feat: add support for OTEL_SDK_DISABLED environment variable

Signed-off-by: Saurav Sharma <appdroiddeveloper@gmail.com>

Author: iamsauravsharma

opentelemetry-sdk/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## vNext
 
+- **Feature**: Add support for `OTEL_SDK_DISABLED` environment variable ([#3088](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-rust/pull/3088))
+
 ## 0.31.0
 
 Released 2025-Sep-25

opentelemetry-sdk/src/logs/logger.rs

@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ impl SdkLogger {
     pub(crate) fn new(scope: InstrumentationScope, provider: SdkLoggerProvider) -> Self {
         SdkLogger { scope, provider }
     }
+
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    pub(crate) fn provider(&self) -> &SdkLoggerProvider {
+        &self.provider
+    }
 }
 
 impl opentelemetry::logs::Logger for SdkLogger {

opentelemetry-sdk/src/logs/logger_provider.rs

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ use super::{BatchLogProcessor, LogProcessor, SdkLogger, SimpleLogProcessor};
 use crate::error::{OTelSdkError, OTelSdkResult};
 use crate::logs::LogExporter;
 use crate::Resource;
-use opentelemetry::{otel_debug, otel_info, InstrumentationScope};
+use opentelemetry::{otel_debug, otel_info, otel_warn, InstrumentationScope};
 use std::time::Duration;
 use std::{
     borrow::Cow,
@@ -12,16 +12,32 @@ use std::{
     },
 };
 
-// a no nop logger provider used as placeholder when the provider is shutdown
+// a no op logger provider used as placeholder when the provider is shutdown
 // TODO - replace it with LazyLock once it is stable
-static NOOP_LOGGER_PROVIDER: OnceLock<SdkLoggerProvider> = OnceLock::new();
+static SHUTDOWN_LOGGER_PROVIDER: OnceLock<SdkLoggerProvider> = OnceLock::new();
 
 #[inline]
-fn noop_logger_provider() -> &'static SdkLoggerProvider {
-    NOOP_LOGGER_PROVIDER.get_or_init(|| SdkLoggerProvider {
+fn shutdown_logger_provider() -> &'static SdkLoggerProvider {
+    SHUTDOWN_LOGGER_PROVIDER.get_or_init(|| SdkLoggerProvider {
         inner: Arc::new(LoggerProviderInner {
             processors: Vec::new(),
             is_shutdown: AtomicBool::new(true),
+            is_disabled: false,
+        }),
+    })
+}
+// a no op logger provider used as placeholder when sdk is disabled with
+// help of environment variable `OTEL_SDK_DISABLED`
+// TODO - replace it with LazyLock once it is stable
+static DISABLED_LOGGER_PROVIDER: OnceLock<SdkLoggerProvider> = OnceLock::new();
+
+#[inline]
+fn disabled_logger_provider() -> &'static SdkLoggerProvider {
+    DISABLED_LOGGER_PROVIDER.get_or_init(|| SdkLoggerProvider {
+        inner: Arc::new(LoggerProviderInner {
+            processors: Vec::new(),
+            is_shutdown: AtomicBool::new(false),
+            is_disabled: true,
         }),
     })
 }
@@ -53,13 +69,23 @@ impl opentelemetry::logs::LoggerProvider for SdkLoggerProvider {
     }
 
     fn logger_with_scope(&self, scope: InstrumentationScope) -> Self::Logger {
-        // If the provider is shutdown, new logger will refer a no-op logger provider.
+        // If the provider is shutdown, new logger will refer a shutdown no-op logger provider.
         if self.inner.is_shutdown.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
             otel_debug!(
                 name: "LoggerProvider.NoOpLoggerReturned",
                 logger_name = scope.name(),
+                reason = "shutdown"
+            );
+            return SdkLogger::new(scope, shutdown_logger_provider().clone());
+        }
+        // If the provider is disabled, new logger will refer a disabled no-op logger provider.
+        if self.inner.is_disabled {
+            otel_debug!(
+                name: "LoggerProvider.NoOpLoggerReturned",
+                logger_name = scope.name(),
+                reason = "disabled via OTEL_SDK_DISABLED env var"
             );
-            return SdkLogger::new(scope, noop_logger_provider().clone());
+            return SdkLogger::new(scope, disabled_logger_provider().clone());
         }
         if scope.name().is_empty() {
             otel_info!(name: "LoggerNameEmpty",  message = "Logger name is empty; consider providing a meaningful name. Logger will function normally and the provided name will be used as-is.");
@@ -135,6 +161,7 @@ impl SdkLoggerProvider {
 struct LoggerProviderInner {
     processors: Vec<Box<dyn LogProcessor>>,
     is_shutdown: AtomicBool,
+    is_disabled: bool,
 }
 
 impl LoggerProviderInner {
@@ -267,10 +294,18 @@ impl LoggerProviderBuilder {
             processor.set_resource(&resource);
         }
 
