracerProvider errors — e.g., invalid OTLP endpoint, failed GCP project/credentials detection, unsupported exporter selection.

Common situations: Wrong OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT or unreachable collector, missing Google Cloud credentials (GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS) or project ID when telemetryGCP is set, network egress blocked in restricted environments, malformed telemetry flags.

Related errors

• unable to set up meter provider: %w
• unable to set up resource: %w
• error setting up OpenTelemetry: %w
• error shutting down OpenTelemetry: %w
• unable to create %s metric: %w

AI-assisted analysis of googleapis/mcp-toolbox@8cc6e09de2 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2c04bf9518cb95a3. Report an issue: GitHub.