Distributed tracing usually assumes context travels in HTTP headers or message metadata. Yet, many workflows cross process boundaries instead: CI jobs launch scripts, workflow engines start containers, and build tools fork subprocesses, losing trace context.

This talk presents the use of OpenTelemetry environment variables propagation carriers, showing how traces can flow across CLI apps, CI/CD systems, build pipelines, and subprocesses without relying on network transports. The carrier model supports multiple propagation formats, enabling interoperability without reliance on a single ecosystem-specific encoding.

Through two demos it demonstrates how injected TRACEPARENT enables end-to-end tracing, linking stages, subprocesses, and even data lineage in a single span tree. Attendees will gain a practical model for maintaining trace continuity beyond network protocols without custom formats.