sentry-python-sdk

name	sentry-python-sdk
description	Full Sentry SDK setup for Python. Use when asked to "add Sentry to Python", "install sentry-sdk", "setup Sentry in Python", or configure error monitoring, tracing, profiling, logging, metrics, crons, or AI monitoring for Python applications. Supports Django, Flask, FastAPI, Celery, Starlette, AIOHTTP, Tornado, and more.
license	Apache-2.0
category	sdk-setup
parent	sentry-sdk-setup
disable-model-invocation	true

All Skills > SDK Setup > Python SDK

Sentry Python SDK

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

Invoke This Skill When

• User asks to "add Sentry to Python" or "setup Sentry" in a Python app
• User wants error monitoring, tracing, profiling, logging, metrics, or crons in Python
• User mentions sentry-sdk, sentry_sdk, or Sentry + any Python framework
• User wants to monitor Django views, Flask routes, FastAPI endpoints, Celery tasks, or scheduled jobs

Note: SDK versions and APIs below reflect Sentry docs at time of writing (sentry-sdk 2.x). Always verify against docs.sentry.io/platforms/python/ before implementing.

---

Phase 1: Detect

Run these commands to understand the project before making recommendations:

# Check existing Sentry
grep -i sentry requirements.txt pyproject.toml setup.cfg setup.py 2>/dev/null

# Detect web framework
grep -rE "django|flask|fastapi|starlette|aiohttp|tornado|quart|falcon|sanic|bottle|pyramid" \
  requirements.txt pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null

# Detect task queues
grep -rE "celery|rq|huey|arq|dramatiq" requirements.txt pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null

# Detect logging libraries
grep -E "loguru" requirements.txt pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null

# Detect AI libraries
grep -rE "openai|anthropic|langchain|huggingface|google-genai|pydantic-ai|litellm" \
  requirements.txt pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null

# Detect schedulers / crons
grep -rE "celery|apscheduler|schedule|crontab" requirements.txt pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null

# OpenTelemetry tracing — check for SDK + instrumentations
grep -rE "opentelemetry-sdk|opentelemetry-instrumentation|opentelemetry-distro" \
  requirements.txt pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null
grep -rn "TracerProvider\|trace\.get_tracer\|start_as_current_span" \
  --include="*.py" 2>/dev/null | head -5

# Check for companion frontend
ls frontend/ web/ client/ ui/ static/ templates/ 2>/dev/null

What to note:

• Is sentry-sdk already in requirements? If yes, check if sentry_sdk.init() is present — may just need feature config.
• Which framework? (Determines where to place sentry_sdk.init().)
• Which task queue? (Celery needs dual-process init; RQ needs a settings file.)
• AI libraries? (OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain are auto-instrumented.)
• OpenTelemetry tracing? (Use OTLP path instead of native tracing.)
• 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:

Route from OTel detection:

• OTel tracing detected (opentelemetry-sdk / opentelemetry-distro in requirements, or TracerProvider in source) → use OTLP path: OTLPIntegration(); do not set traces_sample_rate; Sentry links errors to OTel traces automatically

Always recommended (core coverage):

• ✅ Error Monitoring — captures unhandled exceptions, supports ExceptionGroup (Python 3.11+)
• ✅ Logging — Python logging stdlib auto-captured; enhanced if Loguru detected

Recommend when detected:

• ✅ Tracing — HTTP framework detected (Django/Flask/FastAPI/etc.)
• ✅ AI Monitoring — OpenAI/Anthropic/LangChain/etc. detected (auto-instrumented, zero config)
• ⚡ Profiling — production apps where performance matters; not available with OTLP path
• ⚡ Crons — Celery Beat, APScheduler, or cron patterns detected
• ⚡ Metrics — business KPIs, SLO tracking

Recommendation matrix:

Feature	Recommend when...	Reference
Error Monitoring	Always — non-negotiable baseline	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/error-monitoring.md
OTLP Integration	OTel tracing detected — replaces native Tracing	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/tracing.md
Tracing	Django/Flask/FastAPI/AIOHTTP/etc. detected; skip if OTel tracing detected	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/tracing.md
Profiling	Production + performance-sensitive workload; skip if OTel tracing detected (requires traces_sample_rate, incompatible with OTLP)	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/profiling.md
Logging	Always (stdlib); enhanced for Loguru	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/logging.md
Metrics	Business events or SLO tracking needed	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/metrics.md
Crons	Celery Beat, APScheduler, or cron patterns	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/crons.md
AI Monitoring	OpenAI/Anthropic/LangChain/etc. detected	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/ai-monitoring.md

OTel tracing detected: "I see OpenTelemetry tracing in the project. I recommend Sentry's OTLP integration for tracing (via your existing OTel setup) + Error Monitoring + Sentry Logging [+ Metrics/Crons/AI Monitoring if applicable]. Shall I proceed?"

