feat: Improve error handling in prometheus exporter (#7363)

fix #7066

---------

Co-authored-by: Tyler Yahn <MrAlias@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.htm
 - `WithInstrumentationAttributes` in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/meter` synchronously de-duplicates the passed attributes instead of delegating it to the returned `MeterOption`. (#7266)
 - `WithInstrumentationAttributes` in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/log` synchronously de-duplicates the passed attributes instead of delegating it to the returned `LoggerOption`. (#7266)
 - `Distinct` in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute` is no longer guaranteed to uniquely identify an attribute set. Collisions between `Distinct` values for different Sets are possible with extremely high cardinality (billions of series per instrument), but are highly unlikely. (#7175)
+- Improve error handling for dropped data during translation by using `prometheus.NewInvalidMetric` in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/prometheus`.
+  **Breaking Change:** Previously, these cases were only logged and scrapes succeeded.
+  Now, when translation would drop data (e.g., invalid label/value), the exporter emits a `NewInvalidMetric`, and Prometheus scrapes **fail with HTTP 500** by default.
+  To preserve the prior behavior (scrapes succeed while errors are logged), configure your Prometheus HTTP handler with: `promhttp.HandlerOpts{ ErrorHandling: promhttp.ContinueOnError }`. (#7363)
 - The default `TranslationStrategy` in `go.opentelemetry.io/exporters/prometheus` is changed from `otlptranslator.NoUTF8EscapingWithSuffixes` to `otlptranslator.UnderscoreEscapingWithSuffixes`. (#7421)
 - The `ErrorType` function in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/semconv/v1.37.0` now handles custom error types.
   If an error implements an `ErrorType() string` method, the return value of that method will be used as the error type. (#7442)

exporters/prometheus/errors.go

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package prometheus // import "go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/prometheus"
+
+import "errors"
+
+// Sentinel errors for consistent error checks in tests.
+var (
+	errInvalidMetricType = errors.New("invalid metric type")
+	errInvalidMetric     = errors.New("invalid metric")
+	errEHScaleBelowMin   = errors.New("exponential histogram scale below minimum supported")
+)

exporters/prometheus/exporter.go

@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ func (c *collector) Collect(ch chan<- prometheus.Metric) {
 
 			attrKeys, attrVals, e := getAttrs(scopeMetrics.Scope.Attributes, c.labelNamer)
 			if e != nil {
-				otel.Handle(e)
+				reportError(ch, nil, e)
 				err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to getAttrs for ScopeMetrics %d: %w", j, e))
 				continue
 			}
@@ -258,19 +258,19 @@ func (c *collector) Collect(ch chan<- prometheus.Metric) {
 		for k, m := range scopeMetrics.Metrics {
 			typ := c.metricType(m)
 			if typ == nil {
+				reportError(ch, nil, errInvalidMetricType)
 				continue
 			}
 			name, e := c.getName(m)
 			if e != nil {
-				// TODO(#7066): Handle this error better. It's not clear this can be
-				// reached, bad metric names should / will be caught at creation time.
-				otel.Handle(e)
+				reportError(ch, nil, e)
 				err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to getAttrs for ScopeMetrics %d, Metrics %d: %w", j, k, e))
 				continue
 			}
 
 			drop, help := c.validateMetrics(name, m.Description, typ)
 			if drop {
+				reportError(ch, nil, errInvalidMetric)
 				continue
 			}
 
