OpenAI Agents SDK
For optional help from your coding agent, use Set it up for me. It preserves your model connection and verifies a real trace after setup
Send OpenAI Agents SDK traces to LiteLLM Lens using the runnable examples in this repository.
Prerequisites
You need Lens, either standalone with ClickHouse or connected to LiteLLM. Open Traces and choose Set up tracing if the setup panel is not already open. Then create a tracing key, and copy the Traces endpoint. Keep provider credentials separate from that telemetry key. The examples support direct OpenAI calls or calls through an existing LiteLLM gateway
Install uv. It uses the checked-in Python version and resolves each example’s dependencies from its uv workspace.
Configuration
For a fresh checkout:
git clone https://github.com/BerriAI/litellm-lens-example.git
cd litellm-lens-example/openai-agents
cp .env.direct.example .env
If you already cloned the repository, run the remaining commands from openai-agents/. For direct provider calls, set OPENAI_API_KEY and OPENAI_MODEL in .env, then set LENS_URL and LENS_TRACING_KEY as described below. Leave LITELLM_GATEWAY_URL unset. Your model requests go to OpenAI while telemetry goes to Lens
For gateway calls, use .env.example instead and set the three LITELLM_* values. These examples retain the gateway request-attempt and spend-correlation behavior
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
OPENAI_API_KEY | Your provider credential for direct calls |
OPENAI_MODEL | The provider model name for direct calls |
OPENAI_BASE_URL | Optional OpenAI-compatible provider base URL, including /v1 when required by that provider |
LITELLM_GATEWAY_URL | Your gateway’s base URL without a trailing slash or /v1, for example http://localhost:4002 |
LITELLM_API_KEY | Your LiteLLM model key |
LENS_URL | Copy Traces endpoint from Lens tracing setup and remove the final /v1/traces. Keep /lens-ingest if present. For example, http://localhost:4318 or https://gateway.example/lens-ingest |
LENS_TRACING_KEY | The dedicated tracing key from Lens tracing setup |
LITELLM_MODEL | A model alias configured on your LiteLLM gateway |
The gateway template targets a local development gateway. Replace its model connection values for your deployment. The examples configure their trace exporters in code and explicitly replace the SDK’s default OpenAI trace exporter. They send traces to LENS_URL/v1/traces with the tracing key as a bearer token.
Leave MOCK_LITELLM_GATEWAY_URL unset unless you intend to send an additional trace copy to the local recorder.
Run an example
Simple agent
A research_agent answers one question inside research_workflow.
uv run --env-file .env --package lens-openai-agents-simple simple/main.py
See simple/main.py for the implementation.
Agent swarm
A coordinator invokes search_agent and writer_agent through agents-as-tools.
uv run --env-file .env --package lens-openai-agents-swarm swarm/main.py
See swarm/main.py for the implementation.
Verify the trace
After the example prints its answer, open Lens > Traces in your standalone or embedded Lens UI and select the new run. Look for research_workflow and its research_agent span. Inspect the input, output, and model spans. For the swarm, inspect the specialist activity described above; its exact span layout depends on the framework.
How tracing works
OpenInference exports SDK agent and Responses API spans to Lens. When a gateway is configured, the shared gateway transport records each physical model request and its gateway call ID, including retries.
See the shared gateway transport for request-attempt and spend-correlation details.
Troubleshooting
If model calls fail, check the provider key and model name, or the gateway URL, model key and alias when using a gateway. If an answer appears but the trace is missing, check the terminal for exporter errors and confirm the Lens ingestion service is reachable with your tracing key. A model call succeeding does not confirm that its trace export succeeded.
Use a model that supports the Responses API. The swarm also requires tool calls.
