| name | sentry-selfhosted |
| description | | Use when this capability is needed. |
Sentry Self-Hosted
Deep Knowledge: Use mcp__documentation__fetch_docs with technology: sentry.
Why Self-Host
For wallet apps (BHODL-style) and any privacy-respecting product, sending crash data to a third party is a non-starter:
- Crash payloads can contain user data, addresses, balances
- SaaS retention policies vary; hard to audit
- Regulated environments (HIPAA, finance) often disallow third-party telemetry
- Users distrust apps that phone home
Self-hosted Sentry:
- Full control over retention, access, encryption
- Can run on private network or Tor onion
- Open source (under BSL → Apache 2 after 4 years)
- Same SDKs as cloud Sentry
- Opt-in only for sensitive apps — never on by default
For BHODL: Sentry is the right choice if crash reporting is enabled by user opt-in, telemetry routes via Tor, and PII is scrubbed.
Alternatives
| Tool | Comparison |
|---|
| GlitchTip | Lightweight Sentry-API-compatible alternative, MIT licensed, simpler ops. Uses same SDKs. Best for small/medium apps. |
| Bugsnag self-hosted | Closed source after acquisition; not recommended |
| Custom backend | Receive raw events, store in DB. Lots of work. |
| Cloud Sentry | Easy setup, SaaS — wrong for privacy-respecting apps |
For BHODL-scale: GlitchTip if Sentry is overkill. Sentry self-hosted if you need full feature set (release health, performance, distributed tracing).
Self-Host Setup (Docker Compose)
Sentry official self-host: https://github.com/getsentry/self-hosted
git clone https://github.com/getsentry/self-hosted.git sentry
cd sentry
git checkout 24.10.0
./install.sh
Installation creates:
- ClickHouse (event storage)
- Postgres (metadata)
- Redis (queues)
- Kafka (event ingestion buffer)
- Sentry web + worker
docker compose up -d
docker compose run --rm web createuser
Access at http://localhost:9000.
For production: front with reverse proxy (Caddy, nginx), TLS via Let's Encrypt, restrict access.
Resource Footprint
- Minimum: 4GB RAM, 4 vCPU, 20GB disk
- Recommended: 8GB RAM, 8 vCPU, 100GB+ disk for retention
- Heavy: 32GB RAM for high-volume apps
For low-volume wallet app: 4GB VPS works fine.
GlitchTip (Lighter Alternative)
services:
glitchtip:
image: glitchtip/glitchtip:latest
environment:
DATABASE_URL: postgres://glitchtip:secret@postgres/glitchtip
SECRET_KEY: <random-32-bytes>
EMAIL_URL: consolemail://
ports: ["8000:8000"]
postgres:
image: postgres:16
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: glitchtip
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: secret
POSTGRES_DB: glitchtip
volumes: ["pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data"]
volumes: { pgdata: }
GlitchTip uses Sentry's protocol — all SDKs work unchanged. ~512MB RAM.