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ func addExponentialHistogramMetric[N int64 | float64](
 	for j, dp := range histogram.DataPoints {
 		keys, values, e := getAttrs(dp.Attributes, labelNamer)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, nil, e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to getAttrs for histogram.DataPoints %d: %w", j, e))
 			continue
 		}
@@ -386,11 +386,11 @@ func addExponentialHistogramMetric[N int64 | float64](
 		scale := dp.Scale
 		if scale < -4 {
 			// Reject scales below -4 as they cannot be represented in Prometheus
-			e := fmt.Errorf(
-				"exponential histogram scale %d is below minimum supported scale -4, skipping data point",
-				scale,
+			reportError(
+				ch,
+				desc,
+				fmt.Errorf("%w: %d (min -4)", errEHScaleBelowMin, scale),
 			)
-			otel.Handle(e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, e)
 			continue
 		}
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ func addExponentialHistogramMetric[N int64 | float64](
 			dp.StartTime,
 			values...)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, desc, e)
 			err = errors.Join(
 				err,
 				fmt.Errorf("failed to NewConstNativeHistogram for histogram.DataPoints %d: %w", j, e),
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ func addHistogramMetric[N int64 | float64](
 	for j, dp := range histogram.DataPoints {
 		keys, values, e := getAttrs(dp.Attributes, labelNamer)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, nil, e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to getAttrs for histogram.DataPoints %d: %w", j, e))
 			continue
 		}
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ func addHistogramMetric[N int64 | float64](
 		}
 		m, e := prometheus.NewConstHistogram(desc, dp.Count, float64(dp.Sum), buckets, values...)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, desc, e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to NewConstMetric for histogram.DataPoints %d: %w", j, e))
 			continue
 		}
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ func addSumMetric[N int64 | float64](
 	for i, dp := range sum.DataPoints {
 		keys, values, e := getAttrs(dp.Attributes, labelNamer)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, nil, e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to getAttrs for sum.DataPoints %d: %w", i, e))
 			continue
 		}
@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ func addSumMetric[N int64 | float64](
 		desc := prometheus.NewDesc(name, m.Description, keys, nil)
 		m, e := prometheus.NewConstMetric(desc, valueType, float64(dp.Value), values...)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, desc, e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to NewConstMetric for sum.DataPoints %d: %w", i, e))
 			continue
 		}
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ func addGaugeMetric[N int64 | float64](
 	for i, dp := range gauge.DataPoints {
 		keys, values, e := getAttrs(dp.Attributes, labelNamer)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, nil, e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to getAttrs for gauge.DataPoints %d: %w", i, e))
 			continue
 		}
@@ -582,7 +582,7 @@ func addGaugeMetric[N int64 | float64](
 		desc := prometheus.NewDesc(name, m.Description, keys, nil)
 		m, e := prometheus.NewConstMetric(desc, prometheus.GaugeValue, float64(dp.Value), values...)
 		if e != nil {
-			otel.Handle(e)
+			reportError(ch, desc, e)
 			err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf("failed to NewConstMetric for gauge.DataPoints %d: %w", i, e))
 			continue
 		}
@@ -803,3 +803,10 @@ func attributesToLabels(attrs []attribute.KeyValue, labelNamer otlptranslator.La
 	}
 	return labels, nil
 }
+
+func reportError(ch chan<- prometheus.Metric, desc *prometheus.Desc, err error) {
+	if desc == nil {
+		desc = prometheus.NewInvalidDesc(err)
+	}
+	ch <- prometheus.NewInvalidMetric(desc, err)
+}

exporters/prometheus/exporter_test.go

@@ -8,12 +8,15 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
+	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promhttp"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/testutil"
 	dto "github.com/prometheus/client_model/go"
 	"github.com/prometheus/otlptranslator"
@@ -32,6 +35,27 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
 )
 
