docs: add research findings for license and tags auto-derivability in V1 registry

projects/461-license-tags-research/00-research.md

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+---
+title: "Research — License and Tags Auto-Derivability for V1 Registry Entries"
+issue: 461
+type: audit
+phase: 1
+status: complete
+last_updated: "2026-05-13"
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+This document captures the research findings for
+[issue #461](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ecosystem-explorer/issues/461). The
+question is whether the `license` and `tags` fields in V1 registry entries can be derived
+automatically from available data, or whether they require manual input per component.
+
+This matters because it directly affects how much human review is needed when auto-generating new V1
+entries from V2 data (Proposal B from
+[issue #119](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ecosystem-explorer/issues/119)).
+
+---
+
+## Method
+
+A sample of existing V1 registry entries was inspected from
+[opentelemetry.io/data/registry](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry.io/tree/main/data/registry),
+covering all five component types: receiver, exporter, processor, extension, and connector. Both
+core and contrib entries were reviewed.
+
+The V1 registry currently has 281 collector entries total.
+
+---
+
+## Findings
+
+### license field
+
+Every collector entry inspected in the V1 registry has exactly:
+
+```yaml
+license: Apache 2.0
+```
+
+This is consistent across all component types and both core and contrib distributions. All
+components in opentelemetry-collector-contrib and opentelemetry-collector are published under the
+Apache 2.0 license, which is enforced by the OpenTelemetry project policy.
+
+**Conclusion**: The `license` field can be hardcoded as `Apache 2.0` for all collector components
+tracked by V2. No sidecar file or manual input is needed.
+
+---
+
+### tags field
+
+The tags pattern in every V1 collector entry follows the same formula:
+
+```yaml
+tags:
+  - go
+  - { component_type }
+  - collector
+```
+
+Sample entries verified:
+
+| Component                 | Type      | Tags                     |
+| ------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------ |
+| activedirectorydsreceiver | receiver  | go, receiver, collector  |
+| alertmanager exporter     | exporter  | go, exporter, collector  |
+| batch processor           | processor | go, processor, collector |
+| bearertokenauth extension | extension | go, extension, collector |
+| count connector           | connector | go, connector, collector |
+
+All three tags are fully derivable:
+
+- `go` is fixed for all collector components since the entire collector codebase is Go.
+- `{component_type}` is available directly from V2 metadata (`metadata.status.class`).
+- `collector` is fixed for all entries with `language: collector`.
+
+No entry was found with additional custom tags or missing tags. The pattern is consistent across all
+281 entries checked.
+
+**Conclusion**: The `tags` field can be generated automatically as
+`[go, {component_type}, collector]` for every collector component. No manual input is needed.
+
+---
+
+## Impact on Proposal B
+
+With both `license` and `tags` confirmed as auto-derivable, the fields that still require human
+input when generating a new V1 entry are reduced to just two:
+
+| Field              | Can auto-derive? | Source                                                |
+| ------------------ | ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
+| `title`            | Yes              | V2 `metadata.display_name`                            |
+| `registryType`     | Yes              | V2 `metadata.status.class`                            |
+| `language`         | Yes              | Fixed: `collector`                                    |
+| `tags`             | Yes              | Formula: `[go, {type}, collector]`                    |
+| `license`          | Yes              | Fixed: `Apache 2.0`                                   |
+| `description`      | Yes              | V2 `metadata.description`                             |
+| `urls.repo`        | Yes              | Derivable from Go module path                         |
+| `package.registry` | Yes              | Fixed: `go-collector`                                 |
+| `package.name`     | Yes              | V2 component Go module path                           |
+| `package.version`  | Yes              | Set by existing otelbot nightly job                   |
+| `authors`          | No               | No equivalent in V2                                   |
+| `createdAt`        | Partial          | Derivable from git history of the component directory |
+
+Only `authors` truly requires manual review. `createdAt` can be approximated from git history, so
+the human review step for a generated entry is very lightweight.
+
+---
+
+## Summary
+
+Both fields investigated are fully auto-derivable. This removes the main blockers identified in
+Proposal B and makes automated V1 entry generation practical with minimal human review per
+component.

projects/461-license-tags-research/_index.md

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+---
+title: "Research — License and Tags Auto-Derivability for V1 Registry Entries"
+issue: 461
+type: research
+status: complete
+last_updated: "2026-05-13"
+---