No OTel: "I recommend Error Monitoring + Tracing [+ Logging if applicable]. Want Profiling, Crons, or AI Monitoring too?"

---

Phase 3: Guide

Install

# Core SDK (always required)
pip install sentry-sdk

# Optional extras (install only what matches detected framework):
pip install "sentry-sdk[django]"
pip install "sentry-sdk[flask]"
pip install "sentry-sdk[fastapi]"
pip install "sentry-sdk[celery]"
pip install "sentry-sdk[aiohttp]"
pip install "sentry-sdk[tornado]"

# Multiple extras:
pip install "sentry-sdk[django,celery]"

Extras are optional — plain sentry-sdk works for all frameworks. Extras install complementary packages.

Quick Start — Recommended Init

Full init enabling the most features with sensible defaults. Place before any app/framework code:

import sentry_sdk

sentry_sdk.init(
    dsn=os.environ["SENTRY_DSN"],
    environment=os.environ.get("SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT", "production"),
    release=os.environ.get("SENTRY_RELEASE"),   # e.g. "myapp@1.0.0"
    send_default_pii=True,

    # Tracing (lower to 0.1–0.2 in high-traffic production)
    traces_sample_rate=1.0,

    # Profiling — continuous, tied to active spans
    profile_session_sample_rate=1.0,
    profile_lifecycle="trace",

    # Structured logs (SDK ≥ 2.35.0)
    enable_logs=True,
)

Where to Initialize Per Framework

Framework	Where to call sentry_sdk.init()	Notes
Django	Top of settings.py, before any imports	No middleware needed — Sentry patches Django internally
Flask	Before app = Flask(__name__)	Must precede app creation
FastAPI	Before app = FastAPI()	StarletteIntegration + FastApiIntegration auto-enabled together
Starlette	Before app = Starlette(...)	Same auto-integration as FastAPI
AIOHTTP	Module level, before web.Application()
Tornado	Module level, before app setup	No integration class needed
Quart	Before app = Quart(__name__)
Falcon	Module level, before app = falcon.App()
Pyramid	Module level, before config = Configurator()	WSGI framework
Sanic	Inside @app.listener("before_server_start")	Sanic's lifecycle requires async init
Celery	@signals.celeryd_init.connect in worker AND in calling process	Dual-process init required
RQ	mysettings.py loaded by worker via rq worker -c mysettings
ARQ	Both worker module and enqueuing process

Django example (settings.py):

import sentry_sdk

sentry_sdk.init(
    dsn=os.environ["SENTRY_DSN"],
    send_default_pii=True,
    traces_sample_rate=1.0,
    profile_session_sample_rate=1.0,
    profile_lifecycle="trace",
    enable_logs=True,
)

# rest of Django settings...
INSTALLED_APPS = [...]

FastAPI example (main.py):

import sentry_sdk

sentry_sdk.init(
    dsn=os.environ["SENTRY_DSN"],
    send_default_pii=True,
    traces_sample_rate=1.0,
    profile_session_sample_rate=1.0,
    profile_lifecycle="trace",
    enable_logs=True,
)

from fastapi import FastAPI
app = FastAPI()

Auto-Enabled vs Explicit Integrations

Most integrations activate automatically when their package is installed — no integrations=[...] needed:

Auto-enabled	Explicit required
Django, Flask, FastAPI, Starlette, AIOHTTP, Tornado, Quart, Falcon, Pyramid, Sanic, Bottle	DramatiqIntegration
Celery, RQ, Huey, ARQ	GRPCIntegration
SQLAlchemy, Redis, asyncpg, pymongo	StrawberryIntegration
Requests, HTTPX, httpx2, aiohttp-client	AsyncioIntegration
OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain, Pydantic AI, MCP	OpenTelemetryIntegration
Python logging, Loguru	WSGIIntegration / ASGIIntegration

For Each Agreed Feature

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

Feature	Reference file	Load when...
Error Monitoring	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/error-monitoring.md	Always (baseline)
Tracing	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/tracing.md	HTTP handlers / distributed tracing
Profiling	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/profiling.md	Performance-sensitive production
Logging	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/logging.md	Always; enhanced for Loguru
Metrics	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/metrics.md	Business KPIs / SLO tracking
Crons	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/crons.md	Scheduler / cron patterns detected
AI Monitoring	${SKILL_ROOT}/references/ai-monitoring.md	AI library detected

