PROPOSAL: Add optional usage telemetry to Kubebuilder

[vitorfloriano]

Motivation

Kubebuilder is widely used, but maintainers have little visibility into how developers interact with the tool.
Anonymous, opt-in telemetry could help us:

• Understand which commands are most used (init, create api, alpha update, etc.)
• Track adoption across versions and platforms
• Identify pain points or common failure patterns

This data would help inform feature prioritization, documentation improvements, and overall project direction.

Goals

• Explore adding a lightweight, anonymous, opt-in telemetry mechanism to Kubebuilder
• Collect only high-level data such as:
  • Kubebuilder version
  • OS/arch
  • Command executed
  • Exit status (success/failure)
• Ensure sending telemetry is non-blocking and does not affect CLI performance

Non-Goals

• Collecting sensitive data (e.g., repo URLs, resource names, user identifiers)
• Making telemetry mandatory
• Building a complex backend system

Possible Approaches

• Custom lightweight telemetry (JSON payload over HTTPS)
• OpenTelemetry integration for standardized reporting
• Compare with other CNCF CLIs to align on best practices

Note

Telemetry often carries a negative perception in developer tools. However, with the rise of OpenTelemetry under the CNCF, the community now has a well-established standard for transparent, opt-in, and privacy-respecting observability.

This proposal aims to align Kubebuilder with those values, ensuring telemetry is helpful, optional, and never intrusive.

No feasibility evaluation has been done yet; this proposal is exploratory and intended to start a discussion with the Community.

[vitorfloriano]

IMPORTANT: We have been informed that this endeavor has legal implications and should be coordinated with the Linux Foundation’s legal team, as outlined in the Linux Foundation Telemetry Data Collection and Usage Policy:

Current Policy

By default, Linux Foundation projects should not collect telemetry data from users of open source software distributed on behalf of the project.

If a project community wishes to collect telemetry data, it must first coordinate with the Linux Foundation’s legal team to undergo a detailed review of the proposed data and collection mechanism.

This adds an extra layer of complexity to the proposal and raises the question of whether the effort is justified.

Thanks @dims for the heads-up!