[receiver/kafka] backoff in case of next consumer error (#37009)

<!--Ex. Fixing a bug - Describe the bug and how this fixes the issue.
Ex. Adding a feature - Explain what this achieves.-->
#### Description
Currently if the next consumer returns an error, kafka receiver simply
returns the error and will consume the next message without any
backpressure. This behavior is not optimal in case of some errors. For
example the memory limiter could return data refused error when the
memory usage of the collector is too high. Keeping consuming and sending
messages to the memory limiter could further increase the memory usage
and cause OutOfMemory error in the collector.

This PR provides an optional error backoff config which allows to wait
before consuming the next message in case of errors that require
backoff.


<!--Describe what testing was performed and which tests were added.-->
#### Testing
- Added a test case to `TestXXXConsumerGroupHandler_error_nextConsumer`
tests with an error that requires backoff.

<!--Describe the documentation added.-->
#### Documentation
- Added the configuration for `error_backoff`

Author: yiquanzhou

.chloggen/kafka-receiver-backoff.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: enhancement
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: kafkareceiver
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Add error backoff configuration to kafka receiver which allows to wait and retry a failed message when the next consumer returns some errors.
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [37009]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext:
+
+# If your change doesn't affect end users or the exported elements of any package,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: [user]

receiver/kafkareceiver/README.md

@@ -97,6 +97,13 @@ The following settings can be optionally configured:
   - `extract_headers` (default = false): Allows user to attach header fields to resource attributes in otel pipeline
   - `headers` (default = []): List of headers they'd like to extract from kafka record. 
   **Note: Matching pattern will be `exact`. Regexes are not supported as of now.** 
+- `error_backoff`: [BackOff](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/blob/v0.116.0/config/configretry/backoff.go#L27-L43) configuration in case of errors
+  - `enabled`: (default = false) Whether to enable backoff when next consumers return errors 
+  - `initial_interval`: The time to wait after the first error before retrying
+  - `max_interval`: The upper bound on backoff interval between consecutive retries
+  - `multiplier`: The value multiplied by the backoff interval bounds
+  - `randomization_factor`: A random factor used to calculate next backoff. Randomized interval = RetryInterval * (1 ± RandomizationFactor)
+  - `max_elapsed_time`: The maximum amount of time trying to backoff before giving up. If set to 0, the retries are never stopped.
 
 Example:
 

receiver/kafkareceiver/config.go

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/exporter/kafkaexporter"
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/internal/kafka"
@@ -85,6 +86,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	DefaultFetchSize int32 `mapstructure:"default_fetch_size"`
 	// The maximum bytes per fetch from Kafka (default "0", no limit)
 	MaxFetchSize int32 `mapstructure:"max_fetch_size"`
+	// In case of some errors returned by the next consumer, the receiver will wait and retry the failed message
+	ErrorBackOff configretry.BackOffConfig `mapstructure:"error_backoff"`
 }
 
 const (

receiver/kafkareceiver/config_test.go

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configtls"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap/confmaptest"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap/xconfmap"
@@ -66,6 +67,9 @@ func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
 				MinFetchSize:     1,
 				DefaultFetchSize: 1048576,
 				MaxFetchSize:     0,
+				ErrorBackOff: configretry.BackOffConfig{
+					Enabled: false,
+				},
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -102,6 +106,13 @@ func TestLoadConfig(t *testing.T) {
 				MinFetchSize:     1,
 				DefaultFetchSize: 1048576,
 				MaxFetchSize:     0,
+				ErrorBackOff: configretry.BackOffConfig{
+					Enabled:         true,
+					InitialInterval: 1 * time.Second,
+					MaxInterval:     10 * time.Second,
+					MaxElapsedTime:  1 * time.Minute,
+					Multiplier:      1.5,
+				},
 			},
 		},
 	}

