Add Go Auto-Instrumentation Beta Announcement Blog Post

content/en/blog/2025/go-auto-instrumentation-beta.md

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+---
+# prettier-ignore
+title: Announcing the Beta Release of OpenTelemetry Go Auto-Instrumentation using eBPF
+linkTitle: Go Auto-Instrumentation Beta
+date: 2025-01-29
+# prettier-ignore
+author: >-
+  [Tyler Yahn](https://github.com/MrAlias) (Splunk)
+  [Mike Dame](https://github.com/damemi) (Odigos)
+sig: SIG Go Auto-Instrumentation
+# prettier-ignore
+cSpell:ignore: Yahn Odigos rolldice Beyla's Beyla
+---
+
+The OpenTelemetry community is excited to announce the beta release of the
+[OpenTelemetry Go Auto-Instrumentation project](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation)!
+This milestone brings us closer to our mission of making observability simple,
+accessible, and effective for Go applications.
+
+## What is Go Auto-Instrumentation?
+
+OpenTelemetry Go Auto-Instrumentation allows developers to collect traces from
+their Go applications without requiring manual code modifications or rebuilding
+binaries. By dynamically instrumenting applications at runtime using
+[eBPF](https://ebpf.io/), this project lowers the barrier to adopting
+observability best practices and provides deep insights into your application's
+behavior.
+
+## Key features of the beta release
+
+The beta release offers foundational support for automatic instrumentation with
+these key features:
+
+- **HTTP server instrumentation**: Automatically trace incoming and outgoing
+  HTTP requests with trace context propagation when using the
+  [`net/http` package](https://pkg.go.dev/net/http).
+- **Database instrumentation**: Instrument database queries and connections that
+  use the [`database/sql` package](https://pkg.go.dev/database/sql).
+- **gRPC instrumentation**: Easily collect telemetry data from
+  [gRPC clients and servers](https://pkg.go.dev/google.golang.org/grpc).
+- **Kafka-go instrumentation**: Monitor and trace Kafka messaging using the
+  [`kafka-go` package](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/segmentio/kafka-go).
+- **Extensible with OpenTelemetry’s Trace API**: Seamlessly extend
+  auto-instrumentation with custom spans using the
+  [OpenTelemetry Go Trace API](https://pkg.go.dev/go.opentelemetry.io/otel).
+- **Configuration using environment variables**: Simplify configuration with
+  environment-based settings, reducing the need for code changes.
+- **Semantic convention compliance**: Produced telemetry complies with the
+  latest OpenTelemetry semantic conventions ensuring compatibility with the OTel
+  ecosystem.
+
+## Getting started
+
+Getting started with OpenTelemetry Go Auto-Instrumentation is straightforward!
+For detailed instructions on installation, configuration, and running your
+application with auto-instrumentation, check out the
+[Getting Started guide](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation/blob/main/docs/getting-started.md).
+
+To see a complete example, check out the
+[`rolldice` application](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation/tree/0ebb7f21116bfdd8e29c315efdbf359cd74bddac/examples/rolldice).
+
+## The road to stabilization
+
+With the beta release now available, the project team is focused on preparing
+for a stable release. Over the coming year, we’ll concentrate on achieving the
+following goals:
+
+1. **Optimize runtime instrumentation with eBPF**
+
+   We will continue to leverage and improve eBPF for dynamic runtime
+   instrumentation, ensuring that Go applications have reliable, low-overhead
+   observability. This includes staying up to date with the latest developments
+   in both the Go and eBPF ecosystems.
+
+2. **Expand ecosystem support**
+
+   While the beta release supports a limited number of Go packages and only a
+   single telemetry processing pipeline, we plan to broaden this support. We’ll
+   introduce instrumentation for additional Go packages and allow users to
+   create custom telemetry processing pipelines. This expansion will make it
+   easier to integrate with popular Go packages and provide flexibility for
+   custom instrumentation.
+
+3. **Integrate with Beyla’s donation to OpenTelemetry**
+
+   The
+   [donation of Beyla to OpenTelemetry](https://github.com/open-telemetry/community/issues/2406)
+   brings the opportunity to unify and enhance OpenTelemetry's eBPF
+   auto-instrumentation offerings. As an eBPF-based tool for both traces and
+   metrics, this donation will help provide instrumentation for more signals,
+   protocols, and languages in open source. And because the Go instrumentation
+   in Beyla is already based on the OpenTelemetry Go Auto-Instrumentation
+   libraries, we plan to merge the projects – and their development teams –
+   under the OpenTelemetry community organization.
+
+   The integration of Beyla will significantly enhance auto-instrumentation for
+   Go!
+
+Keep track of our progress in the
+[2025 Goals tracking issue](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation/issues/1659).
+
+## Join the journey
+
+As with all OpenTelemetry projects, the success of Go Auto-Instrumentation
+depends on the community. Whether you’re a developer interested in contributing,
+a company looking to adopt the project, or simply curious about observability,
+we’d love for you to join us.
+
+Here’s how you can get involved:
+
+- **Try the beta**: Integrate the project into your applications and
+  [provide feedback](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation/discussions/1697).
+- **Contribute**: Check out
+  [open issues](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation/issues)
+  and
+  [contribute](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation/blob/0ebb7f21116bfdd8e29c315efdbf359cd74bddac/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+  to the project on
+  [GitHub](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-instrumentation).
+- **Join the discussion**: Participate in our
+  [SIG meetings](https://groups.google.com/a/opentelemetry.io/g/calendar-go) and
+  discussions on [Slack](https://cloud-native.slack.com/archives/C03S01YSAS0).
+
+## Acknowledgments
+
+This beta release is the result of countless hours of work by contributors from
+around the world. Thank you to everyone who has contributed code, documentation,
+feedback, and enthusiasm to make this milestone possible.