Project proposal: bootstrap Zig SIG

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+  - Taxdoo
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projects/zig-sig-bootstrap.md

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+# Bootstrap Zig Special Interest Group
+
+## Background and description
+
+Zig is a general-purpose programming language designed for performance, robustness, and clarity.
+One of Zig's key features is its seamless interoperability with C, making it a compelling choice for systems programming. 
+Zig code can compile to C and eBPF natively, and it speaks the C ABI without the need for bindings or FFI layers.
+Zig is already used in OpenTelemetry in the [opentelemetry-injector](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-injector) project.
+
+This project is the continuation of what proposed in #2514.
+Over the past year, a handful of people have dedicated time to develop a working SDK and this proposal aims at making Zig an officially supported language in OpenTelemetry.
+By doing so, we would enable two distinct developer communities:
+
+1. **Zig developers**: A growing community building systems software, web services, games and low-latency applications
+2. **C developers**: Who can leverage the Zig OpenTelemetry implementation directly through C ABI compatibility
+
+The aforementioned work-in-progress SDK implementations exist at [zig-o11y/opentelemetry-sdk](https://github.com/zig-o11y/opentelemetry-sdk), demonstrating community interest and initial technical feasibility.
+A complementary Semantic Convention library is developed at [zig-o11y/opentelemetry-semconv](https://github.com/zig-o11y/opentelemetry-semconv).
+However, these efforts are fragmented and lack official OpenTelemetry support, governance, and long-term maintenance commitments.
+
+### Current challenges
+
+**Lack of Official OpenTelemetry Support for Zig and C:**
+- Zig developers currently have no official OpenTelemetry SDK, forcing them to use wrappers around the C++ implementation, use foreign language bindings or forgo observability altogether
+- C developers lack a modern, actively maintained OpenTelemetry implementation that follows current specification versions
+- Existing unofficial implementations are fragmented and not coordinated under OpenTelemetry governance
+
+**Fragmented Community Efforts:**
+Multiple independent implementations lead to duplicated effort and inconsistent quality.
+Without official SIG coordination, these efforts may diverge from OpenTelemetry specifications and there is no clear path for Zig/C developers to contribute to or adopt OpenTelemetry.
+
+### Goals, objectives, and requirements
+
+The primary goal of this project is to bootstrap a Zig SIG that will create and maintain an official OpenTelemetry implementation for the Zig programming language, with initial deliverables focused on establishing a compliant, production-ready SDK.
+
+**Specific Objectives**
+
+1. **Create OpenTelemetry API for Zig** covering stable signals: baggage, traces, metrics, and logs
+2. **Implement OpenTelemetry SDK** providing the official implementation for signal collection, processing, and export
+3. **Provide continued support to Semantic Conventions library** enabling consistent instrumentation across Zig applications
+4. **Establish C ABI compatibility layer** allowing C developers to use the Zig implementation seamlessly
+5. **Create comprehensive documentation** including API references, usage guides, and examples for both Zig and C developers
+6. **Build test infrastructure** ensuring specification compliance and compatibility across Zig versions
+
+**Requirements**
+
+- Compliance with OpenTelemetry specification v1.48 (precise version is TBD based on timeline)
+- Support for current stable Zig version (0.15.2 at time of writing) with commitment to track language releases
+- Cross-platform support (Linux, macOS, Windows)
+- Zero-dependency core implementation where possible, with minimal dependencies for exporters
+- C ABI compatibility verified through examples and tests
+- Documentation with code examples
+
+_Note_: some of the above are already implemented in the un-official SDK.
