All Skills > SDK Setup > NestJS SDK

Sentry NestJS SDK

Opinionated wizard that scans your NestJS project and guides you through complete Sentry setup.

Invoke This Skill When

• User asks to "add Sentry to NestJS" or "setup Sentry" in a NestJS app
• User wants error monitoring, tracing, profiling, logging, metrics, or crons in NestJS
• User mentions @sentry/nestjs or Sentry + NestJS
• User wants to monitor NestJS controllers, services, guards, microservices, or background jobs

Note: SDK versions and APIs below reflect @sentry/nestjs 10.x (NestJS 8–11 supported). Always verify against docs.sentry.io/platforms/node/guides/nestjs/ before implementing.

Phase 1: Detect

Run these commands to understand the project before making recommendations:

# Confirm NestJS project
grep -E '"@nestjs/core"' package.json 2>/dev/null

# Check NestJS version
node -e "console.log(require('./node_modules/@nestjs/core/package.json').version)" 2>/dev/null

# Check existing Sentry
grep -i sentry package.json 2>/dev/null
ls src/instrument.ts 2>/dev/null
grep -r "Sentry.init\|@sentry" src/main.ts src/instrument.ts 2>/dev/null

# Check for existing Sentry DI wrapper (common in enterprise NestJS)
grep -rE "SENTRY.*TOKEN|SentryProxy|SentryService" src/ libs/ 2>/dev/null

# Check for config-class-based init (vs env-var-based)
grep -rE "class SentryConfig|SentryConfig" src/ libs/ 2>/dev/null

# Check if SentryModule.forRoot() is already registered in a shared module
grep -rE "SentryModule\.forRoot|SentryProxyModule" src/ libs/ 2>/dev/null

# Detect HTTP adapter (default is Express)
grep -E "FastifyAdapter|@nestjs/platform-fastify" package.json src/main.ts 2>/dev/null

# Detect GraphQL
grep -E '"@nestjs/graphql"|"apollo-server"' package.json 2>/dev/null

# Detect microservices
grep '"@nestjs/microservices"' package.json 2>/dev/null

# Detect WebSockets
grep -E '"@nestjs/websockets"|"socket.io"' package.json 2>/dev/null

# Detect task queues / scheduled jobs
grep -E '"@nestjs/bull"|"@nestjs/bullmq"|"@nestjs/schedule"|"bullmq"|"bull"' package.json 2>/dev/null

# Detect databases
grep -E '"@prisma/client"|"typeorm"|"mongoose"|"pg"|"mysql2"' package.json 2>/dev/null

# Detect AI libraries
grep -E '"openai"|"@anthropic-ai"|"langchain"|"@langchain"|"@google/generative-ai"|"ai"' package.json 2>/dev/null

# Check for companion frontend
ls -d ../frontend ../web ../client ../ui 2>/dev/null

What to note:

• Is @sentry/nestjs already installed? If yes, check if instrument.ts exists and Sentry.init() is called — may just need feature config.
• Sentry DI wrapper detected? → The project wraps Sentry behind a DI token (e.g. SENTRY_PROXY_TOKEN) for testability. Use the injected proxy for all runtime Sentry calls (startSpan, captureException, withIsolationScope) instead of importing @sentry/nestjs directly in controllers, services, and processors. Only instrument.ts should import @sentry/nestjs directly.
• Config class detected? → The project uses a typed config class for Sentry.init() options (e.g. loaded from YAML or @nestjs/config). Any new SDK options must be added to the config type — do not hardcode values that should be configurable per environment.
• SentryModule.forRoot() already registered? → If it's in a shared module (e.g. a Sentry proxy module), do not add it again in AppModule — this causes duplicate interceptor registration.
• Express (default) or Fastify adapter? Express is fully supported; Fastify works but has known edge cases.
• GraphQL detected? → SentryGlobalFilter handles it natively.
• Microservices detected? → Recommend RPC exception filter.
• Task queues / @nestjs/schedule? → Recommend crons.
• AI libraries? → Auto-instrumented, zero config.
• Prisma? → Requires manual prismaIntegration().
• Companion frontend? → Triggers Phase 4 cross-link.

