Routing note: For ambiguous user intents, use the shared clarification templates in references/intent-clarification.md.

Tracing

Add OpenTelemetry-based tracing and observability to applications using TrueFoundry's tracing platform (powered by Traceloop SDK). Creates tracing projects, installs dependencies, and instruments code to capture LLM calls, workflows, and custom spans.

When to Use

Set up tracing projects, install Traceloop SDK, and instrument Python or TypeScript applications for LLM call tracing and observability on TrueFoundry.

Step 1: Preflight

Run the status skill first to verify TFY_BASE_URL and TFY_API_KEY are set and valid.

When using direct API, set TFY_API_SH to the full path of this skill's scripts/tfy-api.sh. See references/tfy-api-setup.md for paths per agent.

Step 2: Tracing Project Setup

Ask the user: "Do you already have a tracing project FQN, or should I create one?"

List Existing Projects

Via Tool Call

tfy_tracing_list_projects()

Via Direct API

TFY_API_SH=~/.claude/skills/truefoundry-tracing/scripts/tfy-api.sh

# List tracing projects
$TFY_API_SH GET /api/ml/v1/tracing-projects

Create a New Project

Ask for a project name, then create:

Via Tool Call

tfy_tracing_create_project(name="my-tracing-project")

Via Direct API

# Create tracing project
$TFY_API_SH POST /api/ml/v1/tracing-projects '{"name": "my-tracing-project"}'

Save the returned project id for the next step.

Create an Application Under the Project

Each tracing project can have multiple applications (e.g., "chatbot", "rag-pipeline").

Via Tool Call

tfy_tracing_create_application(project_id="PROJECT_ID", name="my-app")

Via Direct API

# Create application under project
$TFY_API_SH POST /api/ml/v1/tracing-projects/PROJECT_ID/applications '{"name": "my-app"}'

Fallback: If any of these API endpoints return 404, the tracing API may have changed. Direct the user to create the tracing project via the TrueFoundry UI at $TFY_BASE_URL → Tracing section, then return here with the project FQN.

Step 3: Detect Application Type

Scan the project to determine the language and LLM libraries in use:

1. Python — look for requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, setup.py, Pipfile
   • Check for LLM libraries: openai, anthropic, langchain, llama-index, litellm, cohere, bedrock, vertexai, transformers
2. TypeScript/JavaScript — look for package.json
   • Check for LLM libraries: openai, @anthropic-ai/sdk, langchain, @langchain/core

Report what was detected to the user before proceeding.

Step 4: Install Dependencies

Python

pip install traceloop-sdk

Also add traceloop-sdk to requirements.txt or the appropriate dependency file.

TypeScript/JavaScript

npm install @traceloop/node-server-sdk

Also add to package.json dependencies.

Step 5: Instrument the Application

CRITICAL: Traceloop.init() MUST be called at the TOP of the entry point, BEFORE any LLM library imports. This is required for auto-instrumentation to work.

Python Instrumentation

Add this to the very top of the entry point file (e.g., main.py, app.py):

# --- Traceloop init MUST be before any LLM imports ---
from traceloop.sdk import Traceloop

Traceloop.init(
    app_name="<APP_NAME>",
    api_endpoint=f"<TFY_BASE_URL>/api/otel",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer <TFY_API_KEY>",
        "X-TFY-TRACING-PROJECT-FQN": "<TRACING_PROJECT_FQN>",
    },
    disable_batch=False,
)

# --- Now import LLM libraries ---
# from openai import OpenAI
# from anthropic import Anthropic
# etc.

Replace placeholders:

• <APP_NAME> — the application name (e.g., "my-chatbot")
• <TFY_BASE_URL> — from environment or .env
• <TFY_API_KEY> — from environment or .env
• <TRACING_PROJECT_FQN> — the tracing project FQN from Step 2

Best practice: Read TFY_BASE_URL and TFY_API_KEY from environment variables:

import os
from traceloop.sdk import Traceloop

Traceloop.init(
    app_name="<APP_NAME>",
    api_endpoint=f"{os.environ['TFY_BASE_URL']}/api/otel",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['TFY_API_KEY']}",
        "X-TFY-TRACING-PROJECT-FQN": "<TRACING_PROJECT_FQN>",
    },
    disable_batch=False,
)

TypeScript/JavaScript Instrumentation

Add this to the very top of the entry point file (e.g., index.ts, app.ts):

// --- Traceloop init MUST be before any LLM imports ---
import * as traceloop from "@traceloop/node-server-sdk";

traceloop.initialize({
  appName: "<APP_NAME>",
  apiEndpoint: `${process.env.TFY_BASE_URL}/api/otel`,
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TFY_API_KEY}`,
    "X-TFY-TRACING-PROJECT-FQN": "<TRACING_PROJECT_FQN>",
  },
  disableBatch: false,
});

// --- Now import LLM libraries ---
// import OpenAI from "openai";
// etc.

