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Serverless Setup

Initialize Observe once in the earliest Node-only entrypoint. In Next.js, use instrumentation.ts and guard against the edge runtime:

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Prerequisites

  • Node.js 20 or newer.
  • A Next.js app or another serverless Node.js runtime.
  • @asymptote/sdk installed.
  • Any agent SDKs used by your route handlers, such as Vercel AI SDK.
  • ASYMPTOTE_API_KEY set for Asymptote Managed hosted Observe, or OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT set for customer-managed OTLP export. To get an Asymptote Managed API key, reach out for a demo.
Install the SDK and Vercel AI SDK
npm install @asymptote/sdk ai @ai-sdk/openai

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Next.js Instrumentation

Initialize in instrumentation.ts
export async function register() {
  if (process.env.NEXT_RUNTIME === "nodejs") {
    const { Observe } = await import("@asymptote/sdk");

    Observe.initialize({
      apiKey: process.env.ASYMPTOTE_API_KEY,
    });
  }
}
This keeps SDK initialization out of edge runtimes while ensuring Node.js routes, server actions, and background work share the same tracing setup.

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Serverless Handlers

For short-lived serverless invocations, call Observe.flush() before returning if traces are created immediately before the process may terminate.
Flush traces in a serverless handler
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { generateText } from "ai";
import { Observe } from "@asymptote/sdk";

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  const prompt = await request.text();
  const result = await generateText({
    model: openai("gpt-4.1-mini"),
    prompt,
    experimental_telemetry: {
      isEnabled: true,
      tracer: Observe.getTracer(),
    },
  });

  await Observe.flush();

  return Response.json({ text: result.text });
}
If the runtime owns a long-lived process, reserve Observe.shutdown() for graceful process shutdown rather than calling it after every request.

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Customer-Managed OTLP

Serverless and preview environments can send to a customer-managed collector by setting OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT instead of Asymptote Managed hosted Observe credentials.
Set the OTLP endpoint
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://otel.example.com
Initialize with a customer-managed OTLP endpoint
import { Observe } from "@asymptote/sdk";

Observe.initialize({
  otlpEndpoint: process.env.OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT,
});
Explicit OTLP export does not require an Asymptote Managed ASYMPTOTE_API_KEY.