Spring AI Tracing

How to use OpenInference instrumentation with Spring AI and export traces to Arize Phoenix.

Prerequisites

• Java 11 or higher

• (Optional) Phoenix API key if using auth

Add Dependencies

1. Gradle

Add the dependencies to your build.gradle:

dependencies {
	implementation 'org.springframework.ai:spring-ai-starter-model-openai'
	implementation 'io.micrometer:micrometer-tracing-bridge-brave:1.5.1'
	implementation project(path: ':instrumentation:openinference-instrumentation-springAI')

	// OpenTelemetry
	implementation "io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-sdk"
	implementation "io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-otlp"
	implementation "io.opentelemetry:opentelemetry-exporter-logging"

	testImplementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test'
	testRuntimeOnly 'org.junit.platform:junit-platform-launcher'
}

Setup Phoenix

Docker

Pull latest Phoenix image from Docker Hub:

docker pull arizephoenix/phoenix:latest

Run your containerized instance:

docker run -p 6006:6006 -p 4317:4317 arizephoenix/phoenix:latest

This command:

• Exposes port 6006 for the Phoenix web UI

• Exposes port 4317 for the OTLP gRPC endpoint (where traces are sent)

For more info on using Phoenix with Docker, see Docker.

Phoenix Cloud

Sign up for Phoenix:

1. Sign up for an Arize Phoenix account at https://app.phoenix.arize.com/login

2. Click Create Space, then follow the prompts to create and launch your space.

Set your Phoenix endpoint and API Key:

From your new Phoenix Space

1. Create your API key from the Settings page

2. Copy your Hostname from the Settings page

3. Set your endpoint and API key:

export PHOENIX_API_KEY = "your-phoenix-api-key"
export PHOENIX_COLLECTOR_ENDPOINT = "your-phoenix-endpoint"

Having trouble finding your endpoint? Check out Finding your Phoenix Endpoint

If you are using Phoenix Cloud, adjust the endpoint in the code below as needed.

Configuration for Phoenix Tracing

private static void initializeOpenTelemetry() {
        // Create resource with service name
        Resource resource = Resource.getDefault()
                .merge(Resource.create(Attributes.of(
                        AttributeKey.stringKey("service.name"), "spring-ai",
                        AttributeKey.stringKey(SEMRESATTRS_PROJECT_NAME), "spring-ai-project",
                        AttributeKey.stringKey("service.version"), "0.1.0")));

        String apiKey = System.getenv("PHOENIX_API_KEY");
        OtlpGrpcSpanExporterBuilder otlpExporterBuilder = OtlpGrpcSpanExporter.builder()
                .setEndpoint("http://localhost:4317") # adjust as needed
                .setTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(2));
        OtlpGrpcSpanExporter otlpExporter = null;
        if (apiKey != null && !apiKey.isEmpty()) {
            otlpExporter = otlpExporterBuilder
                    .setHeaders(() -> Map.of("Authorization", String.format("Bearer %s", apiKey)))
                    .build();
        } else {
            logger.log(Level.WARNING, "Please set PHOENIX_API_KEY environment variable if auth is enabled.");
            otlpExporter = otlpExporterBuilder.build();
        }

        // Create tracer provider with both OTLP (for Phoenix) and console exporters
        tracerProvider = SdkTracerProvider.builder()
                .addSpanProcessor(BatchSpanProcessor.builder(otlpExporter)
                        .setScheduleDelay(Duration.ofSeconds(1))
                        .build())
                .addSpanProcessor(SimpleSpanProcessor.create(LoggingSpanExporter.create()))
                .setResource(resource)
                .build();

        // Build OpenTelemetry SDK
        OpenTelemetrySdk.builder()
                .setTracerProvider(tracerProvider)
                .setPropagators(ContextPropagators.create(W3CTraceContextPropagator.getInstance()))
                .buildAndRegisterGlobal();

        System.out.println("OpenTelemetry initialized. Traces will be sent to Phoenix at http://localhost:6006");
    }
}

Run Spring AI

By instrumenting your application, spans will be created whenever it is run and will be sent to the Phoenix server for collection.

import com.arize.instrumentation.springAI.SpringAIInstrumentor;
import org.springframework.ai.openai.OpenAiChatModel;

initializeOpenTelemetry();

// 2. Create OITracer + instrumentor
OITracer tracer = new OITracer(tracerProvider.get("com.example.springai"), TraceConfig.getDefault());
ObservationRegistry registry = ObservationRegistry.create();
registry.observationConfig().observationHandler(new SpringAIInstrumentor(tracer));

// 3. Build Spring AI model
String apiKey = System.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY");
OpenAiApi openAiApi = OpenAiApi.builder().apiKey(apiKey).build();
OpenAiChatOptions options = OpenAiChatOptions.builder().model("gpt-4").build();

OpenAiChatModel model = OpenAiChatModel.builder()
    .openAiApi(openAiApi)
    .defaultOptions(options)
    .observationRegistry(registry)
    .build();

// 4. Use it — traces are automatically created
ChatResponse response = model.call(new Prompt("What is the capital of France?"));
System.out.println("Response: " + response.getResult().getOutput().getContent());

Full example: https://github.com/Arize-ai/openinference/blob/main/java/examples/spring-ai-example/src/main/java/com/arize/openinference/examples/SpringAI.java

Observe

Once configured, your OpenInference traces will be automatically sent to Phoenix where you can:

• Monitor Performance: Track latency, throughput, and error rates

• Analyze Usage: View token usage, model performance, and cost metrics

• Debug Issues: Trace request flows and identify bottlenecks

• Evaluate Quality: Run evaluations on your LLM outputs

Resources

• Full Example

• OpenInference package