diff --git a/crates/brightstaff/src/app_state.rs b/crates/brightstaff/src/app_state.rs
index 8b781ee9..20ed7ced 100644
--- a/crates/brightstaff/src/app_state.rs
+++ b/crates/brightstaff/src/app_state.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use common::configuration::{Agent, Listener, ModelAlias};
+use common::configuration::{Agent, Listener, ModelAlias, SpanAttributes};
 use common::llm_providers::LlmProviders;
 use tokio::sync::RwLock;
 
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ pub struct AppState {
     pub listeners: Arc<RwLock<Vec<Listener>>>,
     pub state_storage: Option<Arc<dyn StateStorage>>,
     pub llm_provider_url: String,
+    pub span_attributes: Arc<Option<SpanAttributes>>,
     /// Shared HTTP client for upstream LLM requests (connection pooling / keep-alive).
     pub http_client: reqwest::Client,
 }
diff --git a/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/agents/orchestrator.rs b/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/agents/orchestrator.rs
index 5af69af1..9fa4ca63 100644
--- a/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/agents/orchestrator.rs
+++ b/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/agents/orchestrator.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ use crate::app_state::AppState;
 use crate::handlers::errors::build_error_chain_response;
 use crate::handlers::request::extract_request_id;
 use crate::handlers::response::ResponseHandler;
-use crate::tracing::{operation_component, set_service_name};
+use crate::tracing::{collect_custom_trace_attributes, operation_component, set_service_name};
 
 /// Main errors for agent chat completions
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ pub async fn agent_chat(
     state: Arc<AppState>,
 ) -> Result<Response<BoxBody<Bytes, hyper::Error>>, hyper::Error> {
     let request_id = extract_request_id(&request);
+    let custom_attrs =
+        collect_custom_trace_attributes(request.headers(), state.span_attributes.as_ref().as_ref());
 
     // Create a span with request_id that will be included in all log lines
     let request_span = info_span!(
@@ -56,7 +58,7 @@ pub async fn agent_chat(
         // Set service name for orchestrator operations
         set_service_name(operation_component::ORCHESTRATOR);
 
-        match handle_agent_chat_inner(request, state, request_id).await {
+        match handle_agent_chat_inner(request, state, request_id, custom_attrs).await {
             Ok(response) => Ok(response),
             Err(err) => {
                 // Check if this is a client error from the pipeline that should be cascaded
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ pub async fn agent_chat(
                     let mut response =
                         Response::new(ResponseHandler::create_full_body(json_string));
                     *response.status_mut() = hyper::StatusCode::from_u16(*status)
-                        .unwrap_or(hyper::StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST);
+                        .unwrap_or(hyper::StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
                     response.headers_mut().insert(
                         hyper::header::CONTENT_TYPE,
                         "application/json".parse().unwrap(),
@@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ async fn handle_agent_chat_inner(
     request: Request<hyper::body::Incoming>,
     state: Arc<AppState>,
     request_id: String,
+    custom_attrs: std::collections::HashMap<String, String>,
 ) -> Result<Response<BoxBody<Bytes, hyper::Error>>, AgentFilterChainError> {
     // Initialize services
     let agent_selector = AgentSelector::new(Arc::clone(&state.orchestrator_service));
@@ -126,6 +129,9 @@ async fn handle_agent_chat_inner(
 
     get_active_span(|span| {
         span.update_name(listener.name.to_string());
+        for (key, value) in &custom_attrs {
+            span.set_attribute(opentelemetry::KeyValue::new(key.clone(), value.clone()));
+        }
     });
 
     info!(listener = %listener.name, "handling request");
@@ -276,6 +282,12 @@ async fn handle_agent_chat_inner(
             set_service_name(operation_component::AGENT);
             get_active_span(|span| {
                 span.update_name(format!("{} /v1/chat/completions", agent_name));
+                for (key, value) in &custom_attrs {
+                    span.set_attribute(opentelemetry::KeyValue::new(
+                        key.clone(),
+                        value.clone(),
+                    ));
+                }
             });
 
             pipeline_processor
diff --git a/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/llm/mod.rs b/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/llm/mod.rs
index bc4ff811..724bb6f2 100644
--- a/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/llm/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/brightstaff/src/handlers/llm/mod.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ use crate::state::response_state_processor::ResponsesStateProcessor;
 use crate::state::{
     extract_input_items, retrieve_and_combine_input, StateStorage, StateStorageError,
 };
-use crate::tracing::{llm as tracing_llm, operation_component, set_service_name};
+use crate::tracing::{
+    collect_custom_trace_attributes, llm as tracing_llm, operation_component, set_service_name,
+};
 use router::router_chat_get_upstream_model;
 
 fn full<T: Into<Bytes>>(chunk: T) -> BoxBody<Bytes, hyper::Error> {
@@ -45,6 +47,8 @@ pub async fn llm_chat(
     let request_path = request.uri().path().to_string();
     let request_headers = request.headers().clone();
     let request_id = extract_request_id(&request);
+    let custom_attrs =
+        collect_custom_trace_attributes(&request_headers, state.span_attributes.as_ref().as_ref());
 
