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name: frontmcp-observability description: 'Use when adding tracing, structured logging, metrics, or monitoring to a FrontMCP server. Covers zero-config OpenTelemetry distributed tracing across all flows; the this.telemetry API for custom spans, events, and attributes in tools, plugins, agents, and skills; structured JSON logging with trace correlation and configurable sinks (Winston, Pino, stdout); the off-by-default /metrics endpoint (process and framework metrics, Prometheus-compatible); vendor integrations (Coralogix, Datadog, Logz.io, Grafana Cloud, or any OTLP backend); and testing spans, log correlation, and instrumentation. Triggers: observability, telemetry, tracing, logging, monitoring, OpenTelemetry, OTel, spans, metrics, Prometheus, Datadog, Coralogix, Logz.io, Grafana, Winston, Pino.' tags: [router, observability, telemetry, tracing, logging, monitoring, opentelemetry, otel, spans] category: observability targets: [all] bundle: [recommended, full] priority: 10 visibility: both license: Apache-2.0 metadata: docs: https://frontmcp.dev/reference/server/observability

FrontMCP Observability

Router for adding observability to FrontMCP servers. Covers distributed tracing (OpenTelemetry), structured JSON logging, per-request log collection, the this.telemetry developer API, and vendor integrations.

When to Use This Skill

Must Use

• Adding tracing, logging, or monitoring to a FrontMCP server
• Connecting Coralogix, Datadog, Logz.io, Grafana, or any OTLP backend
• Using this.telemetry to create custom spans in tools, plugins, or agents
• Setting up structured logging with winston, pino, or NDJSON stdout
• Testing that spans and log entries are created correctly

Recommended

• Before going to production (see also frontmcp-production-readiness)
• When debugging request latency or error rates
• When building plugins that need trace context propagation

Skip When

• Building a prototype that doesn't need observability yet
• Configuring auth, transport, or throttle (see frontmcp-config)
• Setting up the project from scratch (see frontmcp-setup)

Decision: Use this skill when you need to observe, trace, or log your server. Start with tracing-setup for auto-instrumentation, add structured-logging for production logs, and use telemetry-api for custom spans in your code.

Prerequisites

• A working FrontMCP server (see frontmcp-setup)
• npm install @frontmcp/observability

Step 1: Choose What You Need

I want to...	Reference
Enable auto-tracing for all flows	references/tracing-setup.md
Add structured JSON logging with trace correlation	references/structured-logging.md
Create custom spans in tools/plugins	references/telemetry-api.md
Connect Coralogix, Datadog, Logz.io, Grafana	references/vendor-integrations.md
Test that spans and logs are correct	references/testing-observability.md
Expose Prometheus /metrics endpoint	references/metrics-endpoint.md

Step 2: Enable Observability

The simplest way — one config line:

@FrontMcp({
  observability: true,
})

This enables auto-tracing for all SDK flows. Add structured logging:

@FrontMcp({
  observability: {
    tracing: true,
    logging: { sinks: [{ type: 'stdout' }] },
    requestLogs: true,
  },
})

Step 3: Read the Relevant Reference

Follow the scenario routing table above to find the right reference for your use case.

Scenario Routing Table

Scenario	Reference	Description
Enable OpenTelemetry tracing	references/tracing-setup.md	Zero-config auto-instrumentation, setupOTel(), span hierarchy
Add JSON logs with trace correlation	references/structured-logging.md	Sinks (stdout, console, OTLP, winston, pino), redaction, log format
Custom spans in tools/plugins	references/telemetry-api.md	this.telemetry.startSpan(), withSpan(), addEvent(), setAttributes()
Connect to monitoring platforms	references/vendor-integrations.md	Coralogix, Datadog, Logz.io, Grafana — OTLP and direct
Test spans and log entries	references/testing-observability.md	createTestTracer(), assertSpanExists(), integration test patterns
Expose Prometheus /metrics endpoint	references/metrics-endpoint.md	Off-by-default Prometheus scrape endpoint with process + framework counters

Common Patterns

Pattern	Correct	Incorrect	Why
Enable observability	observability: true in @FrontMcp config	Import and install ObservabilityPlugin manually	Config-driven is the standard pattern since v1.0
Custom spans	this.telemetry.withSpan('op', fn)	trace.getTracer().startSpan() directly	this.telemetry auto-inherits trace context
Log correlation	this.logger.info('msg', { key: val })	console.log('msg')	SDK logger flows through StructuredLogTransport with trace_id
Session ID	Use mcp.session.id attribute (hashed)	Log the real session ID	Privacy: the hash is sufficient for correlation
Vendor integration	Use { type: 'otlp', endpoint } sink	Build vendor-specific HTTP clients	OTLP is the universal standard

