Claude Code OpenTelemetry Setup

Automated workflow for setting up OpenTelemetry telemetry collection for Claude Code usage monitoring, cost tracking, and productivity analytics.

Quick Decision Matrix

User Request	Mode	Action
"Set up telemetry locally"	Mode 1	Full PoC stack
"I want to try OpenTelemetry"	Mode 1	Full PoC stack
"Connect to company endpoint"	Mode 2	Enterprise config
"Set up for team rollout"	Mode 2	Enterprise + docs
"Dashboard not working"	Troubleshoot	See known issues

Mode 1: Local PoC Setup

Goal: Complete local telemetry stack for individual developer

Creates:

• OpenTelemetry Collector (receives data)
• Prometheus (stores metrics)
• Loki (stores logs)
• Grafana (dashboards)

Prerequisites:

• Docker Desktop running
• 2GB free disk space
• Write access to ~/.claude/

Time: 5-7 minutes

Workflow: modes/mode1-poc-setup.md

Output:

• Grafana at http://localhost:3000 (admin/admin)
• Management scripts in ~/.claude/telemetry/

Mode 2: Enterprise Setup

Goal: Connect Claude Code to centralized company infrastructure

Required Info:

• OTEL Collector endpoint URL
• Authentication (API key or certificates)
• Team/department identifier

Time: 2-3 minutes

Workflow: modes/mode2-enterprise.md

Output:

• settings.json configured for central endpoint
• Team rollout documentation

Critical Configuration

REQUIRED in settings.json (without these, telemetry won't work):

{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_TELEMETRY": "1",
    "OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER": "otlp",
    "OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER": "otlp",
    "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT": "http://localhost:4317"
  }
}

Must restart Claude Code after settings changes!

Pre-Flight Check

Always run before setup:

# Verify Docker is running
docker info > /dev/null 2>&1 || echo "Start Docker Desktop first"

# Check available ports
for port in 3000 4317 4318 8889 9090; do
  lsof -i :$port > /dev/null 2>&1 && echo "Port $port in use"
done

# Check disk space (need 2GB)
df -h ~/.claude

Metrics Collected

• Session counts and active time
• Token usage (input/output/cached)
• API costs by model (USD)
• Lines of code modified
• Commits and PRs created

Management Commands

# Start telemetry stack
~/.claude/telemetry/start-telemetry.sh

# Stop (preserves data)
~/.claude/telemetry/stop-telemetry.sh

# Full cleanup (removes all data)
~/.claude/telemetry/cleanup-telemetry.sh

Common Issues

No Data in Dashboard

1. Check OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER and OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER are set
2. Verify Claude Code was restarted
3. See reference/known-issues.md

Datasource Not Found

Dashboard has wrong UID. Detect your UID:

curl -s http://admin:admin@localhost:3000/api/datasources | jq '.[0].uid'

Replace in dashboard JSON and re-import.

Metric Names Double Prefix

Metrics use claude_code_claude_code_* format. Update dashboard queries accordingly.

Reference Documentation

• modes/mode1-poc-setup.md - Detailed local setup workflow
• modes/mode2-enterprise.md - Enterprise configuration steps
• reference/known-issues.md - Troubleshooting guide
• templates/ - Configuration file templates
• dashboards/ - Grafana dashboard JSON files

Safety Checklist

• Backup settings.json before modification
• Verify Docker is running first
• Check ports are available
• Test data flow before declaring success
• Provide cleanup instructions

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Version: 1.1.0 | Author: Prometheus Team