     // Create a span with request_id that will be included in all log lines
     let request_span = info_span!(
@@ -60,20 +64,33 @@ pub async fn llm_chat(
     );
 
     // Execute the rest of the handler inside the span
-    llm_chat_inner(request, state, request_id, request_path, request_headers)
-        .instrument(request_span)
-        .await
+    llm_chat_inner(
+        request,
+        state,
+        custom_attrs,
+        request_id,
+        request_path,
+        request_headers,
+    )
+    .instrument(request_span)
+    .await
 }
 
 async fn llm_chat_inner(
     request: Request<hyper::body::Incoming>,
     state: Arc<AppState>,
+    custom_attrs: HashMap<String, String>,
     request_id: String,
     request_path: String,
     mut request_headers: hyper::HeaderMap,
 ) -> Result<Response<BoxBody<Bytes, hyper::Error>>, hyper::Error> {
     // Set service name for LLM operations
     set_service_name(operation_component::LLM);
+    get_active_span(|span| {
+        for (key, value) in &custom_attrs {
+            span.set_attribute(opentelemetry::KeyValue::new(key.clone(), value.clone()));
+        }
+    });
 
     let traceparent = extract_or_generate_traceparent(&request_headers);
 
diff --git a/crates/brightstaff/src/main.rs b/crates/brightstaff/src/main.rs
index 540a96db..be25e383 100644
--- a/crates/brightstaff/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/brightstaff/src/main.rs
@@ -72,11 +72,11 @@ fn cors_preflight() -> Result<Response<BoxBody<Bytes, hyper::Error>>, hyper::Err
 /// Load and parse the YAML configuration file.
 ///
 /// The path is read from `PLANO_CONFIG_PATH_RENDERED` (env) or falls back to
-/// `./arch_config_rendered.yaml`.
+/// `./plano_config_rendered.yaml`.
 fn load_config() -> Result<Configuration, Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>> {
     let path = env::var("PLANO_CONFIG_PATH_RENDERED")
-        .unwrap_or_else(|_| "./arch_config_rendered.yaml".to_string());
-    eprintln!("loading arch_config.yaml from {}", path);
+        .unwrap_or_else(|_| "./plano_config_rendered.yaml".to_string());
+    eprintln!("loading plano_config.yaml from {}", path);
 
     let contents = fs::read_to_string(&path).map_err(|e| format!("failed to read {path}: {e}"))?;
 
@@ -136,6 +136,13 @@ async fn init_app_state(
 
     let state_storage = init_state_storage(config).await?;
 
+    let span_attributes = Arc::new(
+        config
+            .tracing
+            .as_ref()
+            .and_then(|tracing| tracing.span_attributes.clone()),
+    );
+
     Ok(AppState {
         router_service,
         orchestrator_service,
@@ -145,6 +152,7 @@ async fn init_app_state(
         listeners: Arc::new(RwLock::new(config.listeners.clone())),
         state_storage,
         llm_provider_url,
+        span_attributes,
         http_client: reqwest::Client::new(),
     })
 }
diff --git a/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/custom_attributes.rs b/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/custom_attributes.rs
index 24abc72b..7d4244d2 100644
--- a/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/custom_attributes.rs
+++ b/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/custom_attributes.rs
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ pub fn collect_custom_trace_attributes(
     attributes
 }
 
+#[allow(dead_code)]
 pub fn append_span_attributes(
     mut span_builder: SpanBuilder,
     attributes: &HashMap<String, String>,
diff --git a/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/init.rs b/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/init.rs
index 4f1ef302..ed351148 100644
--- a/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/init.rs
+++ b/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/init.rs
@@ -99,6 +99,9 @@ pub fn init_tracer(tracing_config: Option<&Tracing>) -> &'static SdkTracerProvid
         // Create OTLP exporter to send spans to collector.
         // Use `if let` to destructure the endpoint, avoiding an unwrap.
         if let Some(endpoint) = otel_endpoint.as_deref().filter(|_| tracing_enabled) {
+            if std::env::var("OTEL_SERVICE_NAME").is_err() {
+                std::env::set_var("OTEL_SERVICE_NAME", "plano");
+            }
             // Create ServiceNameOverrideExporter to support per-span service names
             // This allows spans to have different service names (e.g., plano(orchestrator),
             // plano(filter), plano(llm)) by setting the "service.name.override" attribute
diff --git a/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/mod.rs b/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/mod.rs
index 929fbbe0..644db31a 100644
--- a/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/brightstaff/src/tracing/mod.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 mod constants;
+mod custom_attributes;
 mod init;
 mod service_name_exporter;
 
 pub use constants::{
     error, http, llm, operation_component, routing, signals, OperationNameBuilder,
 };
+pub use custom_attributes::collect_custom_trace_attributes;
 pub use init::init_tracer;
 pub use service_name_exporter::{ServiceNameOverrideExporter, SERVICE_NAME_OVERRIDE_KEY};