+// producerFunc adapts a function to implement metric.Producer.
+type producerFunc func(context.Context) ([]metricdata.ScopeMetrics, error)
+
+func (f producerFunc) Produce(ctx context.Context) ([]metricdata.ScopeMetrics, error) { return f(ctx) }
+
+// Helper: scrape with ContinueOnError and return body + status.
+func scrapeWithContinueOnError(reg *prometheus.Registry) (int, string) {
+	h := promhttp.HandlerFor(
+		reg,
+		promhttp.HandlerOpts{
+			ErrorHandling: promhttp.ContinueOnError,
+		},
+	)
+
+	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/metrics", http.NoBody)
+	h.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
+
+	return rr.Code, rr.Body.String()
+}
+
 func TestPrometheusExporter(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		name                string
@@ -786,6 +810,7 @@ func TestDuplicateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		recordMetrics         func(ctx context.Context, meterA, meterB otelmetric.Meter)
 		options               []Option
 		possibleExpectedFiles []string
+		expectGatherError     bool
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "no_conflict_two_counters",
@@ -972,6 +997,7 @@ func TestDuplicateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 				"testdata/conflict_type_counter_and_updowncounter_1.txt",
 				"testdata/conflict_type_counter_and_updowncounter_2.txt",
 			},
+			expectGatherError: true,
 		},
 		{
 			name: "conflict_type_histogram_and_updowncounter",
@@ -992,6 +1018,7 @@ func TestDuplicateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 				"testdata/conflict_type_histogram_and_updowncounter_1.txt",
 				"testdata/conflict_type_histogram_and_updowncounter_2.txt",
 			},
+			expectGatherError: true,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -1032,6 +1059,29 @@ func TestDuplicateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 
 			tc.recordMetrics(ctx, meterA, meterB)
 
+			if tc.expectGatherError {
+				// With improved error handling, conflicting instrument types emit an invalid metric.
+				// Gathering should surface an error instead of silently dropping.
+				_, err := registry.Gather()
+				require.Error(t, err)
+
+				// 2) Also assert what users will see if they opt into ContinueOnError.
+				// Compare the HTTP body to an expected file that contains only the valid series
+				// (e.g., "target_info" and any non-conflicting families).
+				status, body := scrapeWithContinueOnError(registry)
+				require.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, status)
+
+				matched := false
+				for _, filename := range tc.possibleExpectedFiles {
+					want, ferr := os.ReadFile(filename)
+					require.NoError(t, ferr)
+					if body == string(want) {
+						matched = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				require.Truef(t, matched, "expected export not produced under ContinueOnError; got:\n%s", body)
+			} else {
 				match := false
 				for _, filename := range tc.possibleExpectedFiles {
 					file, ferr := os.Open(filename)
@@ -1045,6 +1095,7 @@ func TestDuplicateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 					}
 				}
 				require.Truef(t, match, "expected export not produced: %v", err)
+			}
 		})
 	}
 }
@@ -1378,14 +1429,18 @@ func TestExponentialHistogramScaleValidation(t *testing.T) {
 			nil,
 			t.Context(),
 		)
-		assert.Error(t, capturedError)
-		assert.Contains(t, capturedError.Error(), "scale -5 is below minimum")
+		// Expect an invalid metric to be sent that carries the scale error.
+		var pm prometheus.Metric
 		select {
-		case <-ch:
-			t.Error("Expected no metrics to be produced for invalid scale")
+		case pm = <-ch:
 		default:
-			// No metrics were produced for the invalid scale
+			t.Fatalf("expected an invalid metric to be emitted for invalid scale, but channel was empty")
 		}
+		var dtoMetric dto.Metric
+		werr := pm.Write(&dtoMetric)
+		require.ErrorIs(t, werr, errEHScaleBelowMin)
+		// The exporter reports via invalid metric, not the global otel error handler.
+		assert.NoError(t, capturedError)
 	})
 }
 
