Tempo 3.0: Kafka-native architecture, RF3 removed, TraceQL metrics GA

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 11:52:23 +0000

Platform/SRE — Plan: This GA major release changes how Tempo is deployed at scale — removing the RF3 requirement reduces storage overhead and the new Kafka-compatible architecture decouples read/write paths. Teams running Tempo should schedule an upgrade evaluation this quarter to assess the operational and cost impact.
CI/CD — Skip
Leader — Learn: The RF3 removal and new architecture lower the infrastructure cost of running distributed tracing at scale, which is a useful data point if Tempo is part of the observability standard — but no strategic decision is forced by this release.
Signals: GA announcement · major release (3.0)

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