Define generic error.message

.chloggen/generic-error.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+#
+# If your change doesn't affect end users you should instead start
+# your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: enhancement
+
+# The name of the area of concern in the attributes-registry, (e.g. http, cloud, db)
+component: error
+
+# A brief description of the change. Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Add `error.message` property for human-readable error message.
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+# The values here must be integers.
+issues: [1992]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext:

docs/attributes-registry/error.md

@@ -9,9 +9,16 @@ This document defines the shared attributes used to report an error.
 
 | Attribute | Type | Description | Examples | Stability |
 |---|---|---|---|---|
-| <a id="error-type" href="#error-type">`error.type`</a> | string | Describes a class of error the operation ended with. [1] | `timeout`; `java.net.UnknownHostException`; `server_certificate_invalid`; `500` | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) |
+| <a id="error-message" href="#error-message">`error.message`</a> | string | A message providing more detail about an error in human-readable form. [1] | `TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'toString')` | ![Development](https://img.shields.io/badge/-development-blue) |
+| <a id="error-type" href="#error-type">`error.type`</a> | string | Describes a class of error the operation ended with. [2] | `timeout`; `java.net.UnknownHostException`; `server_certificate_invalid`; `500` | ![Stable](https://img.shields.io/badge/-stable-lightgreen) |
 
-**[1] `error.type`:** The `error.type` SHOULD be predictable, and SHOULD have low cardinality.
+**[1] `error.message`:** `error.message` should provide additional context and detail about an error.
+It is NOT RECOMMENDED to duplicate the value of `error.type` in `error.message`.
+
+`error.message` is recommended for logs, events, and span events,
+but not metrics or spans due to its unbounded cardinality and overlap with span status.
+
+**[2] `error.type`:** The `error.type` SHOULD be predictable, and SHOULD have low cardinality.
 
 When `error.type` is set to a type (e.g., an exception type), its
 canonical class name identifying the type within the artifact SHOULD be used.

model/error/registry.yaml

@@ -37,3 +37,14 @@ groups:
 
           - Use a domain-specific attribute
           - Set `error.type` to capture all errors, regardless of whether they are defined within the domain-specific set or not.
+      - id: error.message
+        type: string
+        stability: development
+        examples: ["TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'toString')"]
+        brief: A message providing more detail about an error in human-readable form.
+        note: |
+          `error.message` should provide additional context and detail about an error.
+          It is NOT RECOMMENDED to duplicate the value of `error.type` in `error.message`.
+
+          `error.message` is recommended for logs, events, and span events,
+          but not metrics or spans due to its unbounded cardinality and overlap with span status.