Phase 2: Recommend

Based on what you found, present a concrete proposal. Don't ask open-ended questions — lead with a recommendation:

Always recommended (core coverage):

• ✅ Error Monitoring — captures unhandled exceptions across HTTP, GraphQL, RPC, and WebSocket contexts
• ✅ Tracing — auto-instruments middleware, guards, pipes, interceptors, filters, and route handlers

Recommend when detected:

• ✅ Profiling — production apps where CPU performance matters (@sentry/profiling-node)
• ✅ Logging — structured Sentry Logs + optional console capture
• ✅ Crons — @nestjs/schedule, Bull, or BullMQ detected
• ✅ Metrics — business KPIs or SLO tracking
• ✅ AI Monitoring — OpenAI/Anthropic/LangChain/etc. detected (auto-instrumented, zero config)

Recommendation matrix:

Propose: "I recommend Error Monitoring + Tracing + Logging. Want Profiling, Crons, or AI Monitoring too?"

Phase 3: Guide

Install

# Core SDK (always required — includes @sentry/node)
npm install @sentry/nestjs

# With profiling support (optional)
npm install @sentry/nestjs @sentry/profiling-node

⚠️ Do NOT install @sentry/node alongside @sentry/nestjs — @sentry/nestjs re-exports everything from @sentry/node. Installing both causes duplicate registration.

Three-File Setup (Required)

NestJS requires a specific three-file initialization pattern because the Sentry SDK must patch Node.js modules (via OpenTelemetry) before NestJS loads them.

Before creating new files, check Phase 1 results:

• If instrument.ts already exists → modify it, don't create a new one.
• If a config class drives Sentry.init() → read options from the config instead of hardcoding env vars.
• If a Sentry DI wrapper exists → use it for runtime calls instead of importing @sentry/nestjs directly in services/controllers.

Step 1: Create src/instrument.ts

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";
// Optional: add profiling
// import { nodeProfilingIntegration } from "@sentry/profiling-node";

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,
  environment: process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT ?? "production",
  release: process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE,
  sendDefaultPii: true,

  // Tracing — lower to 0.1–0.2 in high-traffic production
  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,

  // Profiling (requires @sentry/profiling-node)
  // integrations: [nodeProfilingIntegration()],
  // profileSessionSampleRate: 1.0,
  // profileLifecycle: "trace",

  // Structured logs (SDK ≥ 9.41.0)
  enableLogs: true,
});

Config-driven Sentry.init(): If Phase 1 found a typed config class (e.g. SentryConfig), read options from it instead of using raw process.env. This is common in NestJS apps that use @nestjs/config or custom config loaders:

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";
import { loadConfiguration } from "./config";

const config = loadConfiguration();

Sentry.init({
  dsn: config.sentry.dsn,
  environment: config.sentry.environment ?? "production",
  release: config.sentry.release,
  sendDefaultPii: config.sentry.sendDefaultPii ?? true,
  tracesSampleRate: config.sentry.tracesSampleRate ?? 1.0,
  profileSessionSampleRate: config.sentry.profilesSampleRate ?? 1.0,
  profileLifecycle: "trace",
  enableLogs: true,
});

When adding new SDK options (e.g. sendDefaultPii, profileSessionSampleRate), add them to the config type so they can be configured per environment.

Step 2: Import instrument.ts FIRST in src/main.ts

// instrument.ts MUST be the very first import — before NestJS or any other module
import "./instrument";

import { NestFactory } from "@nestjs/core";
import { AppModule } from "./app.module";

async function bootstrap() {
  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);

  // Enable graceful shutdown — flushes Sentry events on SIGTERM/SIGINT
  app.enableShutdownHooks();

  await app.listen(3000);
}
bootstrap();

Why first? OpenTelemetry must monkey-patch http, express, database drivers, and other modules before they load. Any module that loads before instrument.ts will not be auto-instrumented.

