Phoenix Tracing
Comprehensive guide for instrumenting LLM applications with OpenInference tracing in Phoenix. Contains reference files covering setup, instrumentation, span types, and production deployment.
When to Apply
Reference these guidelines when:
- Setting up Phoenix tracing (Python or TypeScript)
- Creating custom spans for LLM operations
- Adding attributes following OpenInference conventions
- Deploying tracing to production
- Querying and analyzing trace data
Reference Categories
| Priority | Category | Description | Prefix |
| -------- | --------------- | ------------------------------ | -------------------------- |
| 1 | Setup | Installation and configuration | setup-* |
| 2 | Instrumentation | Auto and manual tracing | instrumentation-* |
| 3 | Span Types | 9 span kinds with attributes | span-* |
| 4 | Organization | Projects and sessions | projects-*, sessions-* |
| 5 | Enrichment | Custom metadata | metadata-* |
| 6 | Production | Batch processing, masking | production-* |
| 7 | Feedback | Annotations and evaluation | annotations-* |
Quick Reference
1. Setup (START HERE)
- setup-python - Install arize-phoenix-otel, configure endpoint
- setup-typescript - Install @arizeai/phoenix-otel, configure endpoint
2. Instrumentation
- instrumentation-auto-python - Auto-instrument OpenAI, LangChain, etc.
- instrumentation-auto-typescript - Auto-instrument supported frameworks
- instrumentation-manual-python - Custom spans with decorators
- instrumentation-manual-typescript - Custom spans with wrappers
3. Span Types (with full attribute schemas)
- span-llm - LLM API calls (model, tokens, messages, cost)
- span-chain - Multi-step workflows and pipelines
- span-retriever - Document retrieval (documents, scores)
- span-tool - Function/API calls (name, parameters)
- span-agent - Multi-step reasoning agents
- span-embedding - Vector generation
- span-reranker - Document re-ranking
- span-guardrail - Safety checks
- span-evaluator - LLM evaluation
4. Organization
- projects-python / projects-typescript - Group traces by application
- sessions-python / sessions-typescript - Track conversations
5. Enrichment
- metadata-python / metadata-typescript - Custom attributes
6. Production (CRITICAL)
- production-python / production-typescript - Batch processing, PII masking
7. Feedback
- annotations-overview - Feedback concepts
- annotations-python / annotations-typescript - Add feedback to spans
Reference Files
- fundamentals-overview - Traces, spans, attributes basics
- fundamentals-required-attributes - Required fields per span type
- fundamentals-universal-attributes - Common attributes (user.id, session.id)
- fundamentals-flattening - JSON flattening rules
- attributes-messages - Chat message format
- attributes-metadata - Custom metadata schema
- attributes-graph - Agent workflow attributes
- attributes-exceptions - Error tracking
Common Workflows
- Quick Start: setup-{lang} → instrumentation-auto-{lang} → Check Phoenix
- Custom Spans: setup-{lang} → instrumentation-manual-{lang} → span-{type}
- Session Tracking: sessions-{lang} for conversation grouping patterns
- Production: production-{lang} for batching, masking, and deployment
How to Use This Skill
Navigation Patterns:
# By category prefix
references/setup-* # Installation and configuration
references/instrumentation-* # Auto and manual tracing
references/span-* # Span type specifications
references/sessions-* # Session tracking
references/production-* # Production deployment
references/fundamentals-* # Core concepts
references/attributes-* # Attribute specifications
# By language
references/*-python.md # Python implementations
references/*-typescript.md # TypeScript implementations
Reading Order:
- Start with setup-{lang} for your language
- Choose instrumentation-auto-{lang} OR instrumentation-manual-{lang}
- Reference span-{type} files as needed for specific operations
- See fundamentals-* files for attribute specifications
References
Phoenix Documentation:
Python API Documentation:
- Python OTEL Package -
arize-phoenix-otelAPI reference - Python Client Package -
arize-phoenix-clientAPI reference
TypeScript API Documentation:
- TypeScript Packages -
@arizeai/phoenix-otel,@arizeai/phoenix-client, and other TypeScript packages