Monitor a Next.js app with OpenTelemetry

Next.js has OpenTelemetry built in: with an instrumentation.ts file that calls @vercel/otel, every request and every server-side error is exported. Point it at Lampwick with environment variables. The general reference is OpenTelemetry.

Tested with Next.js 16.4 (App Router, next build and next start), @vercel/otel 2.3.0, @opentelemetry/instrumentation-pg 0.76.0 and Node.js 26.9, on 10 November 2026.

Requirements

• Next.js 15 or later (instrumentation.ts needs no config flag from 15 on). We tested 16.4.
• The project's ingest token, from the Connect your app card on the project's Settings page. Only team owners see it.

Let your agent do it

Paste this into your coding agent, in the app's repository:

Add OpenTelemetry to this Next.js app so it reports to Lampwick: follow https://lampwick.dev/docs/nextjs.md exactly (instrumentation.ts with @vercel/otel, the environment variables, PgInstrumentation only if the app uses pg). Read the ingest token from the environment, never commit it.

Install the packages

npm install @vercel/otel @opentelemetry/api @opentelemetry/api-logs @opentelemetry/instrumentation @opentelemetry/sdk-logs

Add instrumentation.ts

Create instrumentation.ts in the project root (next to app/, or in src/ if your app lives there):

import { registerOTel } from '@vercel/otel';

export function register() {
  registerOTel({ serviceName: 'my-app' });
}

Set the environment variables

OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://app.lampwick.dev
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS=x-lampwick-token=YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN
OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=none

YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN is the project's ingest token. On Vercel, add them under Settings → Environment Variables; locally, in .env.local.

Database queries

@vercel/otel instruments fetch only. For pg, add its instrumentation. The current @opentelemetry/instrumentation-pg needs a newer @opentelemetry/api than @vercel/otel 2.3 allows, so install 0.76.0:

npm install @opentelemetry/instrumentation-pg@0.76.0

import { registerOTel } from '@vercel/otel';
import { PgInstrumentation } from '@opentelemetry/instrumentation-pg';

export function register() {
  registerOTel({
    serviceName: 'my-app',
    instrumentations: ['auto', new PgInstrumentation()],
  });
}

The app we tested

A route handler with a query, and a page that throws:

// app/orders/[id]/route.ts
import { Pool } from 'pg';

const db = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });

export async function GET(_req: Request, { params }: { params: Promise<{ id: string }> }) {
  const { id } = await params;
  const { rows } = await db.query('SELECT id, total FROM orders WHERE id = $1', [id]);
  return Response.json(rows[0] ?? null);
}

// app/boom/page.tsx
export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic';

export default async function Boom() {
  throw new Error('Checkout failed for order 42');
}

Check that it works

Run next build and next start, then open /orders/1, /orders/2 and /boom. Within about 5 seconds the project shows:

• Requests: GET /orders/[id] (2) and GET /boom (1, status 500).
• Queries: SELECT id, total FROM orders WHERE id = $1, linked to its request (with PgInstrumentation).
• Issues: Error: Checkout failed for order 42, unhandled, in the /boom request.

Next.js also traces its own startup and module loading. Lampwick leaves those spans out.

What's missing

• Stack traces point into .next/server/chunks/. Next.js bundles server code and Lampwick doesn't apply source maps, so the issue names the chunk file and function names may be minified. The message and the request it happened in are exact.
• Logs aren't sent. console.log isn't captured, and @vercel/otel exports no logs by default. We haven't tested a logging setup with Next.js yet.
• Client-side errors happen in the browser, not on the server. Add the browser errors snippet for those.
• Edge runtime: we tested the Node.js runtime only.

Troubleshooting