Instrument React Native Applications with OpenTelemetry

The Honeycomb OpenTelemetry React Native SDK is Honeycomb’s distribution of OpenTelemetry for React Native applications. It includes instrumentation for things like detecting slow event loops or unhandled exceptions, and provides a component to simplify navigation instrumentation. This page covers basic usage of the SDK. If you just want to see some code, check out the example on GitHub.

Installing the SDK

Before you can use Honeycomb’s OpenTelemetry React Native SDK, you need to install it and configure platform-specific dependencies.

Configure Metro to recognize package.json exports. To do this, create a new file, metro.config.js, in your application’s root directory. Enable package.json exports in your Metro configuration.

config.resolver.unstable_enablePackageExports = true;

Here’s an example Metro configuration:

const path = require('path');
const { getDefaultConfig } = require('@react-native/metro-config');
const { getConfig } = require('react-native-builder-bob/metro-config');
const pkg = require('../package.json');

const root = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');

const config = getConfig(getDefaultConfig(__dirname), {
  root,
  pkg,
  project: __dirname,
});

// Required to use @opentelemetry package.json "exports" field
config.resolver.unstable_enablePackageExports = true;

module.exports = config;

To learn more about Metro configuration, visit Configuring Metro.

Install Honeycomb’s OpenTelemetry React Native SDK in your application’s root directory using your preferred package manager.
- npm
- yarn
npm install @honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native
yarn add @honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native

Install the necessary dependencies for each mobile platform your application supports.

Android
iOS

Add the following dependencies to your application’s build.gradle.

dependencies {
    //...
    implementation "io.honeycomb.android:honeycomb-opentelemetry-android:0.0.20"
    implementation "io.opentelemetry.android:android-agent:0.11.0-alpha"
}

If your application’s minSDK version is lower than 26, add core library desugaring to your android/app/build.gradle.

android {
    compileOptions {
        // Enable support for the new language APIs
        coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled true
    }
    dependencies {
        coreLibraryDesugaring "com.android.tools:desugar_jdk_libs:2.1.5"
    }
}

Add the use_frameworks! option to your application’s Podfile.

platform :ios, min_ios_version_supported
prepare_react_native_project!
use_frameworks!

From the ios directory, run pod install to install the required dependencies.

Initializing

Initialize the SDK at the start of your React Native application. This ensures that events such as startup time and early view loads are captured.

import { HoneycombReactNativeSDK } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';
import { DiagLogLevel } from '@opentelemetry/api';

const sdk = new HoneycombReactNativeSDK({
  // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
  // endpoint: "https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443",
  apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY",
  serviceName: "YOUR-SERVICE-NAME",
  logLevel: DiagLogLevel.DEBUG,
});

sdk.start();

Android
iOS

Initialize the SDK at the start of the onCreate() method in your main Application class.

// MainApplication.kt
override fun onCreate() {
    val options = HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.optionsBuilder(this)
        // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
        // .setApiEndpoint("https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443")
        .setApiKey("YOUR-API-KEY")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")

    HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.configure(this, options)
    super.onCreate()
}

Initialize the SDK at the start of the application() method in your AppDelegate class.

// AppDelegate.swift
override func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil
) -> Bool {
    let options = HoneycombReactNative.optionsBuilder()
        // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
        // .setAPIEndpoint("https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443")
        .setAPIKey("YOUR-API-KEY")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")

    HoneycombReactNative.configure(options)
}

Configuring

The Honeycomb React Native SDK can be configured using many of the configuration options from the Honeycomb Web SDK.

import { HoneycombReactNativeSDK } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';
import { DiagLogLevel } from '@opentelemetry/api';
import { ExampleSpanProcessor } from "@/services/ExampleSpanProcessor";

const sdk = new HoneycombReactNativeSDK({
  apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY",
  // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
  // endpoint: "https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443",
  serviceName: "YOUR-SERVICE-NAME",
  resourceAttributes: {
    "app.environment": "development",
  },
  logLevel: DiagLogLevel.DEBUG,
  
  fetchInstrumentationConfig: {
    propagateTraceHeaderCorsUrls: [
      // Regex to match your backend URLs.
      // Update to the domains you wish to include.
      /.+/g,
    ]
  },

  slowEventLoopInstrumentationConfig: {
    enabled: true,
  },

  spanProcessors: [
    new ExampleSpanProcessor();
  ]
});

sdk.start();

Adding resource attributes

Resource attributes are available on every span your instrumentation emits. Adding custom, application-specific attributes makes it easier to correlate your data to important business information. You can set resource attributes using the resourceAttributes configuration option.

import { HoneycombReactNativeSDK } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';

const sdk = new HoneycombReactNativeSDK({
  apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY",
  // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
  // endpoint: "https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443",
  serviceName: "YOUR-SERVICE-NAME",
  resourceAttributes: {
    "app.team": "team name",
  },
});

sdk.start();