@@ -1784,6 +1839,99 @@ func TestDownscaleExponentialBucketEdgeCases(t *testing.T) {
 // TestEscapingErrorHandling increases test coverage by exercising some error
 // conditions.
 func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
+	// Helper to create a producer that emits a Summary (unsupported) metric.
+	makeSummaryProducer := func() metric.Producer {
+		return producerFunc(func(_ context.Context) ([]metricdata.ScopeMetrics, error) {
+			return []metricdata.ScopeMetrics{
+				{
+					Metrics: []metricdata.Metrics{
+						{
+							Name:        "summary_metric",
+							Description: "unsupported summary",
+							Data:        metricdata.Summary{},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			}, nil
+		})
+	}
+	// Helper to create a producer that emits a metric with an invalid name, to
+	// force getName() to fail and exercise reportError at that branch.
+	makeBadNameProducer := func() metric.Producer {
+		return producerFunc(func(_ context.Context) ([]metricdata.ScopeMetrics, error) {
+			return []metricdata.ScopeMetrics{
+				{
+					Metrics: []metricdata.Metrics{
+						{
+							Name:        "$%^&", // intentionally invalid; translation should fail normalization
+							Description: "bad name for translation",
+							// Any supported type is fine; getName runs before add* functions.
+							Data: metricdata.Gauge[float64]{
+								DataPoints: []metricdata.DataPoint[float64]{
+									{Value: 1},
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			}, nil
+		})
+	}
+	// Helper to create a producer that emits an ExponentialHistogram with a bad
+	// label, to exercise addExponentialHistogramMetric getAttrs error path.
+	makeBadEHProducer := func() metric.Producer {
+		return producerFunc(func(_ context.Context) ([]metricdata.ScopeMetrics, error) {
+			return []metricdata.ScopeMetrics{
+				{
+					Metrics: []metricdata.Metrics{
+						{
+							Name:        "exp_hist_metric",
+							Description: "bad label",
+							Data: metricdata.ExponentialHistogram[float64]{
+								DataPoints: []metricdata.ExponentialHistogramDataPoint[float64]{
+									{
+										Attributes:    attribute.NewSet(attribute.Key("$%^&").String("B")),
+										Scale:         0,
+										Count:         1,
+										ZeroThreshold: 0,
+									},
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			}, nil
+		})
+	}
+	// Helper to create a producer that emits an ExponentialHistogram with
+	// inconsistent bucket counts vs total Count to trigger constructor error in addExponentialHistogramMetric.
+	makeBadEHCountProducer := func() metric.Producer {
+		return producerFunc(func(_ context.Context) ([]metricdata.ScopeMetrics, error) {
+			return []metricdata.ScopeMetrics{
+				{
+					Metrics: []metricdata.Metrics{
+						{
+							Name: "exp_hist_metric_bad",
+							Data: metricdata.ExponentialHistogram[float64]{
+								DataPoints: []metricdata.ExponentialHistogramDataPoint[float64]{
+									{
+										Scale:         0,
+										Count:         0,
+										ZeroThreshold: 0,
+										PositiveBucket: metricdata.ExponentialBucket{
+											Offset: 0,
+											Counts: []uint64{1},
+										},
+									},
+								},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			}, nil
+		})
+	}
+
 	testCases := []struct {
 		name                    string
 		namespace               string
@@ -1791,8 +1939,13 @@ func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 		customScopeAttrs        []attribute.KeyValue
 		customResourceAttrs     []attribute.KeyValue
 		labelName               string
+		producer                metric.Producer
+		skipInstrument          bool
+		record                  func(ctx context.Context, meter otelmetric.Meter) error
 		expectNewErr            string
 		expectMetricErr         string
+		expectGatherErrContains string
+		expectGatherErrIs       error
 		checkMetricFamilies     func(t testing.TB, dtos []*dto.MetricFamily)
 	}{
 		{
@@ -1814,6 +1967,29 @@ func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 			counterName:  "foo",
 			expectNewErr: `normalization for label name "$%^&" resulted in invalid name "_"`,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "bad translated metric name via producer",
+			// Use a producer to emit a metric with an invalid name to trigger getName error.
+			producer:       makeBadNameProducer(),
+			skipInstrument: true,
+			// Error message comes from normalization in the translator; match on a stable substring.
+			expectGatherErrContains: "normalization",
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				// target_info should still be exported.
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name:        "good namespace, names should be escaped",
 			namespace:   "my-strange-namespace",
@@ -1845,9 +2021,23 @@ func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 			customScopeAttrs: []attribute.KeyValue{
 				attribute.Key("$%^&").String("B"),
 			},