+
+**Motivation for Starting Now**
+
+- Zig adoption is growing, particularly in systems programming and infrastructure domains where observability is critical
+- Possibility to onboard C developers with an OpenTelemetry solution
+
+**Benefits to OpenTelemetry**
+
+- Extends OpenTelemetry reach to Zig and C developer communities
+- Demonstrates OpenTelemetry's versatility across diverse programming language paradigms
+- Creates potential for novel integration patterns through Zig's C/eBPF compilation capabilities
+- Establishes a foundation for future work in eBPF-based auto-instrumentation using Zig
+
+## Deliverables
+
+This project will deliver the following components, organized by priority:
+
+**1. Formation of a SIG**
+- Scout for additional community member interested in supporting the language
+- Create documents and recurring meetings
+
+**2. OpenTelemetry API for Zig**
+- Trace API implementing the specification
+- Logs API implementing the specification
+- Metrics API implementing the specification
+- Context propagation and baggage APIs
+- C header exports for all APIs
+
+**3. Core SDK Implementation**
+- Tracer Provider and Span Processor implementations
+- Meter Provider and aggregation implementations
+- Logger Provider implementation
+- Resource detection and configuration
+- OTLP exporter (HTTP and gRPC)
+
+## Expected responsibilities
+
+Once formed, the future work of the SIG will be to adhere to the practice existing for other supported language, including:
+
+- build and distribution infrastructure
+- stabilize the Semantic Conventions library
+- develop exporters supported in other languages
+- publish API documentation (generated from code)
+- produce user guide covering installation, basic usage, and configuration
+- provide example applications for Zig (HTTP server, CLI tool)
+- provide example C applications demonstrating C ABI usage
+- performance benchmarks
+- security audit of implementation
+- create a production deployment guide
+- maintain versioning and compatibility policy
+- create the first stable release (v1.0.0)
+
+## Staffing / Help Wanted
+
+### Industry outreach
+
+The following communities and companies should be made aware of this effort:
+
+**Communities:**
+- Zig Software Foundation and core Zig community
+- Systems programming communities using C who could benefit from OpenTelemetry observability
+- eBPF Foundation members working on observability tooling
+- OpenTelemetry language SIG maintainers for cross-SIG collaboration
+
+**Companies Known to Use Zig:**
+- Tigerbeetle (distributed financial transactions database)
+- Bun (JavaScript runtime, acquired by Anthropic)
+- ZML (Machine Learning platform)
+- LightPanda (AI agent browser)
+- Various infrastructure and systems programming companies in the Zig community
+
+Outreach will be conducted through:
+- Announcement in Zig Discord and community forums
+- Blog post on OpenTelemetry website upon project approval
+- Presentation at CNCF TAG Observability or related events
+- Engagement with companies in the Zig ecosystem through direct contact
+
+### SIG
+
+#### Project Lead(s)
+
+The following individuals have expressed interest and commitment to leading this project:
+
+- **@inge4pres** (Francesco, Elastic) - Maintainer
+- **@kmos** (Giovanni, Red Hat) - Maintainer
+- **@hendriknielaender** (Hendrik, Taxdoo Gmbh) - Maintainer
+- **@kakkoyun** (Kemal, DataDog) - Approver
+- **@jaronoff97** (Jacob, Tero) - Approver
+
+These individuals will become SIG maintainers upon project approval.
+
+#### Contributors
+
+We haven't had continued external contributions that haven't turned into maintainer roles.
+We hope that by making Zig support official, more contributors will step in.
+
+**Additional Contributors Sought:**
+- Engineers with Zig experience willing to contribute to SDK implementation
+- C developers who can test and validate C ABI compatibility
+- Documentation writers for user guides and examples
+- Developers with eBPF experience for future auto-instrumentation work
+
+**Cross-SIG Review (for future OTEPs if needed):**
+- If specification changes are proposed, maintainers from at least two other language SIGs will be recruited for prototype review
+- Initial implementation will follow existing specifications, minimizing this requirement
+
+### Sponsorship
+
+#### TC Sponsor
+
+**[TO BE DETERMINED]**
+
+This project requires a TC sponsors who can provide at minimum "Guiding" level sponsorship to help align the SIG's efforts with OpenTelemetry's technical goals.
+We're actively looking for a sponsor.
+
+#### GC Liaison
+
+**[TO BE DETERMINED]**
+
+This project requires a GC liaison to facilitate SIG health and ensure the project scope remains aligned with the proposal.
+
+Desired liaison characteristics:
+- Familiarity with SIG formation and governance processes
+- Ability to participate in quarterly check-ins
+- Interest in growing the OpenTelemetry ecosystem
+
+_Note_: @svrnm has already engaged in issue #2514, may be a potential liaison
+
+### Zig Version Compatibility Strategy
+
+Given that Zig is pre-1.0 and breaking changes occur between releases, the SIG will:
+- Target the latest stable Zig release at time of development
+- Commit to updating for new Zig releases within 4 weeks of release
+- Maintain compatibility with at minimum the current and previous Zig version
+- Document Zig version compatibility clearly in README and releases
+- Use CI to test against multiple Zig versions
+- After Zig 1.0 is released, adopt a more stable compatibility policy
+
+This maintenance burden is acknowledged and accepted by the project leads as part of the commitment to this SIG.
+
+## References
+
+- Issue #2514: [Zig SIG: current level of interest?](https://github.com/open-telemetry/community/issues/2514)
+- Zig Programming Language: https://ziglang.org
+- Existing implementations:
+  - https://github.com/zig-o11y/opentelemetry-sdk
+  - https://github.com/zig-o11y/opentelemetry-semconv
+  - https://github.com/zig-o11y/opentelemetry-proto
+
+## License and copyright
+
+The existing implementations mentioned above have a MIT license and the copyright holders are willing to donate them to CNCF.