Rust SDK
[dependencies]
sentry = "0.34"
sentry-tracing = "0.34"
fn main() {
let _guard = sentry::init(sentry::ClientOptions {
dsn: "https://abc@sentry.example.com/1".parse().ok(),
release: sentry::release_name!(),
environment: Some("production".into()),
sample_rate: 1.0,
traces_sample_rate: 0.1,
send_default_pii: false,
before_send: Some(Arc::new(|event| {
Some(scrub_event(event))
})),
..Default::default()
});
let subscriber = tracing_subscriber::registry()
.with(tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer())
.with(sentry_tracing::layer());
tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(subscriber).unwrap();
if let Err(e) = run_app() {
sentry::capture_error(&*e);
}
}
( event: sentry::protocol::Event<>) sentry::protocol::Event<> {
sentry::protocol::Value;
event.user = ;
event.server_name = ;
event.message = event.message.(|m| (&m));
& event.breadcrumbs {
crumb.message = crumb.message.().(|m| (m));
crumb.data.(|k, _| !(k));
}
event
}
(s: &) {
= regex::Regex::().();
re.(s, ).()
}
(k: &) {
matches!(k, | | | | | )
}
Capturing Errors Manually
match risky_operation() {
Ok(v) => v,
Err(e) => {
sentry::with_scope(
|scope| {
scope.set_tag("operation", "wallet_sync");
scope.set_level(Some(sentry::Level::Warning));
},
|| sentry::capture_error(&e),
);
return Err(e);
}
}
Performance Monitoring
let tx = sentry::start_transaction(sentry::TransactionContext::new("wallet.sync", "task"));
sentry::configure_scope(|s| s.set_span(Some(tx.clone().into())));
tx.finish();
Android SDK (Kotlin)
dependencies {
implementation("io.sentry:sentry-android:7.18.0")
implementation("io.sentry:sentry-android-fragment:7.18.0")
implementation("io.sentry:sentry-compose:7.18.0")
implementation("io.sentry:sentry-android-okhttp:7.18.0")
}
AndroidManifest.xml:
<application>
<meta-data android:name="io.sentry.dsn" android:value="https://abc@sentry.example.com/1" />
<meta-data android:name="io.sentry.environment" android:value="production" />
<meta-data android:name="io.sentry.send-default-pii" android:value="false" />
</application>
For programmatic init (recommended for opt-in pattern):
class BHODLApp : Application() {
override fun onCreate() {
super.onCreate()
if (prefs.getBoolean("crash_reports_enabled", false)) {
SentryAndroid.init(this) { options ->
options.dsn = "https://abc@sentry.example.com/1"
options.environment = "production"
options.tracesSampleRate = 0.1
options.isSendDefaultPii = false
options.beforeSend = SentryOptions.BeforeSendCallback { event, hint ->
scrubEvent(event)
}
options.beforeBreadcrumb = SentryOptions.BeforeBreadcrumbCallback { breadcrumb, hint ->
scrubBreadcrumb(breadcrumb)
}
}
}
}
}
private fun scrubEvent(event: SentryEvent): SentryEvent {
event.user = null
event.serverName = null
event.message?.message?.let { event.message?.message = scrubAddresses(it) }
return event
}
For Compose:
@Composable
fun App() {
SentryTraced(tag = "App") {
}
}
iOS SDK (Swift)
.package(url: "https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-cocoa.git", from: "8.41.0")
import Sentry
@main
struct BHODLApp: App {
init() {
if UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: "crash_reports_enabled") {
SentrySDK.start { options in
options.dsn = "https://abc@sentry.example.com/1"
options.environment = "production"
options.tracesSampleRate = 0.1
options.sendDefaultPii = false
options.beforeSend = { event in
self.scrubEvent(event)
}
}
}
}
var body: some Scene { WindowGroup { ContentView() } }
func scrubEvent(_ event: Event) -> Event? {
event.user = nil
event.serverName = nil
if let message = event.message?.formatted {
event.message = SentryMessage(formatted: scrubAddresses(message))
}
return event
}
}
Privacy Patterns (Wallet App Critical)
1. Opt-In Only
Never enable crash reporting by default. Settings → "Help us improve" → toggle.
2. Scrub Addresses, Balances, Amounts
Use regex to redact Bitcoin addresses, large numbers, hashes. Apply in beforeSend and beforeBreadcrumb.
3. No User Identifiers
Never call Sentry.setUser(...) with real ID. Use anonymous device hash if needed for correlation:
options.isAttachStacktrace = true
options.isSendDefaultPii = false
options.setBeforeSend { event, _ ->
event.user = User().apply { id = anonymousDeviceHash() }
event
}
4. Route Via Tor (Optional)
For ultra-privacy: route Sentry traffic through Arti (network/arti):
let arti_client = ...;
let sentry_url = "http://sentry.your.onion".to_string();
let transport = SentryTransport::with_http_client(custom_arti_client);
5. Local Buffer + Manual Send
For BHODL:
- Crash captured locally
- User sees report preview before sending
- Sends only on user confirmation
options.isEnableAutoSessionTracking = false
options.isAttachServerName = false
options.isEnableUserInteractionBreadcrumbs = false
options.beforeSend = SentryOptions.BeforeSendCallback { event, hint ->
queueForUserApproval(event)
null
}
Source Maps / DEBUG Symbols
For meaningful stack traces, upload symbols.