+			// With improved error handling, invalid scope label names result in an invalid metric
+			// and Gather returns an error containing the normalization failure.
+			expectGatherErrContains: `normalization for label name "$%^&" resulted in invalid name "_"`,
 			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
-				require.Len(t, mfs, 1)
-				require.Equal(t, "target_info", mfs[0].GetName())
+				// target_info should still be exported; metric with bad scope label dropped.
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -1857,14 +2047,203 @@ func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			// label names are not translated and therefore not checked until
-			// collection time, and there is no place to catch and return this error.
-			// Instead we drop the metric.
+			// collection time; with improved error handling, we emit an invalid metric and
+			// surface the error during Gather.
 			name:                    "bad translated label name",
 			counterName:             "foo",
 			labelName:               "$%^&",
+			expectGatherErrContains: `normalization for label name "$%^&" resulted in invalid name "_"`,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "unsupported data type via producer",
+			// Use a producer to emit a Summary data point; no SDK instruments.
+			producer:          makeSummaryProducer(),
+			skipInstrument:    true,
+			expectGatherErrIs: errInvalidMetricType,
 			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
-				require.Len(t, mfs, 1)
-				require.Equal(t, "target_info", mfs[0].GetName())
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:                    "bad exponential histogram label name via producer",
+			producer:                makeBadEHProducer(),
+			skipInstrument:          true,
+			expectGatherErrContains: `normalization for label name "$%^&" resulted in invalid name "_"`,
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:                    "exponential histogram constructor error via producer (count mismatch)",
+			producer:                makeBadEHCountProducer(),
+			skipInstrument:          true,
+			expectGatherErrContains: "count",
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "sum constructor error via duplicate label name",
+			record: func(ctx context.Context, meter otelmetric.Meter) error {
+				c, err := meter.Int64Counter("sum_metric_dup")
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				// Duplicate variable label name with scope label to make Desc invalid.
+				c.Add(ctx, 1, otelmetric.WithAttributes(attribute.String(scopeNameLabel, "x")))
+				return nil
+			},
+			expectGatherErrContains: "duplicate label",
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "gauge constructor error via duplicate label name",
+			record: func(ctx context.Context, meter otelmetric.Meter) error {
+				g, err := meter.Float64Gauge("gauge_metric_dup")
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				g.Record(ctx, 1.0, otelmetric.WithAttributes(attribute.String(scopeNameLabel, "x")))
+				return nil
+			},
+			expectGatherErrContains: "duplicate label",
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "histogram constructor error via duplicate label name",
+			record: func(ctx context.Context, meter otelmetric.Meter) error {
+				h, err := meter.Float64Histogram("hist_metric_dup")
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				h.Record(ctx, 1.23, otelmetric.WithAttributes(attribute.String(scopeNameLabel, "x")))
+				return nil
+			},
+			expectGatherErrContains: "duplicate label",
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "bad gauge label name",
+			record: func(ctx context.Context, meter otelmetric.Meter) error {
+				g, err := meter.Float64Gauge("gauge_metric")
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				g.Record(ctx, 1, otelmetric.WithAttributes(attribute.Key("$%^&").String("B")))
+				return nil
+			},
+			expectGatherErrContains: `normalization for label name "$%^&" resulted in invalid name "_"`,
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "bad histogram label name",
+			record: func(ctx context.Context, meter otelmetric.Meter) error {
+				h, err := meter.Float64Histogram("hist_metric")
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				h.Record(ctx, 1.23, otelmetric.WithAttributes(attribute.Key("$%^&").String("B")))
+				return nil
+			},
+			expectGatherErrContains: `normalization for label name "$%^&" resulted in invalid name "_"`,
+			checkMetricFamilies: func(t testing.TB, mfs []*dto.MetricFamily) {
+				require.NotEmpty(t, mfs)
+				other := 0
+				seenTarget := false
+				for _, mf := range mfs {
+					if mf.GetName() == "target_info" {
+						seenTarget = true
+						continue
+					}
+					other++
+				}
+				require.True(t, seenTarget)
+				require.Equal(t, 0, other)
 			},
 		},
 	}
@@ -1881,18 +2260,22 @@ func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 			})
 			ctx = trace.ContextWithSpanContext(ctx, sc)
 
