Sentry Otel Exporter Setup

Sentry OTel Exporter Setup

Terminology: Always capitalize “Sentry Exporter” when referring to the exporter component.

Configure the OpenTelemetry Collector to send traces and logs to Sentry using the Sentry Exporter.

Setup Overview

Copy this checklist to track your progress:

OTel Exporter Setup:
- [ ] Step 1: Check for existing configuration
- [ ] Step 2: Check collector version and install if needed
- [ ] Step 3: Configure project creation settings
- [ ] Step 4: Write collector config
- [ ] Step 5: Add environment variable placeholders
- [ ] Step 6: Run the collector
- [ ] Step 7: Verify setup
- [ ] Step 8: Enable trace connectedness with OTLPIntegration (Python/Ruby/Node.js)

Step 1: Check for Existing Configuration

Search for existing OpenTelemetry Collector configs by looking for YAML files containing receivers:. Also check for files named otel-collector-config.*, collector-config.*, or otelcol.*.

If an existing config is found: Ask the user which approach they want:

• Modify existing config: Add Sentry Exporter to the existing file (recommended to avoid duplicates)
• Create separate config: Keep existing config unchanged and create a new one for testing

Wait for the user’s answer and record their choice before proceeding to Step 2. The rest of the workflow depends on this decision.

If no config exists: Note that you’ll create a new collector-config.yaml in Step 4, then proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Check Collector Version

The Sentry Exporter requires otelcol-contrib v0.145.0 or later.

Check for existing collector

1. Run which otelcol-contrib to check if it’s on PATH, or check for ./otelcol-contrib in the project
2. If found, run the appropriate version command and parse the version number
3. Record the collector path (e.g., otelcol-contrib if on PATH, or ./otelcol-contrib if local) for use in later steps

Installation

Ask the user how they want to run the collector:

• Binary: Download from GitHub releases. No Docker required.
• Docker: Run as a container. Requires Docker installed.

Binary Installation

Fetch the latest release version from GitHub:

curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/releases/latest | grep '"tag_name"' | cut -d'"' -f4

Important: The GitHub API returns versions with a v prefix (e.g., v0.145.0). The download URL path requires the full tag with v prefix, but the filename and Docker tags use the numeric version without the prefix (e.g., 0.145.0).

Detect the user’s platform and download the binary:

1. Run uname -s and uname -m to detect OS and architecture
2. Map to release values:

• Darwin + arm64 → darwin_arm64
• Darwin + x86_64 → darwin_amd64
• Linux + x86_64 → linux_amd64
• Linux + aarch64 → linux_arm64

1. Download and extract:

curl -LO https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/releases/download/v<numeric_version>/otelcol-contrib_<numeric_version>_<os>_<arch>.tar.gz
tar -xzf otelcol-contrib_<numeric_version>_<os>_<arch>.tar.gz
chmod +x otelcol-contrib

Example: For version v0.145.0, the URL uses v0.145.0 in the path but 0.145.0 in the filename.

Perform these steps for the user—do not just show them the commands.

1. Ask the user if they want to delete the downloaded tarball to save disk space (~50MB):

• Yes, delete it: Remove the tarball
• No, keep it: Leave the tarball in place

Wait for the user’s response. Only delete if they explicitly choose to:

rm otelcol-contrib_<numeric_version>_<os>_<arch>.tar.gz

Docker Installation

1. Verify Docker is installed by running docker --version
2. Fetch the latest release tag from GitHub (same as above)
3. Pull the image using the numeric version (without v prefix):

docker pull otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:<numeric_version>

Example: For GitHub tag v0.145.0, use docker pull otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:0.145.0.

The docker run command comes later in Step 6 after the config is created.

Step 3: Configure Sentry Project Creation

Ask the user whether to enable automatic Sentry project creation. Do not recommend either option:

• Yes: Projects created from service.name. Requires at least one team in your Sentry org. All new projects are assigned to the first team found. Initial data may be dropped during creation.
• No: Projects must exist in Sentry before telemetry arrives.

Wait for the user’s answer before proceeding to Step 4.

If user chooses Yes: Warn them that the exporter will scan all projects and use the first team it finds. All auto-created projects will be assigned to that team. If they don’t have any teams yet, they should create one in Sentry first.

Step 4: Write Collector Config

Use the decision from Step 1 - if the user chose to modify an existing config, edit that file. If they chose to create a separate config, create a new file. Record the config file path for use in Steps 5 and 6.

Fetch the latest configuration from the Sentry Exporter documentation:

• Example config (use as template): https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/main/exporter/sentryexporter/docs/example-config.yaml
• Full spec (all available options): https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/main/exporter/sentryexporter/docs/spec.md

Use WebFetch to retrieve the example config as a starting template. Reference the spec if the user needs advanced options not shown in the example.

If editing an existing config (per Step 1 decision)

Add the sentry exporter to the exporters: section and include it in the appropriate pipelines (traces, logs). Do not remove or modify other exporters unless the user requests it.

If creating a new config (per Step 1 decision)

Create collector-config.yaml based on the fetched example. Ensure credentials use environment variable references (${env:SENTRY_ORG_SLUG}, ${env:SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN}).

If user chose auto-create in Step 3, add auto_create_projects: true to the sentry exporter.

Add Debug Exporter (Recommended)

For troubleshooting during setup, add a debug exporter with verbosity: detailed to the pipelines. This logs all telemetry to console. Remove it once setup is verified.

Step 5: Add Environment Variable Placeholders

The Sentry Exporter requires two environment variables. You will add placeholder values that the user fills in themselves—never actual credentials.

Language constraint: NEVER say “add credentials”, “add environment variables”, or “add the token” without explicitly stating these are placeholders. Always clarify the user fills them in later.

DO NOT say:

• “Let me add the environment variables”
• “I’ll add the credentials to your .env”
• “Adding the Sentry auth token”

SAY INSTEAD:

• “I’ll add placeholder environment variables for you to fill in”
• “Adding placeholder values—you’ll replace these with your actual credentials”
• “I’ll set up the env var keys with placeholder values”

Search for existing .env files in the project using glob **/.env. Always ask the user which file to use—do not infer from context or guess based on open files.

Present the discovered options:

• [path to discovered .env file]: Add to existing file (list each discovered path)
• Create new at root: Create .env in project root

Wait for the user’s explicit selection. Do not proceed until they choose. Record the env file path for use in Steps 5 (validation) and 6 (running).

Add these placeholder values to the chosen file: