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Overview

The initialize() method sets up the tracing client and establishes connection to Respan. This must be called before using any tracing methods.

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Signature

async initialize(): Promise<void>

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Basic Usage

import { RespanTelemetry } from '@respan/tracing';

const respanAi = new RespanTelemetry({
    apiKey: process.env.RESPAN_API_KEY,
    appName: 'my-app'
});

// Initialize before using any tracing methods
await respanAi.initialize();

// Now ready to use
await respanAi.withWorkflow(
    { name: 'my_workflow' },
    async () => {
        return 'ready';
    }
);

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Constructor Options

const respanAi = new RespanTelemetry({
    apiKey: string;              // Required: Your Respan API key
    baseURL?: string;            // Optional: API base URL (default: https://api.respan.ai)
    appName?: string;            // Optional: Application name for identification
    instrumentModules?: {        // Optional: Modules to auto-instrument
        openAI?: typeof OpenAI;
        anthropic?: typeof Anthropic;
    };
    disableBatch?: boolean;      // Optional: Send spans immediately (default: false)
    logLevel?: string;           // Optional: 'debug' | 'info' | 'warn' | 'error' (default: 'warn')
});

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Complete Example

import { RespanTelemetry } from '@respan/tracing';
import OpenAI from 'openai';

const respanAi = new RespanTelemetry({
    apiKey: process.env.RESPAN_API_KEY,
    baseURL: 'https://api.respan.ai',
    appName: 'production-app',
    instrumentModules: {
        openAI: OpenAI,  // Auto-instrument OpenAI
    },
    disableBatch: false,
    logLevel: 'info'
});

// Initialize the client
await respanAi.initialize();
console.log('Respan Tracing initialized successfully');

// Use tracing
await respanAi.withWorkflow(
    { name: 'user_request' },
    async () => {
        // Your code here
    }
);

// Shutdown gracefully when done
await respanAi.shutdown();

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Environment Variables

You can also configure using environment variables:
.env
RESPAN_API_KEY=your-api-key
RESPAN_BASE_URL=https://api.respan.ai

const respanAi = new RespanTelemetry({
    apiKey: process.env.RESPAN_API_KEY,
    baseURL: process.env.RESPAN_BASE_URL,
    appName: 'my-app'
});

await respanAi.initialize();

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Configuration Options

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apiKey
string
required
Your Respan API key from the dashboard
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baseURL
string
default:"https://api.respan.ai"
Respan API base URL
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appName
string
Application name for identifying traces in the dashboard
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instrumentModules
object
Modules to automatically instrument:
  • openAI: OpenAI SDK class
  • anthropic: Anthropic SDK class
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disableBatch
boolean
default:false
If true, sends spans immediately instead of batching them
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logLevel
string
default:"warn"
Logging verbosity: "debug", "info", "warn", "error"

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Best Practices

  • Always call initialize() before using any tracing methods
  • Initialize once at application startup
  • Use environment variables for sensitive configuration
  • Call shutdown() before application exit to flush pending spans
  • Enable auto-instrumentation for supported SDKs