tracekit-nextjs-sdk

Sets up TraceKit APM in Next.js applications with multi-runtime support, error boundaries, and distributed tracing. Covers both App Router and Pages Router architectures.

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Install skill "tracekit-nextjs-sdk" with this command: npx skills add tracekit-dev/tracekit-for-ai/tracekit-dev-tracekit-for-ai-tracekit-nextjs-sdk

TraceKit Next.js SDK Setup

When To Use

Use this skill when the user asks to:

  • Add TraceKit to a Next.js application
  • Add observability, error tracking, or APM to a Next.js project
  • Instrument a Next.js app with distributed tracing
  • Set up error monitoring in a Next.js app (App Router or Pages Router)
  • Configure server-side and client-side error capture in Next.js
  • Debug production Next.js applications with live breakpoints

If the user has a vanilla JavaScript/TypeScript project without Next.js, use the tracekit-browser-sdk skill instead. If the user has a plain React SPA (no Next.js), use the tracekit-react-sdk skill instead.

Non-Negotiable Rules

  1. Never hardcode API keys in code. Use NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY for client-side and TRACEKIT_API_KEY for server-side via .env.local.
  2. Always include a verification step confirming errors appear in https://app.tracekit.dev.
  3. Always enable code monitoring (enableCodeMonitoring: true) -- it is TraceKit's differentiator.
  4. Always initialize TraceKit before app bootstrap -- use Next.js instrumentation files for both client and server init.

Detection

Before applying this skill, detect the project type:

  1. Check package.json for next in dependencies -- confirms this is a Next.js project.
  2. Detect router architecture by directory structure:
    • app/ directory exists => App Router (Next.js 13+)
    • pages/ directory exists => Pages Router
    • Both may exist (hybrid) -- cover both patterns
  3. Only ask the user if neither app/ nor pages/ directory is found.

Step 1: Environment Setup

Set API keys in .env.local (Next.js convention -- never committed to git):

# .env.local
NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY=ctxio_your_api_key_here
TRACEKIT_API_KEY=ctxio_your_server_api_key_here
APP_VERSION=1.0.0
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION=1.0.0
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix makes the variable available to client-side code (browser bundle).
  • Without the prefix, the variable is only available server-side.
  • Use the same key for both, or separate keys for client vs server if your security model requires it.

Where to get your API key:

  1. Log in to TraceKit
  2. Go to API Keys page
  3. Generate a new key (starts with ctxio_)

Step 2: Install SDK

npm install @tracekit/nextjs

Or with Yarn:

yarn add @tracekit/nextjs

This installs the TraceKit Next.js wrapper with multi-runtime support (client + server), error boundary components, navigation breadcrumbs, and source map upload tooling.

Step 3: Server-Side Init

Create instrumentation.ts at the project root. Next.js calls the register() function during server startup.

// instrumentation.ts
import { initServer, captureRequestError } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

export function register() {
  initServer({
    apiKey: process.env.TRACEKIT_API_KEY!,
    release: process.env.APP_VERSION,
    environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
    apiEndpoint: 'https://app.tracekit.dev',
    enableCodeMonitoring: true,
  });
}

// Capture server-side request errors (App Router + Pages Router)
export const onRequestError = captureRequestError;

captureRequestError matches the Next.js onRequestError signature. It receives error context including routerKind ("App Router" or "Pages Router"), routePath, and routeType ("page", "route", or "middleware"). Errors are sent to TraceKit via HTTP POST (fire-and-forget, never throws).

Step 4: Client-Side Init

Create instrumentation-client.ts at the project root. Next.js loads this file in the browser.

// instrumentation-client.ts
import { initClient, onRouterTransitionStart } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

initClient({
  apiKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY!,
  release: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION,
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
  endpoint: 'https://app.tracekit.dev/v1/traces',
  enableCodeMonitoring: true,
  tracePropagationTargets: [
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL || 'https://api.example.com',
  ],
});

// Next.js 15.3+ navigation breadcrumbs
export { onRouterTransitionStart };

initClient() initializes the @tracekit/browser SDK for client-side error capture, breadcrumbs, and distributed tracing.

onRouterTransitionStart is a Next.js 15.3+ hook that captures client-side route transitions as breadcrumbs with from/to URLs and navigation type (push, replace, traverse).

