diff --git a/plugins/outputs/groundwork/README.md b/plugins/outputs/groundwork/README.md
index e11febc6b0d49..b75bc83603c56 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/groundwork/README.md
+++ b/plugins/outputs/groundwork/README.md
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ GW8+
   ## Username and password to access GroundWork API.
   username = ""
   password = ""
+  
+  ## Default application type to use in GroundWork client
+  # default_app_type = "TELEGRAF"
 
   ## Default display name for the host with services(metrics).
   # default_host = "telegraf"
diff --git a/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork.go b/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork.go
index ede4dbd5aa726..28a62353d5ecf 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork.go
+++ b/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type Groundwork struct {
 	AgentID             string          `toml:"agent_id"`
 	Username            string          `toml:"username"`
 	Password            string          `toml:"password"`
+	DefaultAppType      string          `toml:"default_app_type"`
 	DefaultHost         string          `toml:"default_host"`
 	DefaultServiceState string          `toml:"default_service_state"`
 	GroupTag            string          `toml:"group_tag"`
@@ -58,6 +59,9 @@ func (g *Groundwork) Init() error {
 	if g.Password == "" {
 		return errors.New("no 'password' provided")
 	}
+	if g.DefaultAppType == "" {
+		return errors.New("no 'default_app_type' provided")
+	}
 	if g.DefaultHost == "" {
 		return errors.New("no 'default_host' provided")
 	}
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ func (g *Groundwork) Init() error {
 
 	g.client = clients.GWClient{
 		AppName: "telegraf",
-		AppType: "TELEGRAF",
+		AppType: g.DefaultAppType,
 		GWConnection: &clients.GWConnection{
 			HostName:           g.Server,
 			UserName:           g.Username,
@@ -172,7 +176,7 @@ func (g *Groundwork) Write(metrics []telegraf.Metric) error {
 	}
 	requestJSON, err := json.Marshal(transit.ResourcesWithServicesRequest{
 		Context: &transit.TracerContext{
-			AppType:    "TELEGRAF",
+			AppType:    g.DefaultAppType,
 			AgentID:    g.AgentID,
 			TraceToken: traceToken,
 			TimeStamp:  transit.NewTimestamp(),
@@ -200,6 +204,7 @@ func init() {
 			GroupTag:            "group",
 			ResourceTag:         "host",
 			DefaultHost:         "telegraf",
+			DefaultAppType:      "TELEGRAF",
 			DefaultServiceState: string(transit.ServiceOk),
 		}
 	})
diff --git a/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork_test.go b/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork_test.go
index 28d5766da2195..86b0870e17a11 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork_test.go
+++ b/plugins/outputs/groundwork/groundwork_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import (
 const (
 	defaultTestAgentID = "ec1676cc-583d-48ee-b035-7fb5ed0fcf88"
 	defaultHost        = "telegraf"
+	defaultAppType     = "TELEGRAF"
+	customAppType      = "SYSLOG"
 )
 
 func TestWriteWithDefaults(t *testing.T) {
@@ -36,6 +38,7 @@ func TestWriteWithDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// Check if server gets valid metrics object
 		require.Equal(t, defaultTestAgentID, obj.Context.AgentID)
+		require.Equal(t, customAppType, obj.Context.AppType)
 		require.Equal(t, defaultHost, obj.Resources[0].Name)
 		require.Equal(t, "IntMetric", obj.Resources[0].Services[0].Name)
 		require.Equal(t, int64(42), obj.Resources[0].Services[0].Metrics[0].Value.IntegerValue)
@@ -46,12 +49,13 @@ func TestWriteWithDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 	}))
 
 	i := Groundwork{
-		Server:      server.URL,
-		AgentID:     defaultTestAgentID,
-		DefaultHost: defaultHost,
+		Server:         server.URL,
+		AgentID:        defaultTestAgentID,
+		DefaultHost:    defaultHost,
+		DefaultAppType: customAppType,
 		client: clients.GWClient{
 			AppName: "telegraf",
-			AppType: "TELEGRAF",
+			AppType: customAppType,
 			GWConnection: &clients.GWConnection{
 				HostName: server.URL,
 			},
@@ -82,6 +86,7 @@ func TestWriteWithTags(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// Check if server gets valid metrics object
 		require.Equal(t, defaultTestAgentID, obj.Context.AgentID)
+		require.Equal(t, defaultAppType, obj.Context.AppType)
 		require.Equal(t, "Host01", obj.Resources[0].Name)
 		require.Equal(t, "FloatMetric", obj.Resources[0].Services[0].Name)
 		require.Equal(t, 1.0, obj.Resources[0].Services[0].Metrics[0].Value.DoubleValue)
@@ -93,14 +98,15 @@ func TestWriteWithTags(t *testing.T) {
 	}))
 
 	i := Groundwork{
-		Server:      server.URL,
-		AgentID:     defaultTestAgentID,
-		DefaultHost: defaultHost,
-		GroupTag:    "group",
-		ResourceTag: "host",
+		Server:         server.URL,
+		AgentID:        defaultTestAgentID,
+		DefaultHost:    defaultHost,
+		DefaultAppType: defaultAppType,
+		GroupTag:       "group",
+		ResourceTag:    "host",
 		client: clients.GWClient{
 			AppName: "telegraf",
-			AppType: "TELEGRAF",
+			AppType: defaultAppType,
 			GWConnection: &clients.GWConnection{
 				HostName: server.URL,
 			},
@@ -116,6 +122,7 @@ func TestWriteWithTags(t *testing.T) {
 type groundworkObject struct {
 	Context struct {
 		AgentID string `json:"agentId"`
+		AppType string `json:"appType"`
 	} `json:"context"`
 	Resources []struct {
 		Name     string `json:"name"`