REST API

If your preferred programming language or platform is not directly supported by the existing LangWatch libraries, you can use the REST API with curl to send trace data from any system that can make HTTP requests.

Protip: wanna to get started even faster? Copy our llms.txt and ask an AI to do this integration

Prerequisites:

Ensure you have curl installed on your system.

Configuration: Set the LANGWATCH_API_KEY environment variable in your environment:

export LANGWATCH_API_KEY='your_api_key_here'

Usage: You will need to prepare your span data in accordance with the Span type definitions provided by LangWatch. Below is an example of how to send span data using curl:

Prepare your JSON data. Make sure it’s properly formatted as expected by LangWatch.
Use the curl command to send your trace data. Here is a basic template:

# Set your API key and endpoint URL
LANGWATCH_API_KEY="your_langwatch_api_key"
LANGWATCH_ENDPOINT="https://app.langwatch.ai"

# Use curl to send the POST request, e.g.:
curl -X POST "$LANGWATCH_ENDPOINT/api/v1/collector" \
     -H "X-Auth-Token: $LANGWATCH_API_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d @- <<EOF
{
  "trace_id": "trace-123",
  "spans": [
    {
      "type": "llm",
      "span_id": "span-456",
      "vendor": "openai",
      "model": "gpt-6-luna",
      "input": {
        "type": "chat_messages",
        "value": [
          {
            "role": "user",
            "content": "Input to the LLM"
          }
        ]
      },
      "output": {
        "type": "chat_messages",
        "value": [
            {
                "role": "assistant",
                "content": "Output from the LLM",
                "function_call": null,
                "tool_calls": []
            }
        ]
      },
      "params": {
        "temperature": 0.7,
        "stream": false
      },
      "metrics": {
        "prompt_tokens": 100,
        "completion_tokens": 150
      },
      "timestamps": {
        "started_at": $(($(date +%s) * 1000)),
        "first_token_at": $((($(date +%s) * 1000) + 300)),
        "finished_at": $((($(date +%s) + 1) * 1000))
      }
    }
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "user_id": "optional_end_user_identifier",
    "thread_id": "optional_thread_identifier",
    "customer_id": "optional_platform_customer_identifier",
    "labels": ["optional_label_1", "optional_label_2"]
  }
}
EOF

Replace the placeholders with your actual data. The @- tells curl to read the JSON data from the standard input, which we provide via the EOF-delimited here-document. All timestamps are unix epoch milliseconds. The optional first_token_at records when the first streamed token reached the user and powers the Time to First Token (TTFT) metric, see Tracking Time to First Token. Token counts and cost are derived from metrics and the model pricing registry, see Tracking LLM Costs and Tokens. For the type reference of how a span should look like, check out our types definitions. It’s optional but highly recommended to pass the user_id on the metadata if you want to use user-specific analytics and the thread_id to group related traces together. Read more about those and other concepts.

Execute the curl command. If successful, LangWatch will process your trace data.

This method of integration sends traces from any system capable of making HTTP requests, including a less common programming language or a custom-built platform. Remember to handle errors and retries as needed. You might need to script additional logic around the curl command to handle these cases.

The same request from Python

pip install requests

import os
import time

import requests

endpoint = os.environ.get("LANGWATCH_ENDPOINT", "https://app.langwatch.ai")
now = int(time.time() * 1000)

response = requests.post(
    f"{endpoint}/api/v1/collector",
    headers={"X-Auth-Token": os.environ["LANGWATCH_API_KEY"]},
    json={
        "trace_id": "trace-123",
        "spans": [
            {
                "type": "llm",
                "span_id": "span-456",
                "vendor": "openai",
                "model": "gpt-5",
                "input": {
                    "type": "chat_messages",
                    "value": [{"role": "user", "content": "Input to the LLM"}],
                },
                "output": {
                    "type": "chat_messages",
                    "value": [{"role": "assistant", "content": "Output from the LLM"}],
                },
                "timestamps": {"started_at": now, "finished_at": now + 1000},
            }
        ],
    },
)
response.raise_for_status()

Check it worked

A successful request returns a 2xx status. Then open your project in LangWatch: the trace trace-123 appears in the traces list within a few seconds, with one LLM span holding the input and output you sent. Use a new trace_id for each trace you send. If the request is refused or no trace appears, check that LANGWATCH_API_KEY holds a valid project API key.

Overview

Tools

The same request from Python

Check it worked

​The same request from Python

​Check it worked

The same request from Python

Check it worked