diff --git a/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/http_text_format.rb b/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/http_text_format.rb
index 29c473120f..f18eae453f 100644
--- a/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/http_text_format.rb
+++ b/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/http_text_format.rb
@@ -16,25 +16,27 @@ module Propagation
       # Propagation is usually implemented via library-specific request interceptors, where the client-side injects values
       # and the server-side extracts them.
       class HTTPTextFormat
-        # extract will return a SpanContext from the supplied carrier
-        # invalid headers will result in a new SpanContext
-        # @param [Carrier] the carrier to get the header from
-        # @yield [Carrier, String] the header key
-        # @return [SpanContext] the span context from the header, or a new one if parsing fails
+        # Return a remote {Trace::SpanContext} extracted from the supplied carrier.
+        # Invalid headers will result in a new, valid, non-remote {Trace::SpanContext}.
+        #
+        # @param [Carrier] carrier The carrier to get the header from.
+        # @yield [Carrier, String] the carrier and the header key.
+        # @return [SpanContext] the span context from the header, or a new one if parsing fails.
         def extract(carrier)
           raise ArgumentError, 'block must be supplied' unless block_given?
 
           header = yield carrier, TraceParent::TRACE_PARENT_HEADER
           tp = TraceParent.from_string(header)
 
-          SpanContext.new(trace_id: tp.trace_id, span_id: tp.span_id, flags: tp.flags)
+          Trace::SpanContext.new(trace_id: tp.trace_id, span_id: tp.span_id, trace_flags: tp.flags, remote: true)
         rescue OpenTelemetry::Error
-          SpanContext.new
+          Trace::SpanContext.new
         end
 
-        # inject will set the span context on the supplied carrier
-        # @param [Context] the carrier
-        # @yield [Carrier, String, String] carrier, header key, header value
+        # Set the span context on the supplied carrier.
+        #
+        # @param [SpanContext] context The active {Trace::SpanContext}.
+        # @yield [Carrier, String, String] carrier, header key, header value.
         def inject(context, carrier)
           raise ArgumentError, 'block must be supplied' unless block_given?
 
diff --git a/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/trace_parent.rb b/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/trace_parent.rb
index d68861faca..33b2dd42db 100644
--- a/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/trace_parent.rb
+++ b/api/lib/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/trace_parent.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ module DistributedContext
     module Propagation
       # A TraceParent is an implementation of the W3C trace context specification
       # https://www.w3.org/TR/trace-context/
-      # {SpanContext}
+      # {Trace::SpanContext}
       class TraceParent
         InvalidFormatError = Class.new(Error)
         InvalidVersionError = Class.new(Error)
@@ -25,15 +25,15 @@ class TraceParent
         private_constant :REGEXP
 
         class << self
-          # Creates a new {TraceParent} from a supplied {SpanContext}
-          # @param [SpanContext] the context
+          # Creates a new {TraceParent} from a supplied {Trace::SpanContext}
+          # @param [SpanContext] ctx The context
           # @return [TraceParent] a trace parent
           def from_context(ctx)
             new(trace_id: ctx.trace_id, span_id: ctx.span_id, flags: ctx.trace_flags)
           end
 
           # Deserializes the {TraceParent} from the string representation
-          # @param [String] the serialized trace parent
+          # @param [String] string The serialized trace parent
           # @return [TraceParent] a trace_parent
           # @raise [InvalidFormatError] on an invalid format
           # @raise [InvalidVerionError] on an invalid version
diff --git a/api/lib/opentelemetry/trace/span_context.rb b/api/lib/opentelemetry/trace/span_context.rb
index 2495065ecf..05ff98336c 100644
--- a/api/lib/opentelemetry/trace/span_context.rb
+++ b/api/lib/opentelemetry/trace/span_context.rb
@@ -7,25 +7,45 @@
 module OpenTelemetry
   module Trace
     # A SpanContext contains the state that must propagate to child {Span}s and across process boundaries.
-    # It contains the identifiers (a trace ID and span ID) associated with the {Span} and a set of
-    # {TraceFlags}.
+    # It contains the identifiers (a trace ID and span ID) associated with the {Span}, a set of
+    # {TraceFlags}, and a boolean indicating that the SpanContext was extracted from the wire.
     class SpanContext
       attr_reader :trace_id, :span_id, :trace_flags
 