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

---

Configuration Reference

Key sentry_sdk.init() Options

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
dsn	str	None	SDK disabled if empty; env: SENTRY_DSN
environment	str	"production"	e.g., "staging"; env: SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT
release	str	None	e.g., "myapp@1.0.0"; env: SENTRY_RELEASE
send_default_pii	bool	False	Include IP, headers, cookies, auth user, query strings (ASGI frameworks)
traces_sample_rate	float	None	Transaction sample rate; None disables tracing
traces_sampler	Callable	None	Custom per-transaction sampling (overrides rate)
profile_session_sample_rate	float	None	Continuous profiling session rate
profile_lifecycle	str	"manual"	"trace" = auto-start profiler with spans
profiles_sample_rate	float	None	Transaction-based profiling rate
enable_logs	bool	False	Send logs to Sentry (SDK ≥ 2.35.0)
sample_rate	float	1.0	Error event sample rate
attach_stacktrace	bool	False	Stack traces on capture_message()
max_breadcrumbs	int	100	Max breadcrumbs per event
debug	bool	False	Verbose SDK debug output
before_send	Callable	None	Hook to mutate/drop error events
before_send_transaction	Callable	None	Hook to mutate/drop transaction events
ignore_errors	list	[]	Exception types or regex patterns to suppress
auto_enabling_integrations	bool	True	Set False to disable all auto-detection

OTLPIntegration Options (pass to constructor)

Option	Type	Default	Purpose
setup_otlp_traces_exporter	bool	True	Auto-configure OTLP exporter; set False if you send to your own Collector
collector_url	str	None	OTLP HTTP endpoint of an OTel Collector (e.g., http://localhost:4318/v1/traces); when set, spans are sent to the collector instead of directly to Sentry
setup_propagator	bool	True	Auto-configure Sentry propagator for distributed tracing
capture_exceptions	bool	False	Intercept exceptions recorded via OTel Span.record_exception

Environment Variables

Variable	Maps to	Notes
SENTRY_DSN	dsn
SENTRY_RELEASE	release	Also auto-detected from git SHA, Heroku, CircleCI, CodeBuild, GAE
SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT	environment
SENTRY_DEBUG	debug

---

Verification

Test that Sentry is receiving events:

# Trigger a real error event — check dashboard within seconds
division_by_zero = 1 / 0

Or for a non-crashing check:

sentry_sdk.capture_message("Sentry Python SDK test")

If nothing appears:

1. Set debug=True in sentry_sdk.init() — prints SDK internals to stdout
2. Verify the DSN is correct
3. Check SENTRY_DSN env var is set in the running process
4. For Celery/RQ: ensure init runs in the worker process, not just the calling process

---

Phase 4: Cross-Link

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

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

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

Frontend detected	Suggest skill
React / Next.js	sentry-react-sdk
Svelte / SvelteKit	sentry-svelte-sdk
Vue / Nuxt	Use @sentry/vue — see docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/vue/
Other JS/TS	sentry-react-sdk (covers generic browser JS patterns)

---

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Events not appearing	Set debug=True, verify DSN, check env vars in the running process
Malformed DSN error	Format: https://<key>@o<org>.ingest.sentry.io/<project>
Django exceptions not captured	Ensure sentry_sdk.init() is at the top of settings.py before other imports
Flask exceptions not captured	Init must happen before app = Flask(__name__)
FastAPI exceptions not captured	Init before app = FastAPI(); both StarletteIntegration and FastApiIntegration auto-enabled
ASGI chained exceptions suppressed	By default, Sentry's ASGI middleware strips exception chains (raise exc from None). To preserve chained exceptions, set _experiments={"suppress_asgi_chained_exceptions": False} in sentry_sdk.init()
Celery task errors not captured	Must call sentry_sdk.init() in the worker process via celeryd_init signal
Sanic init not working	Init must be inside @app.listener("before_server_start"), not module level
uWSGI not capturing	Add --enable-threads --py-call-uwsgi-fork-hooks to uWSGI command
No traces appearing (native)	Verify traces_sample_rate is set (not None); check that the integration is auto-enabled
No traces appearing (OTLP)	Verify sentry-sdk[opentelemetry-otlp] is installed; do not set traces_sample_rate when using OTLPIntegration
Profiling not starting	Requires traces_sample_rate > 0 + either profile_session_sample_rate or profiles_sample_rate; not compatible with OTLP path
enable_logs not working	Requires SDK ≥ 2.35.0; for direct structured logs use sentry_sdk.logger; for stdlib bridging use LoggingIntegration(sentry_logs_level=...)
Too many transactions	Lower traces_sample_rate or use traces_sampler to drop health checks
Cross-request data leaking	Don't use get_global_scope() for per-request data — use get_isolation_scope()
Query strings not captured (ASGI)	Query strings and client IP in ASGI frameworks (FastAPI, Starlette, etc.) require send_default_pii=True
RQ worker not reporting	Pass --sentry-dsn="" to disable RQ's own Sentry shortcut; init via settings file instead