# Where do OpenTelemetry logs end up in Elasticsearch

**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-opentelemetry-logs-end-up-in-elasticsearch/379554
**Category:** Elastic Observability
**Tags:** ecs-elastic-common-schema, ilm-index-lifecycle-management, datastreams, otel
**Created:** [June 27, 2025, 7:35am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-opentelemetry-logs-end-up-in-elasticsearch/379554 "2025-06-27T07:35:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![flalar](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/flalar/32/85777_2.png) [@flalar](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/flalar)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2025, 7:35am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-do-opentelemetry-logs-end-up-in-elasticsearch/379554/1 "2025-06-27T07:35:45Z")

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Hi all,

I'm currently experimenting with using OpenTelemetry to send logs into Elasticsearch and trying to understand exactly **where those logs end up** once they arrive.

So far, I see that metrics and traces follow somewhat expected paths, but logs are less clear. In particular, I’m wondering:

- What **index or data stream** do OpenTelemetry logs go into by default?
- Is this behavior different if I'm using the **Elastic OpenTelemetry Collector** vs a **vanilla OpenTelemetry Collector** with the `elasticsearch` exporter?
- If I want to route logs to a specific data stream like `logs-myapp-default`, what’s the **recommended way to configure that**? Should I rely on `service.name`, or override the index name in the exporter config?
- Is there an official mapping or default ECS pipeline that handles OpenTelemetry logs?

I'm trying to avoid custom ingestion pipelines unless absolutely necessary, and would prefer to stay within Elastic’s recommended practices.

Any advice, links to docs, or working examples would be much appreciated.