From 51d4224a55a9ca088856c449b9c3f0bd8d8d387c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: giles <giles.bradshaw@rose-ash.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2026 14:24:54 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] otel P2: now-ns wraps host clock-milliseconds as epoch
 nanoseconds

Clamp against a high-water mark so the clock never steps backwards; span
durations stay non-negative. Real ns-scale timestamps replace the P1
placeholder counter.
---
 lib/host/otel.sx       | 18 ++++++++++++------
 lib/host/tests/otel.sx | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/host/otel.sx b/lib/host/otel.sx
index 55134ff8..26acadb5 100644
--- a/lib/host/otel.sx
+++ b/lib/host/otel.sx
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@
 
 ;; ── monotonic id + clock ─────────────────────────────────────────────
 ;; A simple process-monotonic counter gives collision-free ids without needing a
-;; random source (Math.random/Date.now aren't available on this host). now-ns is a
-;; placeholder tick here (monotonic non-decreasing); P2 wraps the real host clock.
+;; random source (Math.random/Date.now aren't available on this host).
 (define otel/-id-counter 0)
 (define otel/-next-id
   (fn (prefix)
@@ -20,12 +19,19 @@
 (define otel/gen-trace-id (fn () (otel/-next-id "trace-")))
 (define otel/gen-span-id  (fn () (otel/-next-id "span-")))
 
-(define otel/-clock 0)
+;; now-ns — real epoch time in NANOSECONDS (the unit OTLP wants for
+;; start/endTimeUnixNano). The OCaml host exposes `clock-milliseconds`
+;; (Unix.gettimeofday, epoch ms); we scale by 1e6. Wall clocks can step
+;; backwards (NTP), so we clamp against a high-water mark: now-ns never
+;; decreases, keeping span durations non-negative even across a clock step.
+(define otel/-last-ns 0)
 (define otel/now-ns
   (fn ()
-    (begin
-      (set! otel/-clock (+ otel/-clock 1))
-      otel/-clock)))
+    (let ((raw (* (clock-milliseconds) 1000000)))
+      (let ((t (if (> raw otel/-last-ns) raw otel/-last-ns)))
+        (begin
+          (set! otel/-last-ns t)
+          t)))))
 
 ;; ── the dynamic parent stack ─────────────────────────────────────────
 ;; head = the innermost (current) span context {:span id :trace id}. Pushing on
diff --git a/lib/host/tests/otel.sx b/lib/host/tests/otel.sx
index b98edb73..8e4d51b2 100644
--- a/lib/host/tests/otel.sx
+++ b/lib/host/tests/otel.sx
@@ -64,6 +64,22 @@
 (host-ot-test "newest kept" (get (last (otel/recent)) :span) 5)
 (otel/set-cap! 1000)
 
+;; ── P2: now-ns wraps the host monotonic clock ──────────────────────
+;; now-ns is real epoch NANOSECONDS (clock-milliseconds * 1e6), clamped so it
+;; never goes backwards. Non-negative, non-decreasing, nanosecond-scale.
+(define host-ot-n0 (otel/now-ns))
+(define host-ot-n1 (otel/now-ns))
+(host-ot-test "now-ns non-negative" (>= host-ot-n0 0) true)
+(host-ot-test "now-ns monotonic non-decreasing" (>= host-ot-n1 host-ot-n0) true)
+(host-ot-test "now-ns is nanosecond-scale" (> host-ot-n0 1000000000000000) true)
+
+;; a real with-span straddles the host clock
+(otel/reset!)
+(otel/with-span "timed" {} (fn () nil))
+(define host-ot-timed (first (otel/recent)))
+(host-ot-test "timed span t1 >= t0" (>= (get host-ot-timed :t1) (get host-ot-timed :t0)) true)
+(host-ot-test "timed span t0 nanosecond-scale" (> (get host-ot-timed :t0) 1000000000000000) true)
+
 (define
   host-ot-tests-run!
   (fn