CLI crashes when `OTEL_*_EXPORTER=none` is set (standard OpenTelemetry SDK value)

_human note: the following was written by claude but iterated on to get the full picture with proof from the obfuscated code. It's a real issue, but it's verbose because claude wrote it_
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The CLI crashes during startup when any of the OTEL exporter environment variables are set to none:

• OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER=none
• OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=none
• OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=none

Stack Trace

Error: Unknown exporter type set in OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER env var: none
    at sf7 (/$bunfs/root/claude:2227:1350)
    at EAB (/$bunfs/root/claude:2227:5137)
    at e68 (/$bunfs/root/claude:4669:17047)
    at WPA (/$bunfs/root/claude:4669:17013)
    at JPA (/$bunfs/root/claude:4669:16978)

Expected Behavior

According to the OpenTelemetry SDK Environment Variables specification, none is a valid value for all exporter environment variables:

none: No automatically configured exporter for this signal.

The CLI should recognize none as a valid value and simply skip configuring an exporter for that signal type, rather than throwing an error.

OTEL Spec Compliance Table

| Environment Variable | OTEL Spec Values | CLI Supported Values | Missing Values |
|---------------------|------------------|---------------------|----------------|
| OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER | otlp, zipkin, console, none | otlp, console | none, zipkin |
| OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER | otlp, prometheus, console, none | otlp, console, prometheus | none |
| OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER | otlp, console, none | otlp, console | none |

Note: The OTEL spec also defines deprecated values like logging and development values like otlp/stdout, but none is the critical missing value as it's the standard way to disable telemetry.

Why This Matters

Users who have OTEL_*_EXPORTER=none set in their environment (a common way to disable telemetry in OTEL-aware applications) cannot use Claude Code without unsetting those variables first.

This is problematic because:

• Users may have these set globally via shell profiles
• It violates the principle of least surprise - these are standard OTEL values

Reproduction

OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER=none claude -p "say hi"

Code Location

The issue is in the telemetry initialization code (path /$bunfs/root/claude in the Bun-bundled binary, or cli.js in npm package). Three functions handle the exporter environment variables (minified function names vary by version):

Logs Exporter (gm5 in v0.2.6):

function gm5(){let A=(process.env.OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER||"").trim().split(",").filter(Boolean),Q=[];for(let B of A)if(B==="console")Q.push(new ds.ConsoleLogRecordExporter);else if(B==="otlp"){/* ... */}else throw Error(`Unknown exporter type set in OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER env var: ${B}`);return Q}

Traces Exporter (um5 in v0.2.6):

function um5(){let A=(process.env.OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER||"").trim().split(",").filter(Boolean),Q=[];for(let B of A)if(B==="console")Q.push(new ps.ConsoleSpanExporter);else if(B==="otlp"){/* ... */}else throw Error(`Unknown exporter type set in OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER env var: ${B}`);return Q}

Metrics Exporter (hm5 in v0.2.6):

function hm5(){let A=(process.env.OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER||"").trim().split(",").filter(Boolean),/* ... */;for(let G of A)if(G==="console"){/* ... */}else if(G==="otlp"){/* ... */}else if(G==="prometheus")B.push(new sv2.PrometheusExporter);else throw Error(`Unknown exporter type set in OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_PROTOCOL or OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL env var: ${G}`);/* ... */}

<details>
<summary>Deobfuscated/reformatted version (logs exporter example)</summary>

function getLogExporters() {
  let exporterNames = (process.env.OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER || "").trim().split(",").filter(Boolean);
  let exporters = [];

  for (let name of exporterNames) {
    if (name === "console") {
      exporters.push(new ConsoleLogRecordExporter());
    } else if (name === "otlp") {
      // Configure OTLP exporter based on protocol...
    } else {
      // BUG: "none" falls through to here and throws
      throw Error(`Unknown exporter type set in OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER env var: ${name}`);
    }
  }
  return exporters;
}

</details>

Suggested Fix

Add handling for none in all three exporter configuration functions:

1. For each of OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER, OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER, and OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER:

• When iterating through the comma-separated exporter values
• If the value is "none", skip it (continue to next iteration)
• Per OTEL spec: none means "no automatically configured exporter for this signal"

This is a simple change: add a condition to check for "none" and continue before the existing console/otlp/prometheus checks and before the error throw.

Current Workaround

Unset the environment variables before running Claude:

unset OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER
claude -p "say hi"

Environment

• Claude Code Version: 2.1.7
• OS: macOS

References

• OpenTelemetry SDK Environment Variables Spec

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