Step 3: Register SentryModule and SentryGlobalFilter in src/app.module.ts

import { Module } from "@nestjs/common";
import { APP_FILTER } from "@nestjs/core";
import { SentryModule, SentryGlobalFilter } from "@sentry/nestjs/setup";
import { AppController } from "./app.controller";
import { AppService } from "./app.service";

@Module({
  imports: [
    SentryModule.forRoot(), // Registers SentryTracingInterceptor globally
  ],
  controllers: [AppController],
  providers: [
    AppService,
    {
      provide: APP_FILTER,
      useClass: SentryGlobalFilter, // Captures all unhandled exceptions
    },
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

What each piece does:

• SentryModule.forRoot() — registers SentryTracingInterceptor as a global APP_INTERCEPTOR, enabling HTTP transaction naming
• SentryGlobalFilter — extends BaseExceptionFilter; captures exceptions across HTTP, GraphQL (rethrows HttpException without reporting), and RPC contexts

⚠️ Do NOT register SentryModule.forRoot() twice. If Phase 1 found it already imported in a shared library module (e.g. a SentryProxyModule or AnalyticsModule), do not add it again in AppModule. Duplicate registration causes every span to be intercepted twice, bloating trace data.

⚠️ Two entrypoints, different imports:

• @sentry/nestjs → SDK init, capture APIs, decorators (SentryTraced, SentryCron, SentryExceptionCaptured)
• @sentry/nestjs/setup → NestJS DI constructs (SentryModule, SentryGlobalFilter)

Never import SentryModule from @sentry/nestjs (main entrypoint) — it loads @nestjs/common before OpenTelemetry patches it, breaking auto-instrumentation.

ESM Setup (Node ≥ 18.19.0)

For ESM applications, use --import instead of a file import:

// instrument.mjs
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,
  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
});

// package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node --import ./instrument.mjs -r ts-node/register src/main.ts"
  }
}

Or via environment:

NODE_OPTIONS="--import ./instrument.mjs" npm run start

Exception Filter Options

Choose the approach that fits your existing architecture:

Option A: No existing global filter — use SentryGlobalFilter (recommended)

Already covered in Step 3 above. This is the simplest option.

Option B: Existing custom global filter — add @SentryExceptionCaptured() decorator

import { Catch, ExceptionFilter, ArgumentsHost } from "@nestjs/common";
import { SentryExceptionCaptured } from "@sentry/nestjs";

@Catch()
export class YourExistingFilter implements ExceptionFilter {
  @SentryExceptionCaptured() // Wraps catch() to auto-report exceptions
  catch(exception: unknown, host: ArgumentsHost): void {
    // Your existing error handling continues unchanged
  }
}

Option C: Specific exception type — manual capture

import { ArgumentsHost, Catch } from "@nestjs/common";
import { BaseExceptionFilter } from "@nestjs/core";
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";

@Catch(ExampleException)
export class ExampleExceptionFilter extends BaseExceptionFilter {
  catch(exception: ExampleException, host: ArgumentsHost) {
    Sentry.captureException(exception);
    super.catch(exception, host);
  }
}

Option D: Microservice RPC exceptions

import { Catch, RpcExceptionFilter, ArgumentsHost } from "@nestjs/common";
import { Observable, throwError } from "rxjs";
import { RpcException } from "@nestjs/microservices";
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";

@Catch(RpcException)
export class SentryRpcFilter implements RpcExceptionFilter<RpcException> {
  catch(exception: RpcException, host: ArgumentsHost): Observable<any> {
    Sentry.captureException(exception);
    return throwError(() => exception.getError());
  }
}

Decorators

@SentryTraced(op?) — Instrument any method

import { Injectable } from "@nestjs/common";
import { SentryTraced } from "@sentry/nestjs";

@Injectable()
export class OrderService {
  @SentryTraced("order.process")
  async processOrder(orderId: string): Promise<void> {
    // Automatically wrapped in a Sentry span
  }

  @SentryTraced()  // Defaults to op: "function"
  async fetchInventory() { ... }
}

@SentryCron(slug, config?) — Monitor scheduled jobs

import { Injectable } from "@nestjs/common";
import { Cron } from "@nestjs/schedule";
import { SentryCron } from "@sentry/nestjs";