Android (R8/ProGuard mappings)
sentry {
autoUploadProguardMapping.set(true)
includeProguardMapping.set(true)
autoInstallation { sentryVersion.set("7.18.0") }
}
iOS (dSYM)
sentry-cli upload-dif --org bhodl --project ios "$DWARF_DSYM_FOLDER_PATH"
Rust (debug info)
sentry-cli upload-dif --org bhodl --project rust target/release/bhodl
Release Health
Track crash-free rate per release:
options.release = "bhodl@${BuildConfig.VERSION_NAME}+${BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE}"
options.environment = "production"
options.isEnableAutoSessionTracking = true
Sentry dashboard shows: % users without crash, % sessions without crash, regressions per release.
For BHODL: opt-in users only, but useful even with small sample.
Alert Rules
In Sentry UI: Alerts → New Rule.
Examples:
- "Notify on Slack if crash rate >1% for 1 hour in current release"
- "Email maintainers if new error type appears"
- "Page on-call if WalletSync crash count >10/hour"
For a small team: a single Slack channel for high-severity errors is enough.
Backups
Self-hosted = your responsibility:
docker compose exec -T postgres pg_dump -U postgres > backup.sql
docker compose exec clickhouse clickhouse-client --query "BACKUP ALL TO Disk('backups', 'sentry-$(date +%F)')"
For a small wallet app, daily backup to S3-compatible storage is fine.
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-pattern | Why it's bad | Correct approach |
|---|
| Crash reports on by default | Violates user trust | Opt-in only |
Sending PII (sendDefaultPii = true) | Leaks user data | Always false; scrub manually |
No beforeSend hook | Default events contain wallet state | Always implement scrubber |
| Logging full stack with secret variables | Stack frames may include args | Mark sensitive args with @redact annotations or strip in beforeSend |
| Using cloud Sentry for wallet app | Third-party data leak | Self-host (or GlitchTip) |
| Storing Sentry DSN in source | Allows others to spam your project | Env var or runtime config |
| 100% trace sample rate | Heavy ingestion + cost on self-host | 1-10% for production |
| Forgetting to upload symbols | Useless stack traces | Automate symbol upload in CI |
| No retention policy | Disk fills | Set retention (e.g., 30 days for events) |
| Single admin account, no MFA | Security risk | Multi-user, MFA, restricted access |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|
Self-host install fails (Insufficient memory) | <4GB RAM | Resize VPS or use GlitchTip |
| Events not appearing | DSN wrong, beforeSend returning null | Check Sentry network logs |
| Stack traces unsymbolicated | Symbols not uploaded | Run sentry-cli upload-dif |
| ClickHouse disk full | No retention | Configure event retention period |
| Slow Sentry web UI | Resource limits | Increase Docker resource quotas |
| Crash report includes wallet seed | Scrubbing missed it | Audit beforeSend thoroughly; redact strings broadly |
| Auto-session tracking enabled in privacy mode | Sessions tracked even when reports off | isEnableAutoSessionTracking = false for opt-out users |
| Network calls fail (firewall) | Sentry endpoint not whitelisted | Allow outbound to your Sentry server only |
| Compose / SwiftUI traces too verbose | Auto-instrumentation noisy | Disable auto-tracing; manual transaction wrapping |
| GitHub PR shows error trends | sentry-github integration | OK; or disable if too noisy |
Migration: SaaS → Self-Hosted
- Spin up self-host instance
- Update SDK DSN in config
- Deploy
- Verify events appearing in self-host dashboard
- Decommission SaaS account
Old events stay in SaaS — manual export if needed.
When NOT to Use This Skill
| Scenario | Use Instead |
|---|
| Logging (informational) | observability/rust-tracing or platform logger |
| Metrics (counters, histograms) | Prometheus / OpenMetrics |
| Distributed tracing only | OpenTelemetry |
| Cloud Sentry SaaS | Cloud Sentry docs (different threat model) |
| Apple's MetricKit | iOS-specific built-in |
| Google Crashlytics (Firebase) | Firebase docs (Google-hosted, similar privacy concerns) |
Source: claude-dev-suite/claude-dev-suite — distributed by TomeVault.