Step 5: Error Boundary

App Router

Create app/global-error.tsx to capture errors in the root layout:

// app/global-error.tsx
export { GlobalError as default } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

Or customize the error UI:

// app/global-error.tsx
'use client';

import { useEffect } from 'react';
import { captureException } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

export default function GlobalError({
  error,
  reset,
}: {
  error: Error & { digest?: string };
  reset: () => void;
}) {
  useEffect(() => {
    captureException(error);
  }, [error]);

  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <h2>Something went wrong!</h2>
        <button onClick={reset}>Try again</button>
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

For per-route error boundaries, create error.tsx files in route directories:

// app/dashboard/error.tsx
'use client';

import { useEffect } from 'react';
import { captureException } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

export default function DashboardError({
  error,
  reset,
}: {
  error: Error & { digest?: string };
  reset: () => void;
}) {
  useEffect(() => {
    captureException(error);
  }, [error]);

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Dashboard error</h2>
      <button onClick={reset}>Retry</button>
    </div>
  );
}

Pages Router

Wrap your custom error page with withTraceKitErrorPage:

// pages/_error.tsx
import { withTraceKitErrorPage } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

function CustomErrorPage({ statusCode }: { statusCode?: number }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{statusCode ? statusCode + ' - Server Error' : 'Client Error'}</h1>
      <p>An unexpected error occurred.</p>
    </div>
  );
}

CustomErrorPage.getInitialProps = ({ res, err }: any) => {
  const statusCode = res ? res.statusCode : err ? err.statusCode : 404;
  return { statusCode, err };
};

export default withTraceKitErrorPage(CustomErrorPage);

Step 6: Custom Error Capture and Performance Spans

Client-side (client components, event handlers):

import { captureException, setUser } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

// Capture errors manually
try {
  await riskyOperation();
} catch (err) {
  captureException(err as Error, { context: 'checkout' });
}

// Set user context after authentication
setUser({ id: user.id, email: user.email });

Server-side (API routes, server components) -- use captureRequestError for automatic capture, or import from Node SDK for manual spans in API routes:

// app/api/orders/route.ts
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  try {
    const body = await request.json();
    const order = await processOrder(body);
    return NextResponse.json(order);
  } catch (err) {
    // Server errors are automatically captured via captureRequestError
    return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Failed' }, { status: 500 });
  }
}

Re-exported functions available from @tracekit/nextjs (client-side only):

import {
  captureException,
  captureMessage,
  setUser,
  setTag,
  setExtra,
  addBreadcrumb,
  getClient,
} from '@tracekit/nextjs';

These re-exports are client-side functions from @tracekit/browser. Do not use them in server-side code (API routes, server components). For server-side error capture, use captureRequestError.

Step 7: Distributed Tracing

Client-side distributed tracing is configured via tracePropagationTargets in the initClient() call (Step 4). The SDK automatically adds trace headers (tracekit-trace-id, baggage) to outgoing fetch requests matching the targets.

// instrumentation-client.ts
initClient({
  apiKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY!,
  endpoint: 'https://app.tracekit.dev/v1/traces',
  enableCodeMonitoring: true,
  tracePropagationTargets: [
    'https://api.example.com',
    /^\/api\//,  // Same-origin API routes
  ],
});

Server-side API routes are automatically traced via captureRequestError with route context (routerKind, routePath, routeType).

Step 8: Session Replay (Optional)

Enable session replay in the client-side init (browser only):

// instrumentation-client.ts
initClient({
  apiKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY!,
  endpoint: 'https://app.tracekit.dev/v1/traces',
  enableCodeMonitoring: true,
  replay: {
    enabled: true,
    sampleRate: 0.1,
    errorSampleRate: 1.0,
    maskAllText: true,
    blockAllMedia: false,
  },
});

Session replay captures DOM mutations, network requests, and console logs in the browser. It does not affect server-side rendering.