@Injectable()
export class ReportService {
  @Cron("0 * * * *")
  @SentryCron("hourly-report", {
    // @SentryCron must come AFTER @Cron
    schedule: { type: "crontab", value: "0 * * * *" },
    checkinMargin: 2, // Minutes before marking missed
    maxRuntime: 10, // Max runtime in minutes
    timezone: "UTC",
  })
  async generateReport() {
    // Check-in sent automatically on start/success/failure
  }
}

Background Job Scope Isolation

Background jobs share the default isolation scope — wrap with Sentry.withIsolationScope() to prevent cross-contamination:

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";
import { Injectable } from "@nestjs/common";
import { Cron, CronExpression } from "@nestjs/schedule";

@Injectable()
export class JobService {
  @Cron(CronExpression.EVERY_HOUR)
  handleCron() {
    Sentry.withIsolationScope(() => {
      Sentry.setTag("job", "hourly-sync");
      this.doWork();
    });
  }
}

Apply withIsolationScope to: @Cron(), @Interval(), @OnEvent(), @Processor(), and any code outside the request lifecycle.

Working with Sentry DI Wrappers

Some NestJS projects wrap Sentry behind a dependency injection token (e.g. SENTRY_PROXY_TOKEN) for testability and decoupling. If Phase 1 detected this pattern, use the injected service for all runtime Sentry calls — do not import @sentry/nestjs directly in controllers, services, or processors.

import { Controller, Inject } from "@nestjs/common";
import { SENTRY_PROXY_TOKEN, type SentryProxyService } from "./sentry-proxy";

@Controller("orders")
export class OrderController {
  constructor(
    @Inject(SENTRY_PROXY_TOKEN) private readonly sentry: SentryProxyService,
    private readonly orderService: OrderService,
  ) {}

  @Post()
  async createOrder(@Body() dto: CreateOrderDto) {
    return this.sentry.startSpan(
      { name: "createOrder", op: "http" },
      async () => this.orderService.create(dto),
    );
  }
}

Where direct @sentry/nestjs import is still correct:

• instrument.ts — always uses import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs" for Sentry.init()
• Standalone scripts and exception filters that run outside the DI container

Verification

Add a test endpoint to confirm events reach Sentry:

import { Controller, Get } from "@nestjs/common";
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";

@Controller()
export class DebugController {
  @Get("/debug-sentry")
  triggerError() {
    throw new Error("My first Sentry error from NestJS!");
  }

  @Get("/debug-sentry-span")
  triggerSpan() {
    return Sentry.startSpan({ op: "test", name: "NestJS Test Span" }, () => {
      return { status: "span created" };
    });
  }
}

Hit GET /debug-sentry and check the Sentry Issues dashboard within seconds.

For Each Agreed Feature

Walk through features one at a time. Load the reference, follow its steps, verify before moving on:

For each feature: Read ${SKILL_ROOT}/references/<feature>.md, follow steps exactly, verify it works.

Configuration Reference

Key Sentry.init() Options

Environment Variables

Auto-Enabled Integrations

These integrations activate automatically when their packages are detected — no integrations: [...] needed:

Integrations Requiring Manual Setup

Verification

Test that Sentry is receiving events:

// Add a test endpoint (remove before production)
@Get("/debug-sentry")
getError() {
  throw new Error("My first Sentry error!");
}

Or send a test message without crashing:

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nestjs";
Sentry.captureMessage("NestJS Sentry SDK test");

If nothing appears:

1. Set debug: true in Sentry.init() — prints SDK internals to stdout
2. Verify SENTRY_DSN env var is set in the running process
3. Check that import "./instrument" is the first line in main.ts
4. Confirm SentryModule.forRoot() is imported in AppModule
5. Check DSN format: https://<key>@o<org>.ingest.sentry.io/<project>

Phase 4: Cross-Link

After completing NestJS setup, check for a companion frontend missing Sentry:

ls -d ../frontend ../web ../client ../ui 2>/dev/null
cat ../frontend/package.json ../web/package.json 2>/dev/null \
  | grep -E '"react"|"svelte"|"vue"|"next"|"nuxt"'

If a frontend exists without Sentry, suggest the matching skill:

Troubleshooting

Version Requirements