{"source":"semconv","version":"1.44.0","attribute":{"id":"gen_ai.system_instructions","type":"any","stability":"development","brief":"The system message or instructions provided to the GenAI model separately from the chat history.","note":"This attribute SHOULD be used when the corresponding provider or API\nallows to provide system instructions or messages separately from the\nchat history.\n\nInstructions that are part of the chat history SHOULD be recorded in\n`gen_ai.input.messages` attribute instead.\n\nInstrumentations MUST follow [System instructions JSON schema](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions/blob/v1.41.0/docs/gen-ai/gen-ai-system-instructions.json).\n\nWhen recorded on spans, it MAY be recorded as a JSON string if structured\nformat is not supported and SHOULD be recorded in structured form otherwise.\n\nInstrumentations MAY provide a way for users to filter or truncate\nsystem instructions.\n\n> [!Warning]\n> This attribute may contain sensitive information.\n\nSee [Recording content on attributes](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions/blob/v1.41.0/docs/gen-ai/gen-ai-spans.md#recording-content-on-attributes)\nsection for more details.","examples":["[\n  {\n    \"type\": \"text\",\n    \"content\": \"You are an Agent that greet users, always use greetings tool to respond\"\n  }\n]\n","[\n  {\n    \"type\": \"text\",\n    \"content\": \"You are a language translator.\"\n  },\n  {\n    \"type\": \"text\",\n    \"content\": \"Your mission is to translate text in English to French.\"\n  }\n]\n"],"deprecated":{"reason":"uncategorized","note":"Moved to the [OpenTelemetry GenAI semantic conventions repository](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions-genai)."},"namespace":"gen_ai","definedIn":"model/gen-ai/deprecated/registry-deprecated.yaml","usedBy":[{"groupId":"attributes.gen_ai.inference.client","groupType":"attribute_group","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"attributes.gen_ai.inference.openai_based","groupType":"attribute_group","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"attributes.gen_ai.invoke_agent.client","groupType":"attribute_group","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"attributes.gen_ai.invoke_agent.common","groupType":"attribute_group","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"attributes.gen_ai.invoke_agent.internal","groupType":"attribute_group","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"event.gen_ai.client.inference.operation.details","groupType":"event","signalName":"gen_ai.client.inference.operation.details","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.anthropic.inference.client","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.aws.bedrock.client","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.azure.ai.inference.client","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.gen_ai.create_agent.client","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.gen_ai.inference.client","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.gen_ai.invoke_agent.client","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.gen_ai.invoke_agent.internal","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"},{"groupId":"span.openai.inference.client","groupType":"span","requirementLevel":"opt_in"}]},"history":[{"version":"1.37.0","publishedAt":"2025-08-25T23:38:36Z","kind":"first-seen","detail":"Added as development.","severity":"informational"},{"version":"1.42.0","publishedAt":"2026-06-12T21:03:17Z","kind":"deprecated","detail":"Moved to the [OpenTelemetry GenAI semantic conventions repository](https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions-genai).","severity":"notable"}],"replaces":[]}