openinference-instrumentation-openai
OpenInference OpenAI Instrumentation
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. This is a lightweight, actively maintained instrumentation library with no known vulnerabilities, permissive licensing, and low install friction. Install it if you use OpenAI's Python SDK and want to observe LLM calls via OpenTelemetry—it requires minimal setup and integrates cleanly with existing observability stacks.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable to authenticate with OpenAI API; an OpenTelemetry collector must be running at the configured endpoint to receive traces.
- Low friction installation with a pure Python wheel.
- Active maintenance—released 7 days ago with a stable codebase (1147 GitHub stars).
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 (permissive) — Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-08-07 (7 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 1,147 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 2,199,804 downloads/mo, #3,214 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
from openinference.instrumentation.openai import OpenAIInstrumentor
from opentelemetry.sdk import trace as trace_sdk
from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.http.trace_exporter import OTLPSpanExporter
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import SimpleSpanProcessor
tracer_provider = trace_sdk.TracerProvider()
tracer_provider.add_span_processor(SimpleSpanProcessor(OTLPSpanExporter("http://127.0.0.1:6006/v1/traces")))
OpenAIInstrumentor().instrument(tracer_provider=tracer_provider)- Whether instrumentation overhead is negligible for high-throughput production workloads.
- Compatibility with OpenAI SDK versions prior to 1.26 for non-streaming use cases.
- Support for async OpenAI client methods beyond the synchronous example shown.
What it is and what it does
This package wraps OpenAI Python SDK calls with OpenTelemetry instrumentation, capturing detailed traces of each API interaction without requiring code changes to your OpenAI calls. The traces are emitted in OpenTelemetry format and can be sent to any compatible collector for visualization and analysis.
It works by installing an OpenAIInstrumentor that hooks into the SDK at runtime. You configure a tracer provider with span processors and call instrument() once; thereafter, all OpenAI client calls automatically generate spans. The package depends on opentelemetry-api, opentelemetry-instrumentation, and openinference-semantic-conventions to standardize span attributes.
Use it for
- Debug LLM application behavior by viewing detailed traces of each OpenAI API call.
- Monitor token usage and latency across production OpenAI calls for cost and performance analysis.
- Correlate OpenAI calls with upstream application logic using OpenTelemetry's distributed tracing context.
- Audit and log all LLM interactions for compliance or troubleshooting without modifying application code.
- Integrate LLM observability into existing OpenTelemetry infrastructure.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
This is a lightweight, actively maintained instrumentation library with no known vulnerabilities, permissive licensing, and low install friction. Install it if you use OpenAI's Python SDK and want to observe LLM calls via OpenTelemetry—it requires minimal setup and integrates cleanly with existing observability stacks.
Install
openinference-instrumentation-openai on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction installation with a pure Python wheel. Active maintenance—released 7 days ago with a stable codebase (1147 GitHub stars). Supports current Python versions (3.10–3.14).
Requires OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable to authenticate with OpenAI API; an OpenTelemetry collector must be running at the configured endpoint to receive traces.
License in practice
Apache-2.0 permissive license allows commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
from openinference.instrumentation.openai import OpenAIInstrumentor
from opentelemetry.sdk import trace as trace_sdk
from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.http.trace_exporter import OTLPSpanExporter
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import SimpleSpanProcessor
tracer_provider = trace_sdk.TracerProvider()
tracer_provider.add_span_processor(SimpleSpanProcessor(OTLPSpanExporter("http://127.0.0.1:6006/v1/traces")))
OpenAIInstrumentor().instrument(tracer_provider=tracer_provider)Verify before relying
- Whether instrumentation overhead is negligible for high-throughput production workloads.
- Compatibility with OpenAI SDK versions prior to 1.26 for non-streaming use cases.
- Support for async OpenAI client methods beyond the synchronous example shown.
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <3.15,>=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 7 packagesopeninference-instrumentationopeninference-semantic-conventionsopentelemetry-apiopentelemetry-instrumentationopentelemetry-semantic-conventionstyping-extensionswrapt |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 7 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 2,199,804 / month, #3,214 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14 |
Evidence: openinference_instrumentation_openai-0.1.54-py3-none-any.whl
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See also langwatch · openinference-instrumentation · openinference-instrumentation-agno · openinference-instrumentation-google-genai · openinference-instrumentation-langchain · openinference-instrumentation-mcp · openinference-instrumentation-openai-agents · openinference-instrumentation-portkey · openinference-instrumentation-claude-agent-sdk · openinference-semantic-conventions