Step 6: Optional — Add Decorators for Multi-Step Apps

For applications with multiple logical steps (agents, RAG pipelines, etc.), offer to add decorators for better trace structure:

Python Decorators

from traceloop.sdk.decorators import workflow, task, agent, tool

@workflow(name="rag_pipeline")
def run_pipeline(query: str):
    context = retrieve(query)
    return generate(query, context)

@task(name="retrieve_context")
def retrieve(query: str):
    # retrieval logic
    ...

@task(name="generate_response")
def generate(query: str, context: str):
    # LLM call
    ...

@agent(name="research_agent")
def research_agent(topic: str):
    # agent logic
    ...

@tool(name="web_search")
def web_search(query: str):
    # tool logic
    ...

TypeScript Decorators

import { withWorkflow, withTask, withAgent, withTool } from "@traceloop/node-server-sdk";

const runPipeline = withWorkflow({ name: "rag_pipeline" }, async (query: string) => {
  const context = await retrieve(query);
  return generate(query, context);
});

const retrieve = withTask({ name: "retrieve_context" }, async (query: string) => {
  // retrieval logic
});

const generate = withTask({ name: "generate_response" }, async (query: string, context: string) => {
  // LLM call
});

Step 7: Optional — Configure Sampling for Production

For high-traffic production apps, configure sampling to reduce trace volume:

Python

from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.sampling import ParentBased, TraceIdRatioBased

Traceloop.init(
    app_name="<APP_NAME>",
    api_endpoint=f"{os.environ['TFY_BASE_URL']}/api/otel",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['TFY_API_KEY']}",
        "X-TFY-TRACING-PROJECT-FQN": "<TRACING_PROJECT_FQN>",
    },
    disable_batch=False,
    sampler=ParentBased(root=TraceIdRatioBased(0.1)),  # 10% sampling
)

TypeScript

import { ParentBasedSampler, TraceIdRatioBasedSampler } from "@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base";

traceloop.initialize({
  appName: "<APP_NAME>",
  apiEndpoint: `${process.env.TFY_BASE_URL}/api/otel`,
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TFY_API_KEY}`,
    "X-TFY-TRACING-PROJECT-FQN": "<TRACING_PROJECT_FQN>",
  },
  disableBatch: false,
  sampler: new ParentBasedSampler({ root: new TraceIdRatioBasedSampler(0.1) }), // 10%
});

<success_criteria>

Success Criteria

• Tracing project exists (created or pre-existing) on TrueFoundry
• traceloop-sdk (Python) or @traceloop/node-server-sdk (TypeScript) is installed
• Traceloop.init() is placed at the top of the entry point, BEFORE LLM imports
• Auth headers include Authorization and X-TFY-TRACING-PROJECT-FQN
• The app runs without import errors
• Traces appear in the TrueFoundry tracing dashboard after a test request

</success_criteria>

Composability

• Preflight: Use status skill to verify TFY_BASE_URL and TFY_API_KEY
• Secrets: Use secrets skill to store TFY_API_KEY as a secret instead of hardcoding
• Deploy: After instrumenting, use deploy skill to deploy the traced application
• Logs: Use logs skill to debug if traces aren't appearing

API Endpoints

See references/api-endpoints.md for the full Tracing API reference.

Error Handling

401 Unauthorized on Trace Export

Check that TFY_API_KEY is valid and not expired.
Regenerate at $TFY_BASE_URL → Settings → API Keys.

No Traces Appearing in Dashboard

1. Verify Traceloop.init() is called BEFORE LLM library imports — this is the #1 cause.
2. Check that api_endpoint ends with /api/otel (not /api/otel/).
3. Verify X-TFY-TRACING-PROJECT-FQN header matches the project FQN exactly.
4. Set disable_batch=True temporarily to force immediate export and check for errors.
5. Check application logs for OTLP export errors.

ImportError: No module named 'traceloop'

Run: pip install traceloop-sdk
Ensure you're installing in the correct virtual environment.

Traces Missing LLM Call Details

Traceloop.init() must be called BEFORE importing the LLM library.
Move the init call to the very top of your entry point file.

High Trace Volume in Production

Add sampling — see Step 7 for ParentBased(TraceIdRatioBased) configuration.
Start with 10% sampling (0.1) and adjust based on needs.

Tracing Project API Returns 404

The tracing API endpoints may differ on your TrueFoundry version.
Create the tracing project via the TrueFoundry UI instead:
$TFY_BASE_URL → Tracing → New Project
Then use the project FQN in your Traceloop.init() configuration.