> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://neuraltrust-92b43583-develop.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Telemetry > TrustGate exports one OpenTelemetry log record per request — model, tokens, cost, latency breakdown, policy chain, and routing attempts — off the critical path. **Telemetry** is the per-request event that the [metrics worker](/trustgate/observability/metrics) builds and ships off the critical path. Each event captures everything needed to analyze cost, latency, routing, and policy decisions. TrustGate exports events with **OpenTelemetry** to your collector (NeuralTrust SaaS or your own). On NeuralTrust, those records feed [Activity](/trustgate/observability/metrics), [Analytics](/trustgate/observability/metrics), and [Telemetry Alerts](/platform/alerts). The field-level contract used by AlertEngine is documented in the [Event schema](/platform/event-schema). ## How export works 1. The proxy finishes the request (including streamed responses). 2. A background worker builds a structured event (metadata; bodies are not in the default metadata stream). 3. The event is exported as an OpenTelemetry **log record** to the configured collector endpoint. 4. Downstream systems (NeuralTrust metadata store, your SIEM, billing pipelines) consume the collector output. Export never blocks the client response path — see [Metrics worker](/trustgate/observability/metrics). ## Configuration Telemetry is configured globally by environment and can be refined per gateway. | Variable | Default | Meaning | | --------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `TELEMETRY_ENABLED` | `true` | Toggle telemetry. | | `TELEMETRY_ENABLE_REQUEST_TRACES` | `true` | Include request traces. | | `TELEMETRY_ENABLE_PLUGIN_TRACES` | `true` | Include per-policy traces. | | `TELEMETRY_EXPORTERS_FILE` | `config/telemetry.yaml` | Path to an exporters YAML file. It wins when it parses. The chart pins this empty so the env vars below are the only source. | | `TELEMETRY_EXPORTERS_METADATA` | — | Type token (`otlp`) or a YAML/JSON list of named exporters. Requires v0.37.0+. | | `TELEMETRY_EXPORTERS_RAW` | — | Type token (`postgres`, `otlp`) or a YAML/JSON list of named exporters. Requires v0.37.0+. | | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT` | — | OpenTelemetry collector endpoint (e.g. `https://collector.example:4318`). Required for token-only `otlp`. | | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL` | — | Transport, typically `http/protobuf` or `grpc`. | | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS` | — | Extra headers (auth tokens, tenant keys). | | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE` | — | Allow non-TLS (local/dev only). | | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_COMPRESSION` | — | e.g. `gzip`. | | `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT` | — | Export timeout (ms). | Per [gateway](/trustgate/concepts/gateways), `telemetry` can define exporters, static `extra_params` appended to every event, trace toggles, and a `header_mapping` that copies inbound headers into event fields. Process-level `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_*` values supply defaults when a gateway opts into OpenTelemetry export. ### Exporters A gateway's `telemetry.exporters[]` selects where its events go: | `name` | Settings | Notes | | ------ | ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `otlp` | endpoint, headers, protocol, … | Export each request as an OpenTelemetry **log record**. Metadata class uses event name `trustgate..metadata`. | On NeuralTrust Hybrid / SaaS, the control plane wires the collector endpoint for you (see [Deployment overview](/neuraltrust/deployment/overview)). For self-managed collectors, set `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT` (and headers) to your OpenTelemetry Collector. ## What the event carries Events are versioned (`schema_version`) and carry a `kind` of `llm` or `mcp`. Each includes, among others: | Group | Fields | | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Identity | `trace_id`, `gateway_id`, `tenant_id`, `consumer`, `session_id`, `turn_id`. | | Request | method, path, provider, registry id, requested vs resolved model, temperature, max tokens, stream flag. | | Response | status code, latency, finish reason, streaming. | | Usage | prompt / completion / total tokens, cached input, reasoning output. | | Cost | prompt / completion / total USD. Rates come from [registry contract pricing](/trustgate/concepts/registries#contract-pricing) when set, otherwise the models.dev catalog. Unpriced models omit `cost`. | | Latency | total, provider, policies, routing, gateway (ms). | | Attempts | per-registry attempts with fallback/pinned/route/outcome. | | Policy chain | per-policy decision, stage, latency, score, flagged. | Attributes follow OpenTelemetry HTTP and GenAI conventions where applicable (`http.request.method`, `gen_ai.request.model`, `gen_ai.usage.*`, …), plus `trustgate.*` extensions for gateway-specific fields. **Prompt and response bodies are not included** in the default metadata export used by alerts and analytics. ## Using the data | Surface | Use | | --------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | [Activity](/trustgate/observability/metrics) | Per-request forensics. | | [Analytics](/trustgate/observability/metrics) | Volume, cost, latency, policy actions. | | [Telemetry Alerts](/platform/alerts) | Detection rules (error rate, latency, auth anomalies, …). | | [Event schema](/platform/event-schema) | Fields AlertEngine rules match on. | | Your collector / SIEM | Forward from the OpenTelemetry Collector pipeline. | The `attempts` and `policy_chain` data make it possible to reconstruct how each request was routed and which policies fired.