-			exporter, err := New(
+			opts := []Option{
 				WithRegisterer(registry),
 				WithTranslationStrategy(otlptranslator.UnderscoreEscapingWithSuffixes),
 				WithNamespace(tc.namespace),
 				WithResourceAsConstantLabels(attribute.NewDenyKeysFilter()),
-			)
+			}
+			if tc.producer != nil {
+				opts = append(opts, WithProducer(tc.producer))
+			}
+			exporter, err := New(opts...)
 			if tc.expectNewErr != "" {
 				require.ErrorContains(t, err, tc.expectNewErr)
 				return
 			}
 			require.NoError(t, err)
-
+			if !tc.skipInstrument {
 				res, err := resource.New(ctx,
 					resource.WithAttributes(semconv.ServiceName("prometheus_test")),
 					resource.WithAttributes(semconv.TelemetrySDKVersion("latest")),
@@ -1903,13 +2286,16 @@ func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 					metric.WithReader(exporter),
 					metric.WithResource(res),
 				)
-
-			fooCounter, err := provider.Meter(
+				meter := provider.Meter(
 					"meterfoo",
 					otelmetric.WithInstrumentationVersion("v0.1.0"),
 					otelmetric.WithInstrumentationAttributes(tc.customScopeAttrs...),
-			).
-				Int64Counter(
+				)
+				if tc.record != nil {
+					err := tc.record(ctx, meter)
+					require.NoError(t, err)
+				} else {
+					fooCounter, err := meter.Int64Counter(
 						tc.counterName,
 						otelmetric.WithUnit("s"),
 						otelmetric.WithDescription(fmt.Sprintf(`meter %q counter`, tc.counterName)))
@@ -1918,12 +2304,26 @@ func TestEscapingErrorHandling(t *testing.T) {
 						return
 					}
 					require.NoError(t, err)
-			var opts []otelmetric.AddOption
+					var addOpts []otelmetric.AddOption
 					if tc.labelName != "" {
-				opts = append(opts, otelmetric.WithAttributes(attribute.String(tc.labelName, "foo")))
+						addOpts = append(addOpts, otelmetric.WithAttributes(attribute.String(tc.labelName, "foo")))
+					}
+					fooCounter.Add(ctx, 100, addOpts...)
+				}
+			} else {
+				// When skipping instruments, still register the reader so Collect will run.
+				_ = metric.NewMeterProvider(metric.WithReader(exporter))
 			}
-			fooCounter.Add(ctx, 100, opts...)
 			got, err := registry.Gather()
+			if tc.expectGatherErrContains != "" {
+				require.Error(t, err)
+				require.Contains(t, err.Error(), tc.expectGatherErrContains)
+				return
+			}
+			if tc.expectGatherErrIs != nil {
+				require.ErrorIs(t, err, tc.expectGatherErrIs)
+				return
+			}
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 			if tc.checkMetricFamilies != nil {
 				tc.checkMetricFamilies(t, got)

exporters/prometheus/go.sum

@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0 h1:wk8382ETsv4JYUZwIsn6YpYiWiBsYLSJiTsyBybVuN8=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0/go.mod h1:pXiqmnSA92OHEEa9HXL2W4E7lf9JzCmGVUdgjX3N/iU=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 h1:NIvaJDMOsjHA8n1jAhLSgzrAzy1Hgr+hNrb57e+94F0=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:TIyPZe4MgqvfeYDBFedMoGGpEw/LqOeaOT+nhxU+yHo=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.0 h1:c/Cqfb0r+Yi+JtIEq73FWXVkRonBlf0CRNYc8Zttxdo=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.18.0/go.mod h1:2Pp+KzxcywXVXMr50+X0Q/Lsb43OQHYWRCY2AiWywWQ=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 h1:flRD4NNwYAUpkphVc1HcthR4KEIFJ65n8Mw5qdRn3LE=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1/go.mod h1:hoEshYVHaxMs3cyo3Yncou5ZscifuDolrwPKZanG3xk=
 github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 h1:5Nx0Ya0ZqY2ygV366QzturHI13Jq95ApcVaJBhpS+AY=