diff --git a/OpenTelemetryPlan/09-data-collection-reference.md b/OpenTelemetryPlan/09-data-collection-reference.md
index 8f46b18676..545d2cd2ac 100644
--- a/OpenTelemetryPlan/09-data-collection-reference.md
+++ b/OpenTelemetryPlan/09-data-collection-reference.md
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ Code in `libxrpl` cannot use these macros and always goes through `beast::insigh
 
 ## 1. OpenTelemetry Spans
 
-### 1.1 Complete Span Inventory (41 spans)
+### 1.1 Complete Span Inventory (42 spans)
 
 > **41 emitted span-name families.** The count is derived from the `*SpanNames.h`
 > headers and their call sites, one family per distinct span name
@@ -113,13 +113,14 @@ Code in `libxrpl` cannot use these macros and always goes through `beast::insigh
 
 Controlled by `trace_rpc=1` in `[telemetry]` config.
 
-| Span Name            | Parent             | Source File       | Description                                                              |
-| -------------------- | ------------------ | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
-| `rpc.http_request`   | —                  | ServerHandler.cpp | Top-level HTTP JSON-RPC request entry point                              |
-| `rpc.ws_message`     | —                  | ServerHandler.cpp | WebSocket message handling (one per inbound frame)                       |
-| `rpc.ws_upgrade`     | —                  | ServerHandler.cpp | WebSocket upgrade handshake (records handshake failures)                 |
-| `rpc.process`        | `rpc.http_request` | ServerHandler.cpp | RPC processing pipeline (single or batch request)                        |
-| `rpc.command.<name>` | `rpc.process`      | RPCHandler.cpp    | Per-command span (e.g., `rpc.command.server_info`, `rpc.command.ledger`) |
+| Span Name            | Parent                                         | Source File       | Description                                                              |
+| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
+| `rpc.http_request`   | —                                              | ServerHandler.cpp | Top-level HTTP JSON-RPC request entry point                              |
+| `rpc.ws_message`     | —                                              | ServerHandler.cpp | WebSocket message handling (one per inbound frame)                       |
+| `rpc.ws_upgrade`     | —                                              | ServerHandler.cpp | WebSocket upgrade handshake (records handshake failures)                 |
+| `rpc.process`        | `rpc.http_request`                             | ServerHandler.cpp | RPC processing pipeline (single or batch request)                        |
+| `rpc.command.<name>` | `rpc.process`, `rpc.ws_message`, `rpc.startup` | RPCHandler.cpp    | Per-command span (e.g., `rpc.command.server_info`, `rpc.command.ledger`) |
+| `rpc.startup`        | —                                              | Application.cpp   | `[rpc_startup]` batch run during setup; parent of its command spans      |
 
 **Where to find**: Tempo → TraceQL: `{resource.service.name="xrpld" && name=~"rpc.http_request|rpc.command.*"}`
 
diff --git a/docs/telemetry-runbook.md b/docs/telemetry-runbook.md
index fbdf41f881..25f654b598 100644
--- a/docs/telemetry-runbook.md
+++ b/docs/telemetry-runbook.md
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ All spans instrumented in xrpld, grouped by subsystem:
 | `rpc.ws_message`     | ServerHandler.cpp | `command`, `rpc_status`                                     | WebSocket RPC message                                 |
 | `rpc.process`        | ServerHandler.cpp | `is_batch`, `batch_size`                                    | RPC processing (child of rpc.http_request/ws_message) |
 | `rpc.command.<name>` | RPCHandler.cpp    | `command`, `version`, `rpc_role`, `rpc_status`, `load_type` | Per-command span (e.g., `rpc.command.server_info`)    |
+| `rpc.startup`        | Application.cpp   | —                                                           | `[rpc_startup]` batch; parent of its command spans    |
 
 On `rpc.ws_message`, `rpc_status` is set **on four of the five error paths**
 (resource threshold exceeded, bad API version / missing command, caught
@@ -2421,6 +2422,7 @@ enforces that in CI, because the two silently drifted once already.
 | `rpc.ws_message`               | `{span_name="rpc.ws_message"}`               | RPC Performance (WebSocket Rate)              |
 | `rpc.process`                  | `{span_name="rpc.process"}`                  | RPC Performance (Overall Throughput)          |
 | `rpc.command.*`                | `{span_name=~"rpc.command.*"}`               | RPC Performance (Rate, Latency, Error, Top)   |
+| `rpc.startup`                  | `{span_name="rpc.startup"}`                  | -- (available but not paneled)                |
 | `tx.process`                   | `{span_name="tx.process"}`                   | Transaction Overview (Rate, Latency, Heatmap) |
 | `tx.receive`                   | `{span_name="tx.receive"}`                   | Transaction Overview (Rate, Receive)          |
 | `tx.apply`                     | `{span_name="tx.apply"}`                     | Transaction Overview + Ledger Ops (Apply)     |
diff --git a/src/xrpld/app/misc/detail/TxQ.cpp b/src/xrpld/app/misc/detail/TxQ.cpp
index 7f43936c2f..516e83bbd8 100644
--- a/src/xrpld/app/misc/detail/TxQ.cpp
+++ b/src/xrpld/app/misc/detail/TxQ.cpp
@@ -782,8 +782,9 @@ TxQ::apply(
     // is ambient, and this ScopedSpanGuard's scope is RAII-bounded to this fully
     // synchronous call (no coroutine yield), so no unrelated parent leaks in and
     // its scope cannot leak out onto a reused worker.
-    // On the open-ledger rebuild path parentCtx is null and this is a root; the
-    // current_ledger_seq attribute below correlates it to the ledger instead.
+    // On the open-ledger rebuild path parentCtx is null, so the span nests under
+    // the ambient span: consensus.accept.apply inside doAccept, a root on the
+    // switchLastClosedLedger jump. current_ledger_seq below ties it to a ledger.
     // A lambda (not a ternary) picks the factory: ScopedSpanGuard's move ctor is
     // deleted, so guaranteed copy elision on each return is the only way to
     // construct it conditionally.