Opentelemetry is not collecting http_server_request_duration_bucket metrics for Nextjs endpoints

Why this is a good first issue

HTTP server metrics are not being collected due to initialization timing issues with Next.js.

AI Summary

The issue involves OpenTelemetry not collecting HTTP server metrics for Next.js endpoints, likely due to initialization timing where Next.js starts before OpenTelemetry can patch the HTTP module. The solution requires ensuring proper initialization order or patching, but there's uncertainty about the exact approach due to version-specific behavior and maintainer comments indicating complexity.

Issue Description

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/estigma88/opentelemetry-nextjs-issue

To Reproduce

Clone the following project https://github.com/vercel/opentelemetry-collector-dev-setup/tree/main
Run the docker-compose up to start up Prometheus and the otel-collector
Clone https://github.com/estigma88/opentelemetry-nextjs-issue
Run the nextjs app with npm run dev
Go to http://localhost:3000/ several times
Wait for a while for the metrics to be collected
Go to Prometheus in http://0.0.0.0:9090/query
Explore the metrics, you will see http_client_request_duration_bucket but not http_server_request_duration_bucket

Current vs. Expected behavior

Http client metrics are collected but not Http server metrics.

The following is the Opentelemetry configuration:

const sdk = new opentelemetry.NodeSDK({
  resource: resourceFromAttributes({
    [ATTR_SERVICE_NAME]: 'next-app',
  }),
  traceExporter: new OTLPTraceExporter(),
  metricReader: new PeriodicExportingMetricReader({
    exporter: new OTLPMetricExporter(),
  }),
  instrumentations: [getNodeAutoInstrumentations()],
});

sdk.start();

Same configuration using Express works fine.

Provide environment information

Operating System:
  Platform: linux
  Arch: x64
  Version: #63-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Apr 15 19:04:15 UTC 2025
  Available memory (MB): 31731
  Available CPU cores: 12
Binaries:
  Node: 20.16.0
  npm: 10.8.1
  Yarn: N/A
  pnpm: N/A
Relevant Packages:
  next: 15.4.0-canary.29 // There is a newer canary version (15.4.0-canary.69) available, please upgrade! 
  eslint-config-next: N/A
  react: 18.3.1
  react-dom: 18.3.1
  typescript: 4.7.4
Next.js Config:
  output: N/A
 ⚠ There is a newer canary version (15.4.0-canary.69) available, please upgrade! 
   Please try the latest canary version (`npm install next@canary`) to confirm the issue still exists before creating a new issue.
   Read more - https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/open

GitHub Labels

Instrumentation