MLflow Tracing Instrumentation Guide

Quick Start

1. Install and Configure

Python:

pip install mlflow>=3.8.0

import mlflow

mlflow.set_tracking_uri("http://localhost:5000")
mlflow.set_experiment("my-agent")

TypeScript:

npm install mlflow-tracing

import * as mlflow from "mlflow-tracing";

mlflow.init({
    trackingUri: "http://localhost:5000",
    experimentId: "my-agent",
});

2. Enable Tracing

For supported frameworks (LangChain, LangGraph, OpenAI, etc.):

mlflow.langchain.autolog()  # or openai, anthropic, litellm, etc.

For custom code (Python):

from mlflow.entities import SpanType

@mlflow.trace(span_type=SpanType.CHAIN)
def my_function(query: str) -> str:
    # Your code here
    return result

For custom code (TypeScript):

// Class method decorator (requires TypeScript 5.0+)
class MyAgent {
    @mlflow.trace({ spanType: mlflow.SpanType.CHAIN })
    process(query: string): string {
        return result;
    }
}

// Function wrapper
const myFunction = mlflow.trace(
    (query: string) => { /* Your code */ return result; },
    { name: "my_function", spanType: mlflow.SpanType.CHAIN }
);

That's it. Traces appear in the MLflow UI at your tracking URI.

Instrumentation Methods

Method 1: AutoLogging (Recommended for Frameworks)

Zero-code instrumentation for supported libraries. For the complete list, see the Integrations page in MLflow docs.

import mlflow

# Enable before importing/using the library
mlflow.langchain.autolog()    # LangChain, LangGraph
mlflow.openai.autolog()       # OpenAI SDK
mlflow.anthropic.autolog()    # Anthropic SDK
mlflow.litellm.autolog()      # LiteLLM
mlflow.dspy.autolog()         # DSPy
mlflow.autogen.autolog()      # AutoGen
mlflow.crewai.autolog()       # CrewAI

Method 2: Decorator / Function Wrapper (Recommended)

Prefer decorator/wrapper over manual spans - it auto-captures function name, inputs, and outputs.

Always specify span_type:

Python:

from mlflow.entities import SpanType

@mlflow.trace(span_type=SpanType.RETRIEVER)
def retrieve_documents(query: str) -> list[str]:
    return documents

@mlflow.trace(span_type=SpanType.TOOL)
def search_database(sql: str) -> dict:
    return results

TypeScript:

// Class method decorator (requires TypeScript 5.0+)
class RAGPipeline {
    @mlflow.trace({ spanType: mlflow.SpanType.RETRIEVER })
    retrieveDocuments(query: string): string[] {
        return documents;
    }
}

// Function wrapper (for standalone functions)
const searchDatabase = mlflow.trace(
    (sql: string) => { return results; },
    { name: "search_database", spanType: mlflow.SpanType.TOOL }
);

Span types: LLM, CHAIN, TOOL, AGENT, RETRIEVER, EMBEDDING, RERANKER, PARSER, UNKNOWN

Method 3: Manual Spans (When Decorator Not Possible)

Use only when you can't use a decorator:

• Tracing code not wrapped in a function (e.g., script-level code, loop bodies)
• Dynamic span names computed at runtime (e.g., name=f"process_{item_id}")

Python:

with mlflow.start_span(name=f"process_{item_id}") as span:
    span.set_inputs({"query": query})  # Must set manually
    result = process(query)
    span.set_outputs({"result": result})  # Must set manually

TypeScript:

const result = await mlflow.withSpan(
    { name: `process_${itemId}` },
    async (span) => {
        span.setInputs({ query });
        const result = await process(query);
        span.setOutputs({ result });
        return result;
    }
);

For multi-threading context propagation, see references/advanced-patterns.md.

User/Session Tracking

For multi-turn applications, use standard metadata fields mlflow.trace.user and mlflow.trace.session.

Typical sources for these IDs:

• HTTP headers (e.g., X-User-ID, X-Session-ID)
• JWT tokens / authentication context
• Cookie-based session IDs

Python (FastAPI):

from fastapi import Request
from mlflow.entities import SpanType

@app.post("/chat")
def handle_chat(request: Request, body: ChatRequest):
    user_id = request.headers.get("X-User-ID", "anonymous")
    session_id = request.headers.get("X-Session-ID", "default")
    return chat(body.message, user_id, session_id)

@mlflow.trace(span_type=SpanType.CHAIN)
def chat(message: str, user_id: str, session_id: str) -> str:
    mlflow.update_current_trace(
        metadata={
            "mlflow.trace.user": user_id,
            "mlflow.trace.session": session_id,
        }
    )
    return response

TypeScript (Express):

app.post('/chat', async (req, res) => {
    const userId = req.header('X-User-ID') || 'anonymous';
    const sessionId = req.header('X-Session-ID') || 'default';
    const response = await chat(req.body.message, userId, sessionId);
    res.json({ response });
});

const chat = mlflow.trace(
    async (message: string, userId: string, sessionId: string) => {
        await mlflow.updateCurrentTrace({
            metadata: {
                "mlflow.trace.user": userId,
                "mlflow.trace.session": sessionId,
            },
        });
        return response;
    },
    { name: "chat", spanType: mlflow.SpanType.CHAIN }
);

Query traces by user:

traces = mlflow.search_traces(
    filter_string="metadata.`mlflow.trace.user` = 'user123'"
)

Combining Methods

Mix autologging with custom instrumentation:

import mlflow
from mlflow.entities import SpanType
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI

mlflow.langchain.autolog()

@mlflow.trace(name="rag_pipeline", span_type=SpanType.CHAIN)
def rag_query(question: str) -> str:
    docs = retrieve_documents(question)  # Custom function

    llm = ChatOpenAI()  # Auto-traced by autolog
    response = llm.invoke(format_prompt(docs, question))

    return response.content

Reference Documentation

Production Deployment

See references/production.md for:

• Environment variable configuration
• Async logging for low-latency applications
• Sampling configuration (MLFLOW_TRACE_SAMPLING_RATIO)
• Lightweight SDK (mlflow-tracing)
• Docker/Kubernetes deployment

Advanced Patterns

See references/advanced-patterns.md for:

• Async function tracing
• Multi-threading with context propagation
• PII redaction with span processors
• Feedback collection with mlflow.log_feedback()

Distributed Tracing

See references/distributed-tracing.md for:

• Propagating trace context across services
• Client/server header APIs

Common Issues

Traces not appearing?

1. Verify mlflow.set_tracking_uri() points to correct server
2. Ensure autolog is called before framework imports
3. Check experiment is set with mlflow.set_experiment()

Nested spans not connected?

• Use @mlflow.trace or context managers consistently
• For threading, see references/advanced-patterns.md

Need lower latency?

• Enable async logging in references/production.md