---
title: Elastic Agent
description: Elastic Agent includes a built-in OpenTelemetry Collector for collecting and forwarding traces, metrics, and logs to Elastic Observability.
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector
products:
  - Elastic Agent
  - Elastic Agent
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless
  - Elastic Observability
applies_to:
  - Serverless Observability projects: Generally available
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
  - Elastic Agent: Generally available
---

# Elastic Agent
<note applies-to="Elastic Stack: Generally available since 9.5">
  In previous versions, the **EDOT Collector** was a standalone product. From this version onwards, this OpenTelemetry collector capability is built into **Elastic Agent**.
</note>

Elastic Agent includes a built-in OpenTelemetry Collector: an open-source distribution of the [OpenTelemetry Collector](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/collector/).

## Get started

To install Elastic Agent with basic settings in your environment, follow the [quickstart guides](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/quickstart).

## Deployment modes

You can deploy Elastic Agent in different modes to meet your architectural needs. The two primary modes are Agent and Gateway. Depending on your Elastic deployment type, various Elastic Agent instances might be required in each mode to support the target architecture. Refer to [Deployment modes](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/modes) for more details.

## Configure

You can configure Elastic Agent to use the standard OTel Collector configuration file or `values.yml` file if you have deployed it using Helm.
For full details on each option, see [Configuration](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/config).

## Components

Built on OpenTelemetry's modular architecture, Elastic Agent offers a curated and fully supported selection of components designed for production-grade reliability.
Refer to [Components](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/components) for the full list of components included in Elastic Agent.
To request a component to be added, submit a [GitHub issue](https://github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/issues/new/choose).

## Limitations

Elastic Agent inherits limitations from the contrib components it includes. Refer to [Limitations](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/opentelemetry/compatibility/limitations) for a complete list.

## License

For details on the license, see the [LICENSE.txt](https://github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/blob/main/LICENSE.txt) file.