Enabling sampling

The SDK includes optional deterministic head sampling. The sample rate is 1 by default, meaning every trace is exported. The example below sets a sampleRate of 40, meaning 1 in 40 traces will be exported. This sample rate will only apply to JavaScript/TypeScript traces.

import { HoneycombReactNativeSDK } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';

const sdk = new HoneycombReactNativeSDK({
  apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY",
  // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
  // endpoint: "https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443",
  serviceName: "YOUR-SERVICE-NAME",
  sampleRate: 40,
});

sdk.start();

Android
iOS

You can configure a sample rate for Android traces with .setSampleRate():

// MainApplication.kt
override fun onCreate() {
    val options = HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.optionsBuilder(this)
        // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
        // .setApiEndpoint("https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443")
        .setApiKey("YOUR-API-KEY")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")
        .setSampleRate(40)

    HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.configure(this, options)
    super.onCreate()
}

You can configure a sample rate for iOS traces with .sampleRate():

// AppDelegate.swift
override func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil
) -> Bool {
    let options = HoneycombReactNative.optionsBuilder()
        // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
        // .setAPIEndpoint("https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443")
        .setAPIKey("YOUR-API-KEY")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")
        .sampleRate(40)

    HoneycombReactNative.configure(options)
}

Sending to OpenTelemetry Collector

In production, we recommend running an OpenTelemetry Collector. Your application sends telemetry to your Collector instead of directly to Honeycomb. Your Collector then forwards the telemetry data to Honeycomb, keeping your API key stored securely in the Collector’s configuration. Configure your Collector’s URL by setting the endpoint option when initializing the Honeycomb React Native SDK:

import { HoneycombReactNativeSDK } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';

const sdk = new HoneycombReactNativeSDK({
  endpoint: "http(s)://YOUR-COLLECTOR-URL",
  serviceName: "YOUR-SERVICE-NAME",
});

sdk.start();

This example works for all platforms and shows the core configuration needed to connect your application to a Collector.

Android
iOS

For Android, use .setApiEndpoint():

// MainApplication.kt
override fun onCreate() {
    val options = HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.optionsBuilder(this)
        .setApiEndpoint("http(s)://YOUR-COLLECTOR-URL")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")

    HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.configure(this, options)
    super.onCreate()
}

For iOS, use .setAPIEndpoint():

// AppDelegate.swift
override func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil
) -> Bool {
    let options = HoneycombReactNative.optionsBuilder()
        .setAPIEndpoint("http(s)://YOUR-COLLECTOR-URL")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")

    HoneycombReactNative.configure(options)
}

Sending to Honeycomb

To send telemetry data directly to Honeycomb, set the apiKey option with your Ingest API Key.

import { HoneycombReactNativeSDK } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';

const sdk = new HoneycombReactNativeSDK({
  apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY",
  // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
  // endpoint: "https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443",
  serviceName: "YOUR-SERVICE-NAME",
});

sdk.start();

This example works for all platforms and shows the core configuration needed to send data directly to Honeycomb.

Android
iOS

For Android, use .setApiKey():

// MainApplication.kt
override fun onCreate() {
    val options = HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.optionsBuilder(this)
        // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
        // .setApiEndpoint("https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443")
        .setApiKey("YOUR-API-KEY")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")

    HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNativeModule.configure(this, options)
    super.onCreate()
}

For iOS, use .setAPIKey():

// AppDelegate.swift
override func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]? = nil
) -> Bool {
    let options = HoneycombReactNative.optionsBuilder()
        // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
        // .setAPIEndpoint("https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443")
        .setAPIKey("YOUR-API-KEY")
        .setServiceName("YOUR-SERVICE-NAME")

    HoneycombReactNative.configure(options)
    //...
}

Adding automatic instrumentation

The Honeycomb OpenTelemetry React Native SDK includes auto-instrumentation options for:

Application startup time, measured from when the native SDKs start to when the JavaScript SDK finishes initializing
Errors or uncaught exceptions
Fetch instrumentation, using the opentelemetry-instrumentation-fetch package
Slow event loop detection

Automatic instrumentation is enabled by default. You can enable or disable individual auto-instrumentation libraries in your configuration.

import { HoneycombReactNativeSDK } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';
import { DiagLogLevel } from '@opentelemetry/api';

const sdk = new HoneycombReactNativeSDK({
  // Uncomment the line below to send to EU instance. Defaults to US.
  // endpoint: "https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io:443",
  apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY",
  serviceName: "YOUR-SERVICE-NAME",
  logLevel: DiagLogLevel.DEBUG,

  // auto-instrumentation options
  reactNativeStartupInstrumentationConfig: {
    enabled: true,
  },

  uncaughtExceptionInstrumentationConfig: {
    enabled: true,
  },

  fetchInstrumentationConfig: {
    enabled: true,
  },

  slowEventLoopInstrumentationConfig: {
    enabled: true,
  },
});

sdk.start();

Adding custom instrumentation

Automatic instrumentation is a fast way to instrument your code, but you get more insight into your application by adding custom, otherwise known as manual, instrumentation.