receiver/kafkareceiver/go.mod

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ go 1.23.0
 require (
 	github.com/IBM/sarama v1.45.0
 	github.com/apache/thrift v0.21.0
+	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.3.0
 	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2
 	github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger-idl v0.5.0
 	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component v0.120.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component/componenttest v0.120.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a
+	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry v1.26.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configtls v1.26.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap v1.26.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap/xconfmap v0.120.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a
@@ -53,7 +55,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/service/ssooidc v1.28.4 // indirect
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/service/sts v1.32.4 // indirect
 	github.com/aws/smithy-go v1.22.0 // indirect
-	github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4 v4.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2 v2.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc // indirect
 	github.com/eapache/go-resiliency v1.7.0 // indirect
@@ -96,7 +97,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/xdg-go/stringprep v1.0.4 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/auto/sdk v1.1.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configopaque v1.26.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry v1.26.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer/consumererror v0.120.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer/xconsumer v0.120.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/exporter v0.120.1-0.20250224010654-18e18b21da7a // indirect

receiver/kafkareceiver/kafka_receiver.go

@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/IBM/sarama"
+	"github.com/cenkalti/backoff/v4"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configretry"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/plog"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pmetric"
@@ -35,6 +38,8 @@ const (
 
 var errInvalidInitialOffset = errors.New("invalid initial offset")
 
+var errMemoryLimiterDataRefused = errors.New("data refused due to high memory usage")
+
 // kafkaTracesConsumer uses sarama to consume and handle messages from kafka.
 type kafkaTracesConsumer struct {
 	config            Config
@@ -205,6 +210,7 @@ func (c *kafkaTracesConsumer) Start(_ context.Context, host component.Host) erro
 		messageMarking:    c.messageMarking,
 		headerExtractor:   &nopHeaderExtractor{},
 		telemetryBuilder:  c.telemetryBuilder,
+		backOff:           newExponentialBackOff(c.config.ErrorBackOff),
 	}
 	if c.headerExtraction {
 		consumerGroup.headerExtractor = &headerExtractor{
@@ -313,6 +319,7 @@ func (c *kafkaMetricsConsumer) Start(_ context.Context, host component.Host) err
 		messageMarking:    c.messageMarking,
 		headerExtractor:   &nopHeaderExtractor{},
 		telemetryBuilder:  c.telemetryBuilder,
+		backOff:           newExponentialBackOff(c.config.ErrorBackOff),
 	}
 	if c.headerExtraction {
 		metricsConsumerGroup.headerExtractor = &headerExtractor{
@@ -424,6 +431,7 @@ func (c *kafkaLogsConsumer) Start(_ context.Context, host component.Host) error
 		messageMarking:    c.messageMarking,
 		headerExtractor:   &nopHeaderExtractor{},
 		telemetryBuilder:  c.telemetryBuilder,
+		backOff:           newExponentialBackOff(c.config.ErrorBackOff),
 	}
 	if c.headerExtraction {
 		logsConsumerGroup.headerExtractor = &headerExtractor{
@@ -481,6 +489,7 @@ type tracesConsumerGroupHandler struct {
 	autocommitEnabled bool
 	messageMarking    MessageMarking
 	headerExtractor   HeaderExtractor
+	backOff           *backoff.ExponentialBackOff
 }
 
 type metricsConsumerGroupHandler struct {
@@ -498,6 +507,7 @@ type metricsConsumerGroupHandler struct {
 	autocommitEnabled bool
 	messageMarking    MessageMarking
 	headerExtractor   HeaderExtractor
+	backOff           *backoff.ExponentialBackOff
 }
 
 type logsConsumerGroupHandler struct {
@@ -515,6 +525,7 @@ type logsConsumerGroupHandler struct {
 	autocommitEnabled bool
 	messageMarking    MessageMarking
 	headerExtractor   HeaderExtractor
+	backOff           *backoff.ExponentialBackOff
 }
 
