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Install

pip install openinference-instrumentation-openai openai

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Setup

Add your OrcaRouter API key as an environment variable: 
export ORCAROUTER_API_KEY='your_orcarouter_api_key'
Use the register function to connect your application to Phoenix: 
from phoenix.otel import register

# configure the Phoenix tracer
tracer_provider = register(
  project_name="my-llm-app", # Default is 'default'
  auto_instrument=True # Auto-instrument your app based on installed dependencies
)

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Run OrcaRouter

import os
import openai

client = openai.OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1",
    api_key=os.environ["ORCAROUTER_API_KEY"]
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="orcarouter/auto",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Write a haiku about observability."}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
orcarouter/auto selects an upstream provider per request. You can also target a specific provider model using <provider>/<model> format (e.g. openai/gpt-4.1-mini, anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5). To test without a funded account, use a free model such as deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-free.

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Observe

Now that you have tracing set up, all invocations of the OpenAI client pointed at OrcaRouter will be streamed to your running Phoenix for observability and evaluation.

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What Gets Traced

All OrcaRouter model calls are automatically traced and include:
  • Request/response data and timing
  • Model name — the resolved upstream model name (e.g. deepseek-v4-flash-202505), not the virtual orcarouter/auto identifier
  • Token usage and cost data
  • Error handling and debugging information

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Common Issues

  • API Key: Use your OrcaRouter API key (sk-orca-...), not an OpenAI key
  • Model Names: Use orcarouter/auto for adaptive routing, or <provider>/<model> for a specific upstream. See OrcaRouter’s documentation for available models
  • Insufficient balance: orcarouter/auto routes to paid upstream models and requires a funded OrcaRouter wallet. Use deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-free to test without balance
  • Base URL: Ensure you’re using https://api.orcarouter.ai/v1 as the base URL

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Resources

OrcaRouter Documentation

OpenInference OpenAI Instrumentation