quarkusio/quarkus · error · IllegalStateException

The OpenTelemetry Context is not set

Error message

The OpenTelemetry Context is not set

What it means

Companion to getContext(): `getSpanContext()` throws IllegalStateException when the OpenTelemetry Context was not captured on the HttpRequestSpan. It guarantees downstream code never traces against a null span context. It fires when instrumentation created a request span without an OTel context available.

Source

Thrown at extensions/opentelemetry/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/opentelemetry/runtime/tracing/instrumentation/vertx/HttpInstrumenterVertxTracer.java:515

        public MultiMap headers() {
            return headers;
        }

        @Override
        public SocketAddress remoteAddress() {
            return httpRequest.remoteAddress();
        }

        public Context getContext() {
            if (context == null) {
                throw new IllegalStateException("The Vert.x Context is not set");
            }
            return context;
        }

        public io.opentelemetry.context.Context getSpanContext() {
            if (spanContext == null) {
                throw new IllegalStateException("The OpenTelemetry Context is not set");
            }
            return spanContext;
        }

        static HttpRequestSpan request(HttpRequest httpRequest, MultiMap headers, Context context,
                io.opentelemetry.context.Context spanContext) {
            return new HttpRequestSpan(httpRequest, headers, context, spanContext);
        }
    }

    private static class WriteHeadersHttpRequest implements HttpRequest {
        private final HttpRequest httpRequest;
        private final BiConsumer<String, String> headers;

        WriteHeadersHttpRequest(final HttpRequest httpRequest, final BiConsumer<String, String> headers) {
            this.httpRequest = httpRequest;
            this.headers = headers;
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Ensure the OTel context is activated before the request span is created (scope propagation through the Vert.x pipeline)
2. Propagate the `io.opentelemetry.context.Context` explicitly when constructing `HttpRequestSpan.request(...)`
3. Call `getSpanContext()` only after successful instrumented dispatch
4. Upgrade Quarkus/OTel if triggered by stock instrumentation

Example fix

// before
io.opentelemetry.context.Context octx = span.getSpanContext(); // throws if null
// after
io.opentelemetry.context.Context octx = io.opentelemetry.context.Context.current(); // fallback

if (io.opentelemetry.context.Context.current() == io.opentelemetry.context.Context.root()) {
    LOG.warn("No active OTel context; span context may be unset");
}

static boolean hasSpanContext(HttpInstrumenterVertxTracer.HttpRequestSpan span) {
    try {
        return span.getSpanContext() != null;
    } catch (IllegalStateException e) {
        return false;
    }
}

try {
    io.opentelemetry.context.Context octx = span.getSpanContext();
    // use octx for tracing decisions
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
    LOG.warn("OTel context not set on request span; falling back to Context.current()");
}

When it happens

Trigger: Accessing `getSpanContext()` on an HttpRequestSpan built with a null `io.opentelemetry.context.Context` — e.g. when span creation was bypassed before the OTel context was activated.

Common situations: Custom extensions or filters reading tracer span state before instrumentation ran; async handoffs where the OTel context was not propagated with the request; version mismatch between the tracer and callers built against older internals.

Related errors

• The Vert.x Context is not set
• The Vert.x Context to attach the OpenTelemetry Context must
• Connection.OtelApiNotFound
• OpenTelemetryContextUnwrapper was not found
• No current Vertx context found

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b14585c905b8c861. Report an issue: GitHub.