Context.current() changes every time it is called

[balarajv]

In my GRPC server Context.current().toString() returns a different value everytime it is called even with in the same function for a single request.

Based on https://grpc.github.io/grpc-java/javadoc/io/grpc/Context.html wouldn't it remain the same for the lifetime of the request. I'm not forking the context or creating a new context within the life time of the request. But everytime I call Context.current().toString() I get a different value. Can anyone let me know what is the scenario where this is observed?

[ejona86]

Additional context:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79508931/context-current-changes-every-time-it-is-called
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79508649/grpc-context-keeps-changing-within-a-single-request

[ejona86]

Are you using the semi-new grpc-context-override-opentelemetry artifact? That would be expected behavior when using it of how the gRPC context needs to propagate the OpenTelemetry context. Some other storage overrides do the same thing.

If unsure, you can test by calling current() twice in a row and seeing if they are the same. If they aren't there a storage override is being used. Or you can run under a debugger and see what storage() implementation is used (and step into current()):

grpc-java/api/src/context/java/io/grpc/Context.java

Line 172 in 84c7713

Context current = storage().current();

[mrsamlee]

Hi @ejona86!

I'm facing a similar issue, but I'm not using any storage overrides like grpc-context-override-opentelemetry. I'm using the default ThreadLocalContextStorage.

For some reason, when Context.current() is called multiple times in one environment, it is a different result every time.
But on another environment (local) Context.current() prints the same context, which is what I want.

Environment 1

c3e3f9 INFO  2025-05-22 02:23:09,710 [reactor-http-nio-3] com.some.interceptor : Context in getHeaders (1): io.grpc.Context@7eab0f71
c3e3f9 INFO  2025-05-22 02:23:09,710 [reactor-http-nio-3] com.some.interceptor : Context in getHeaders (2): io.grpc.Context@4a45c735
c3e3f9 INFO  2025-05-22 02:23:09,712 [reactor-http-nio-3] com.some.interceptor : Context in setHeaders (1): io.grpc.Context@d991936
c3e3f9 INFO  2025-05-22 02:23:09,712 [reactor-http-nio-3] com.some.interceptor : Context in setHeaders (2): io.grpc.Context@af18ec
c3e3f9 INFO  2025-05-22 02:23:09,718 [reactor-http-nio-3] com.some.interceptor : Context in sendHeaders: io.grpc.Context@21c76d70

Environment 2

traceId= INFO  2025-05-21 19:24:03,095 [reactor-http-nio-1] com.some.interceptor : Context in getHeaders (1): io.grpc.Context@3b45489f
traceId= INFO  2025-05-21 19:24:03,097 [reactor-http-nio-1] com.some.interceptor : Context in getHeaders (2): io.grpc.Context@3b45489f
traceId= INFO  2025-05-21 19:24:03,117 [reactor-http-nio-1] com.some.interceptor : Context in setHeaders (1): io.grpc.Context@3b45489f
traceId= INFO  2025-05-21 19:24:03,117 [reactor-http-nio-1] com.some.interceptor : Context in setHeaders (2): io.grpc.Context@3b45489f
traceId= INFO  2025-05-21 19:24:03,123 [reactor-http-nio-1] com.some.interceptor : Context in sendHeaders: io.grpc.Context@3b45489f

Any idea why this would be happening? Any tips to mitigate would be appreciated!

[mrsamlee]

I decided to use a ThreadLocal to "lock in" the first value returned from Context.current(). That way I was able to call Context.current() only once, and get the expected context from ThreadLocal rather than calling Context.current() multiple times.

Perhaps grpc-context-override-opentelemetry or some other storage override that changes the Context was being injected in Environment 1. I haven't looked into that yet.