This is the next phase of open-telemetry/semantic-conventions#2246.

What this does:

• Add role field to Attribute with options Identifying or Descriptive
• Adds lineage tracking for role changes

What this does not do:

• Update yaml schema for model files (Didn't have time to learn this one yet)
• Add any weaver enforcement of rules around usage. I plan to add this in semconv initially, but not sure how much limits we'll have in weaver.
• Add any JQ or JINJA helpers for role.

Why role

Why do we call this role? I did some investigation into names and actually thought LLM captured some considerations well, here's (snipped) output:

Why terms like "Type" or "Kind" might be less suitable:

AttributeType: This is commonly used to refer to the data type of the attribute (e.g., string, integer, boolean) (Source 4.2), and using it for this dimension could cause confusion.
AttributeKind: OpenTelemetry already uses "Kind" for spans (e.g., SpanKind with values like SERVER, CLIENT), so using it here might lead to ambiguity.

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Rationale: "Role" is a widely understood term in data modeling, where attributes play specific roles (e.g., key, descriptor). This name signifies the function or part an attribute plays in defining or characterizing the signal or resource.

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