Adding attributes to an active span

You can retrieve the currently active span in a trace and add attributes to it. This lets you add more context to traces and gives you more ways to group or filter traces in your queries.

import { trace } from '@opentelemetry/api';

function handleUser(user) {
  let currentActiveSpan = trace.getActiveSpan();
  currentActiveSpan.setAttribute('user.id', user.getId());
}

Acquiring a tracer

For manual tracing, you need to get a tracer:

import { trace } from '@opentelemetry/api';

const tracer = trace.getTracer('example-tracer', '0.1.0');

Creating spans

Create custom spans to get a clear view of the critical parts in your application.

import { trace } from '@opentelemetry/api';

function trackWork() {
  const tracer = trace.getTracer('example-tracer', '0.1.0');
  const span = tracer.startActiveSpan('do work');

  console.log('performing work');
  
  span.end();
}

You can instrument React NativeRouter or Expo Router navigation in your application using the <NavigationInstrumentation> component.

React NativeRouter

Add a <NavigationInstrumentation> component as a child of your <NavigationContainer> component. Pass the container ref to your navigation container and your navigation instrumentation components.

import { NavigationInstrumentation } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';
import { useNavigationContainerRef, NavigationContainer } from '@react-navigation/native';


export default function App() {
  const navigationRef = useNavigationContainerRef();

  return (
    <NavigationContainer ref={navigationRef}>
      <NavigationInstrumentation ref={navigationRef}>
        {/* Navigation/UI code*/}
      </NavigationInstrumentation>
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
}

Expo Router

Wrap your navigation code with a <NavigationInstrumentation> component and pass the container ref to the <NavigationInstrumentation> component.

import { NavigationInstrumentation } from '@honeycombio/opentelemetry-react-native';
import { useNavigationContainerRef } from 'expo-router';


export default function App() {
  const navigationRef = useNavigationContainerRef();

  return (
    <NavigationInstrumentation ref={navigationRef}>
      {/* Navigation/UI code*/}
    </NavigationInstrumentation>
  );
}

Troubleshooting

Running into issues? Here are some common problems and ways to fix them. To explore common issues when sending data, visit Common Issues with Sending Data in Honeycomb.

File not found error on iOS

If you see an error like this when running your application on iOS:

'HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNative/HoneycombOpentelemetryReactNative-Swift.h' file not found when trying to run for iOS

It usually means your application’s Podfile is missing the use_frameworks! line. To resolve this error:

Add use_frameworks! immediately below prepare_react_native_project! in your Podfile:
prepare_react_native_project! use_frameworks!
Install the iOS dependencies by navigating to your ios directory and running pod install:
cd ios pod install

Not receiving native telemetry data

Unlike JavaScript code, native code does not hot reload on changes. So if you updated your AppDelegate.swift or MainApplication.kt files and still not getting native telemetry you’ll need to rebuild your application. Stop metro, the simulator, and restart the build. If this still doesn’t work try uninstalling the app and reinstalling it.

Instrument Applications

Instrument Infrastructure

CI/CD Observability

Manage Pipelines

Shape Data

Control Data Volume

Use Cases

Instrument React Native Applications with OpenTelemetry

Installing the SDK

Initializing

Configuring

Adding resource attributes

Enabling sampling

Sending to OpenTelemetry Collector

Sending to Honeycomb

Adding automatic instrumentation

Adding custom instrumentation

Adding attributes to an active span

Acquiring a tracer

Creating spans

Adding instrumentation to navigation

React NativeRouter

Expo Router

Troubleshooting

File not found error on iOS

Not receiving native telemetry data

​Installing the SDK

​Initializing

​Configuring

​Adding resource attributes

​Enabling sampling

​Sending to OpenTelemetry Collector

​Sending to Honeycomb

​Adding automatic instrumentation

​Adding custom instrumentation

​Adding attributes to an active span

​Acquiring a tracer

​Creating spans

​Adding instrumentation to navigation

​React NativeRouter

​Expo Router

​Troubleshooting

​File not found error on iOS

​Not receiving native telemetry data

Installing the SDK

Initializing

Configuring

Adding resource attributes

Enabling sampling

Sending to OpenTelemetry Collector

Sending to Honeycomb

Adding automatic instrumentation

Adding custom instrumentation

Adding attributes to an active span

Acquiring a tracer

Creating spans

Adding instrumentation to navigation

React NativeRouter

Expo Router

Troubleshooting

File not found error on iOS

Not receiving native telemetry data