+        let is_disabled =
+            std::env::var("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED").is_ok_and(|var| var.to_lowercase() == "true");
+
+        if is_disabled {
+            otel_warn!(name: "LoggerProvider.Disabled", message = "SDK is disabled through environment variable");
+        }
+
         let logger_provider = SdkLoggerProvider {
             inner: Arc::new(LoggerProviderInner {
                 processors,
                 is_shutdown: AtomicBool::new(false),
+                is_disabled,
             }),
         };
 
@@ -753,6 +788,7 @@ mod tests {
                     flush_called.clone(),
                 ))],
                 is_shutdown: AtomicBool::new(false),
+                is_disabled: false,
             });
 
             {
@@ -781,6 +817,32 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!*flush_called.lock().unwrap());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    #[ignore = "modifies OTEL_SDK_DISABLED env var which can affect other test"]
+    fn otel_sdk_disabled_env() {
+        temp_env::with_var("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED", Some("true"), || {
+            let exporter = InMemoryLogExporter::default();
+            let logger_provider = SdkLoggerProvider::builder()
+                .with_simple_exporter(exporter.clone())
+                .build();
+            let logger = logger_provider.logger("noop");
+            let mut record = logger.create_log_record();
+            record.set_body("Testing sdk disabled logger".into());
+            logger.emit(record);
+            let mut record = logger.create_log_record();
+            record.set_body("Testing sdk disabled logger".into());
+            logger.emit(record);
+            let mut record = logger.create_log_record();
+            record.set_body("Testing sdk disabled logger".into());
+            logger.emit(record);
+            let emitted_logs = exporter.get_emitted_logs().unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(emitted_logs.len(), 0);
+
+            assert!(logger.provider().shutdown().is_ok());
+            assert!(logger.provider().shutdown().is_err());
+        });
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn drop_after_shutdown_test_with_multiple_providers() {
         let shutdown_called = Arc::new(Mutex::new(0)); // Count the number of times shutdown is called
@@ -793,6 +855,7 @@ mod tests {
                 flush_called.clone(),
             ))],
             is_shutdown: AtomicBool::new(false),
+            is_disabled: false,
         });
 
         // Create a scope to test behavior when providers are dropped

opentelemetry-sdk/src/metrics/meter_provider.rs

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use core::fmt;
 use opentelemetry::{
     metrics::{Meter, MeterProvider},
-    otel_debug, otel_error, otel_info, InstrumentationScope,
+    otel_debug, otel_error, otel_info, otel_warn, InstrumentationScope,
 };
 use std::time::Duration;
 use std::{
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ struct SdkMeterProviderInner {
     pipes: Arc<Pipelines>,
     meters: Mutex<HashMap<InstrumentationScope, Arc<SdkMeter>>>,
     shutdown_invoked: AtomicBool,
+    is_disabled: bool,
 }
 
 impl Default for SdkMeterProvider {
@@ -193,6 +194,15 @@ impl MeterProvider for SdkMeterProvider {
             otel_debug!(
                 name: "MeterProvider.NoOpMeterReturned",
                 meter_name = scope.name(),
+                reason = "shutdown"
+            );
+            return Meter::new(Arc::new(NoopMeter::new()));
+        }
+        if self.inner.is_disabled {
+            otel_debug!(
+                name: "MeterProvider.DisabledNoOpMeterReturned",
+                meter_name = scope.name(),
+                reason = "disabled via OTEL_SDK_DISABLED env var"
             );
             return Meter::new(Arc::new(NoopMeter::new()));
         }
@@ -379,6 +389,13 @@ impl MeterProviderBuilder {
             builder = format!("{:?}", &self),
         );
 
+        let is_disabled =
+            std::env::var("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED").is_ok_and(|var| var.to_lowercase() == "true");
+
+        if is_disabled {
+            otel_warn!(name: "MeterProvider.Disabled", message = "SDK is disabled through environment variable");
+        }
+
         let meter_provider = SdkMeterProvider {
             inner: Arc::new(SdkMeterProviderInner {
                 pipes: Arc::new(Pipelines::new(
@@ -388,6 +405,7 @@ impl MeterProviderBuilder {
                 )),
                 meters: Default::default(),
                 shutdown_invoked: AtomicBool::new(false),
+                is_disabled,
             }),
         };
 
@@ -729,4 +747,21 @@ mod tests {
         );
         assert_eq!(resource.schema_url(), Some("http://example.com"));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    #[ignore = "modifies OTEL_SDK_DISABLED env var which can affect other test"]
+    fn otel_sdk_disabled_env() {
+        temp_env::with_var("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED", Some("true"), || {
+            let meter_provider = super::SdkMeterProvider::builder().build();
+            let _ = meter_provider.meter("noop1");
+            let _ = meter_provider.meter("noop2");
+            let _ = meter_provider.meter("noop3");
+            let _ = meter_provider.meter("noop4");
+            let _ = meter_provider.meter("noop5");
+
+            assert_eq!(meter_provider.inner.meters.lock().unwrap().len(), 0);
+            assert!(meter_provider.shutdown().is_ok());
+            assert!(meter_provider.shutdown().is_err());
+        });
+    }
 }