+      # Returns a new {SpanContext}.
+      #
+      # @param [optional String] trace_id The trace ID associated with a {Span}.
+      # @param [optional String] span_id The span ID associated with a {Span}.
+      # @param [optional TraceFlags] trace_flags The trace flags associated with a {Span}.
+      # @param [optional Boolean] remote Whether the {SpanContext} was extracted from the wire.
+      # @return [SpanContext]
       def initialize(
         trace_id: Trace.generate_trace_id,
         span_id: Trace.generate_span_id,
-        trace_flags: TraceFlags::DEFAULT
+        trace_flags: TraceFlags::DEFAULT,
+        remote: false
       )
         @trace_id = trace_id
         @span_id = span_id
         @trace_flags = trace_flags
+        @remote = remote
       end
 
+      # Returns true if the {SpanContext} has a non-zero trace ID and non-zero span ID.
+      #
+      # @return [Boolean]
       def valid?
         @trace_id != INVALID_TRACE_ID && @span_id != INVALID_SPAN_ID
       end
 
+      # Returns true if the {SpanContext} was propagated from a remote parent.
+      #
+      # @return [Boolean]
+      def remote?
+        @remote
+      end
+
+      # Represents an invalid {SpanContext}, with an invalid trace ID and an invalid span ID.
       INVALID = new(trace_id: INVALID_TRACE_ID, span_id: INVALID_SPAN_ID)
     end
   end
diff --git a/api/test/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/http_text_format_test.rb b/api/test/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/http_text_format_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d600360524
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/test/opentelemetry/distributed_context/propagation/http_text_format_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright 2019 OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+require 'test_helper'
+
+describe OpenTelemetry::DistributedContext::Propagation::HTTPTextFormat do
+  SpanContext = OpenTelemetry::Trace::SpanContext
+  HTTPTextFormat =
+    OpenTelemetry::DistributedContext::Propagation::HTTPTextFormat
+
+  let(:formatter) { HTTPTextFormat.new }
+  let(:valid_header) do
+    '00-000000000000000000000000000000AA-00000000000000ea-01'
+  end
+  let(:invalid_header) do
+    'FF-000000000000000000000000000000AA-00000000000000ea-01'
+  end
+
+  describe '#extract' do
+    it 'requires a block' do
+      proc { formatter.extract({}) }.must_raise(ArgumentError)
+    end
+
+    it 'yields the carrier and the header key' do
+      carrier = {}
+      yielded = false
+      formatter.extract(carrier) do |c, key|
+        c.must_equal(carrier)
+        key.must_equal('traceparent')
+        yielded = true
+        valid_header
+      end
+      yielded.must_equal(true)
+    end
+
+    it 'returns a remote SpanContext with fields from the traceparent header' do
+      context = formatter.extract({}) { valid_header }
+      context.must_be :remote?
+      context.trace_id.must_equal('000000000000000000000000000000aa')
+      context.span_id.must_equal('00000000000000ea')
+      context.trace_flags.must_be :sampled?
+    end
+
+    it 'returns a valid non-remote SpanContext on error' do
+      context = formatter.extract({}) { invalid_header }
+      context.wont_be :remote?
+      context.must_be :valid?
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#inject' do
+    it 'requires a block' do
+      proc { formatter.inject(SpanContext.new, {}) }.must_raise(ArgumentError)
+    end
+
+    it 'yields the carrier, key, and traceparent value from the context' do
+      context = SpanContext.new(trace_id: 'f' * 32, span_id: '1' * 16)
+      carrier = {}
+      yielded = false
+      formatter.inject(context, carrier) do |c, k, v|
+        c.must_equal(carrier)
+        k.must_equal('traceparent')
+        v.must_equal('00-ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff-1111111111111111-00')
+        yielded = true
+        c
+      end
+      yielded.must_equal(true)
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#fields' do
+    it 'returns an array with the W3C traceparent header' do
+      formatter.fields.must_equal(['traceparent'])
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/api/test/opentelemetry/trace/span_context_test.rb b/api/test/opentelemetry/trace/span_context_test.rb
index 95eceec59b..0876e1645d 100644
--- a/api/test/opentelemetry/trace/span_context_test.rb
+++ b/api/test/opentelemetry/trace/span_context_test.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,17 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe '#remote?' do
+    it 'is false by default' do
+      span_context.wont_be(:remote?)
+    end
+
+    it 'reflects the value passed in' do
+      context = OpenTelemetry::Trace::SpanContext.new(remote: true)
+      context.must_be(:remote?)
+    end
+  end
+
   describe '#trace_id' do
     it 'reflects the value passed in' do
       trace_id = OpenTelemetry::Trace.generate_trace_id