Quick Reference: What Gets Traced

Category	Flows	Attributes
HTTP requests	traceRequest, auth, route, finalize	http.request.method, url.path
Tool calls	parseInput → findTool → execute → finalize	mcp.component.type=tool, enduser.id
Resource reads	parseInput → findResource → execute	mcp.component.type=resource, mcp.resource.uri
Prompts	parseInput → findPrompt → execute	mcp.component.type=prompt
Agents	parseInput → findAgent → execute (nested tool calls)	mcp.component.type=agent
Auth	verify, session verify, OAuth flows	frontmcp.auth.mode, frontmcp.auth.result
Transport	SSE, Streamable HTTP, Stateless HTTP	frontmcp.transport.type
Skills	search, load, HTTP endpoints	frontmcp.flow.name

Verification Checklist

Configuration

• @frontmcp/observability installed
• observability field added to @FrontMcp config
• TracerProvider configured (via setupOTel() or external SDK); the startup warning about a missing provider appears only when none is registered
• Logging sinks configured for production (stdout or OTLP)

Runtime

• Spans appear in trace backend when calling a tool
• Log entries include trace_id and span_id
• this.telemetry is available in tool execution contexts, and @frontmcp/observability is imported so it type-checks
• Session tracing ID is consistent across all spans in a request
• Errors are recorded on spans with ERROR status

Testing

• Tests verify span creation with createTestTracer()
• Tests verify log entries via CallbackSink
• No test isolation issues (each test resets exporter)

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Solution
this.telemetry is undefined in a tool	observability not enabled on the parent @FrontMcp config	Set observability: true (or a config object) in the @FrontMcp decorator; see tracing-setup
Property 'telemetry' does not exist (TS2339)	@frontmcp/observability is not part of the compilation	Add import type {} from '@frontmcp/observability' where you use it (or once in the server entry); see telemetry-api
Spans appear without trace_id in logs	Logger not connected to StructuredLogTransport	Use this.logger, not console; see structured-logging
OTLP exporter silently drops spans	Endpoint URL points at the UI, not the OTLP collector	Use the OTLP HTTP/gRPC ingest endpoint exposed by your vendor (Datadog, Coralogix, Logz, etc.); see vendor-integrations
Real session ID appears in span attributes	A custom span attribute writes session.id directly	Use the SDK-provided mcp.session.id (already hashed); never log the raw session token
Tests randomly fail with leftover spans	Exporter retained between tests	Reset the in-memory exporter in afterEach; see testing-observability
OTel auto-instrumentation double-traces requests	Both setupOTel() AND a vendor agent attached to the process	Pick one: either FrontMCP-managed OTel OR the vendor agent — not both

Examples

Each reference has matching examples under examples/<reference>/:

tracing-setup

Example	Level	Description
basic-tracing	Basic	Enable auto-tracing and see spans printed to your terminal.
production-tracing	Intermediate	Full production observability — traces to OTLP, structured logs to stdout, per-request log collection.

structured-logging

Example	Level	Description
stdout-logging	Basic	Enable NDJSON structured logging to stdout with automatic trace correlation and field redaction.
winston-integration	Intermediate	Forward FrontMCP structured log entries to your existing winston logger. Each entry includes trace_id and span_id as metadata.

telemetry-api

Example	Level	Description
tool-custom-spans	Basic	Create child spans, events, and attributes inside a tool's execute method using this.telemetry.
plugin-telemetry	Intermediate	Add telemetry events from a custom plugin's hooks. Events appear on the tool execution span, giving you visibility into plugin behavior within the trace.
agent-nested-tracing	Advanced	Trace an agent's execution lifecycle including its nested tool calls. Every span shares the same trace ID.

vendor-integrations

Example	Level	Description
coralogix-setup	Intermediate	Send both traces and structured logs to Coralogix. Logs include trace_id so Coralogix links them to traces automatically.

testing-observability

Example	Level	Description
test-custom-spans	Basic	Verify that your tool creates the expected child spans with correct attributes.
test-log-correlation	Intermediate	Verify that structured log entries include trace context fields for correlation with spans.

metrics-endpoint

Example	Level	Description
enable-metrics-endpoint	Basic	Turn on the /metrics endpoint with defaults and scrape it with curl.

Accessing This Skill

Skills are distributed as plain SKILL.md files plus a sibling references/ and examples/ tree, so consumers can pick whichever access mode fits:

Mode	How it works
Filesystem	Read libs/skills/catalog/frontmcp-observability/ directly from a clone of the catalog repo, or from a published @frontmcp/skills install. SKILL.md is the entry point.
frontmcp CLI	frontmcp skills list, frontmcp skills read frontmcp-observability, frontmcp skills read frontmcp-observability:references/<file>.md, frontmcp skills install frontmcp-observability — no server required.
MCP skill://	When a developer mounts this skill into their own FrontMCP server (@FrontMcp({ skills: [...] })), the SDK exposes it via SEP-2640 resources: skill://frontmcp-observability/SKILL.md, skill://frontmcp-observability/references/{file}.md, etc. The server’s skill://index.json returns the SEP-2640 discovery document for everything mounted on it.

The catalog itself is not an MCP server. The skill:// URIs only resolve when a server has been configured to host this skill.

Reference

• Observability Guide
• Telemetry API Reference
• Related skills: frontmcp-production-readiness, frontmcp-config, frontmcp-testing, frontmcp-development