 var (
@@ -579,11 +590,29 @@ func (c *tracesConsumerGroupHandler) ConsumeClaim(session sarama.ConsumerGroupSe
 			err = c.nextConsumer.ConsumeTraces(session.Context(), traces)
 			c.obsrecv.EndTracesOp(ctx, c.unmarshaler.Encoding(), spanCount, err)
 			if err != nil {
+				if errorRequiresBackoff(err) && c.backOff != nil {
+					backOffDelay := c.backOff.NextBackOff()
+					if backOffDelay != backoff.Stop {
+						select {
+						case <-session.Context().Done():
+							return nil
+						case <-time.After(backOffDelay):
+							if !c.messageMarking.After {
+								// Unmark the message so it can be retried
+								session.ResetOffset(claim.Topic(), claim.Partition(), message.Offset, "")
+							}
+							return err
+						}
+					}
+				}
 				if c.messageMarking.After && c.messageMarking.OnError {
 					session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 				}
 				return err
 			}
+			if c.backOff != nil {
+				c.backOff.Reset()
+			}
 			if c.messageMarking.After {
 				session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 			}
@@ -656,11 +685,29 @@ func (c *metricsConsumerGroupHandler) ConsumeClaim(session sarama.ConsumerGroupS
 			err = c.nextConsumer.ConsumeMetrics(session.Context(), metrics)
 			c.obsrecv.EndMetricsOp(ctx, c.unmarshaler.Encoding(), dataPointCount, err)
 			if err != nil {
+				if errorRequiresBackoff(err) && c.backOff != nil {
+					backOffDelay := c.backOff.NextBackOff()
+					if backOffDelay != backoff.Stop {
+						select {
+						case <-session.Context().Done():
+							return nil
+						case <-time.After(backOffDelay):
+							if !c.messageMarking.After {
+								// Unmark the message so it can be retried
+								session.ResetOffset(claim.Topic(), claim.Partition(), message.Offset, "")
+							}
+							return err
+						}
+					}
+				}
 				if c.messageMarking.After && c.messageMarking.OnError {
 					session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 				}
 				return err
 			}
+			if c.backOff != nil {
+				c.backOff.Reset()
+			}
 			if c.messageMarking.After {
 				session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 			}
@@ -732,11 +779,29 @@ func (c *logsConsumerGroupHandler) ConsumeClaim(session sarama.ConsumerGroupSess
 			err = c.nextConsumer.ConsumeLogs(session.Context(), logs)
 			c.obsrecv.EndLogsOp(ctx, c.unmarshaler.Encoding(), logRecordCount, err)
 			if err != nil {
+				if errorRequiresBackoff(err) && c.backOff != nil {
+					backOffDelay := c.backOff.NextBackOff()
+					if backOffDelay != backoff.Stop {
+						select {
+						case <-session.Context().Done():
+							return nil
+						case <-time.After(backOffDelay):
+							if !c.messageMarking.After {
+								// Unmark the message so it can be retried
+								session.ResetOffset(claim.Topic(), claim.Partition(), message.Offset, "")
+							}
+							return err
+						}
+					}
+				}
 				if c.messageMarking.After && c.messageMarking.OnError {
 					session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 				}
 				return err
 			}
+			if c.backOff != nil {
+				c.backOff.Reset()
+			}
 			if c.messageMarking.After {
 				session.MarkMessage(message, "")
 			}
@@ -753,6 +818,20 @@ func (c *logsConsumerGroupHandler) ConsumeClaim(session sarama.ConsumerGroupSess
 	}
 }
 
+func newExponentialBackOff(config configretry.BackOffConfig) *backoff.ExponentialBackOff {
+	if !config.Enabled {
+		return nil
+	}
+	backOff := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
+	backOff.InitialInterval = config.InitialInterval
+	backOff.RandomizationFactor = config.RandomizationFactor
+	backOff.Multiplier = config.Multiplier
+	backOff.MaxInterval = config.MaxInterval
+	backOff.MaxElapsedTime = config.MaxElapsedTime
+	backOff.Reset()
+	return backOff
+}
+
 func toSaramaInitialOffset(initialOffset string) (int64, error) {
 	switch initialOffset {
 	case offsetEarliest:
@@ -792,3 +871,7 @@ func encodingToComponentID(encoding string) (*component.ID, error) {
 	id := component.NewID(componentType)
 	return &id, nil
 }
+
+func errorRequiresBackoff(err error) bool {
+	return err.Error() == errMemoryLimiterDataRefused.Error()
+}