Step 9: Source Maps (Optional)

Add the TraceKit webpack plugin to next.config.js for automatic source map upload during builds:

// next.config.js
const { withTraceKit } = require('@tracekit/nextjs/webpack-plugin');

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  // Your existing config
};

module.exports = withTraceKit(nextConfig, {
  apiKey: process.env.TRACEKIT_API_KEY,
  release: process.env.APP_VERSION || '1.0.0',
  // Source maps are uploaded during build, not at runtime
});

Or upload manually after building:

tracekit sourcemaps upload \
  --api-key $TRACEKIT_API_KEY \
  --release 1.0.0 \
  --dist .next/static

Step 10: Verification

After integrating, verify both client-side and server-side errors are captured:

  1. Client-side: Add a button that throws an error in a client component:

    'use client';
export default function TestPage() {
  return <button onClick={() => { throw new Error('TraceKit Next.js client test'); }}>Test Error</button>;
}

  2. Server-side: Create an API route that throws:

    // app/api/test-error/route.ts
export async function GET() {
  throw new Error('TraceKit Next.js server test');
}

  3. Open https://app.tracekit.dev.

  4. Confirm both errors appear within 30-60 seconds -- client errors show browser context, server errors show route context.

Complete Working Example (App Router)

All files needed for a full Next.js App Router setup:

# .env.local
NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY=ctxio_your_api_key_here
TRACEKIT_API_KEY=ctxio_your_server_api_key_here
APP_VERSION=1.0.0
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION=1.0.0

// instrumentation-client.ts
import { initClient, onRouterTransitionStart } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

initClient({
  apiKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY!,
  release: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_VERSION,
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
  endpoint: 'https://app.tracekit.dev/v1/traces',
  enableCodeMonitoring: true,
  tracePropagationTargets: [
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL || 'https://api.example.com',
  ],
  replay: {
    enabled: true,
    sampleRate: 0.1,
    errorSampleRate: 1.0,
  },
});

export { onRouterTransitionStart };

// instrumentation.ts
import { initServer, captureRequestError } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

export function register() {
  initServer({
    apiKey: process.env.TRACEKIT_API_KEY!,
    release: process.env.APP_VERSION,
    environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
    enableCodeMonitoring: true,
  });
}

export const onRequestError = captureRequestError;

// app/global-error.tsx
export { GlobalError as default } from '@tracekit/nextjs';

// app/layout.tsx
export default function RootLayout({
  children,
}: {
  children: React.ReactNode;
}) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  );
}

Troubleshooting

Server errors not appearing

  • Check instrumentation.ts: Ensure register() calls initServer() and onRequestError is exported at the top level.
  • Check TRACEKIT_API_KEY is set in .env.local (without NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix for server-side).
  • Check outbound access: Server must reach https://app.tracekit.dev. Test with: curl -X POST https://app.tracekit.dev/v1/traces (expect 401).

Client errors not appearing

  • Check instrumentation-client.ts: Ensure initClient() is called with NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACEKIT_API_KEY.
  • Check browser console for initialization errors or network failures to the TraceKit endpoint.

Server vs client init confusion

  • Server: instrumentation.ts with initServer() -- runs in Node.js/Edge runtime
  • Client: instrumentation-client.ts with initClient() -- runs in the browser
  • Do not import server functions in client code or vice versa.

Edge runtime compatibility

  • captureRequestError uses fetch() internally, which is available in both Node.js and Edge runtimes.
  • initServer() stores config in a module-scoped variable -- safe for both runtimes.

Hydration errors

  • TraceKit captures React recoverable hydration errors automatically via onRecoverableError in the client-side init.
  • These appear as "handled" errors with mechanism react.onRecoverableError.

Navigation breadcrumbs not appearing

  • onRouterTransitionStart requires Next.js 15.3+. On older versions, breadcrumbs are captured via the base @tracekit/browser navigation integration.
  • Ensure onRouterTransitionStart is re-exported from instrumentation-client.ts.

Next Steps

Once your Next.js app is traced, consider:

  • Browser SDK -- For non-Next.js pages, use the tracekit-browser-sdk skill
  • React SDK -- For plain React SPAs, use the tracekit-react-sdk skill
  • Session Replay -- Record and replay user sessions with linked traces
  • Source Maps -- Upload source maps for readable production stack traces
  • Backend SDKs -- Connect frontend traces to backend services for full distributed tracing

References

  • Next.js SDK docs: https://app.tracekit.dev/docs/frontend/frameworks/nextjs
  • Browser SDK docs: https://app.tracekit.dev/docs/frontend/browser-sdk
  • TraceKit docs root: https://app.tracekit.dev/docs
  • Dashboard: https://app.tracekit.dev

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