---
title: Using instrumentation libraries
linkTitle: Libraries
weight: 40
description: How to instrument libraries an app depends on
cSpell:ignore: autoinstrumentation metapackage metapackages
---

{{% docs/languages/libraries-intro JavaScript %}}

## Use Instrumentation Libraries

If a library does not come with OpenTelemetry out of the box, you can use
[instrumentation libraries](/docs/specs/otel/glossary/#instrumentation-library)
in order to generate telemetry data for a library or framework.

For example,
[the instrumentation library for Express](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@opentelemetry/instrumentation-express)
will automatically create [spans](/docs/concepts/signals/traces/#spans) based on
the inbound HTTP requests.

### Setup

Each instrumentation library is an NPM package. For example, here’s how you can
install the
[instrumentation-express](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@opentelemetry/instrumentation-express)
and
[instrumentation-http](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@opentelemetry/instrumentation-http)
instrumentation libraries to instrument inbound and outbound HTTP traffic:

```sh
npm install --save @opentelemetry/instrumentation-http @opentelemetry/instrumentation-express
```

OpenTelemetry JavaScript also defines metapackages
[auto-instrumentation-node](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node)
and
[auto-instrumentation-web](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-web),
that bundle all Node.js- or web-based instrumentation libraries into a single
package. It’s a convenient way to add automatically-generated telemetry for all
your libraries with minimal effort:

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{{% tab Node.js %}}

```shell
npm install --save @opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node
```

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{{% tab Browser %}}

```shell
npm install --save @opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-web
```

{{% /tab %}} {{< /tabpane >}}

Note, that using those metapackages increases your dependency graph size. Use
individual instrumentation packages if you know exactly which ones you need.

### Registration

After installing the instrumentation libraries you need, register them with the
OpenTelemetry SDK for Node.js. If you followed the
[Getting Started](/docs/languages/js/getting-started/nodejs/) you already use
the metapackages. If you followed the instructions
[to initialize the SDK for manual instrumentation](/docs/languages/js/instrumentation/#initialize-tracing),
update your `instrumentation.ts` (or `instrumentation.js`) as follows:

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{{% tab TypeScript %}}

```typescript
/*instrumentation.ts*/
...
import { getNodeAutoInstrumentations } from '@opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node';

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  ...
  // This registers all instrumentation packages
  instrumentations: [getNodeAutoInstrumentations()]
});

sdk.start()
```

{{% /tab %}}

{{% tab JavaScript %}}

```javascript
/*instrumentation.js*/
const { getNodeAutoInstrumentations } = require('@opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node');

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  ...
  // This registers all instrumentation packages
  instrumentations: [getNodeAutoInstrumentations()]
});
```

{{% /tab %}}

{{< /tabpane >}}

To disable individual instrumentation libraries you can apply the following
change:

{{< tabpane text=true >}}

{{% tab TypeScript %}}

```typescript
/*instrumentation.ts*/
...
import { getNodeAutoInstrumentations } from '@opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node';

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  ...
  // This registers all instrumentation packages
  instrumentations: [
    getNodeAutoInstrumentations({
      '@opentelemetry/instrumentation-fs': {
        enabled: false,
      },
    }),
  ],
});

sdk.start()
```

{{% /tab %}}

{{% tab JavaScript %}}

```javascript
/*instrumentation.js*/
const { getNodeAutoInstrumentations } = require('@opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node');

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  ...
  // This registers all instrumentation packages
  instrumentations: [
    getNodeAutoInstrumentations({
      '@opentelemetry/instrumentation-fs': {
        enabled: false,
      },
    }),
  ],
});
```

{{% /tab %}}

{{< /tabpane >}}

To only load individual instrumentation libraries, replace
`[getNodeAutoInstrumentations()]` with the list of those you need:

{{< tabpane text=true >}}

{{% tab TypeScript %}}

```typescript
/*instrumentation.ts*/
...
import { HttpInstrumentation } from "@opentelemetry/instrumentation-http";
import { ExpressInstrumentation } from "@opentelemetry/instrumentation-express";

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  ...
  instrumentations: [
    // Express instrumentation expects HTTP layer to be instrumented
    new HttpInstrumentation(),
    new ExpressInstrumentation(),
  ]
});

sdk.start()
```

{{% /tab %}} {{% tab JavaScript %}}

```javascript
/*instrumentation.js*/
const { HttpInstrumentation } = require("@opentelemetry/instrumentation-http");
const { ExpressInstrumentation } = require("@opentelemetry/instrumentation-express");

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  ...
  instrumentations: [
    // Express instrumentation expects HTTP layer to be instrumented
    new HttpInstrumentation(),
    new ExpressInstrumentation(),
  ]
});
```

{{% /tab %}}

{{< /tabpane >}}

### Configuration

Some instrumentation libraries offer additional configuration options.

For example,
[Express instrumentation](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js-contrib/tree/main/plugins/node/opentelemetry-instrumentation-express#express-instrumentation-options)
offers ways to ignore specified middleware or enrich spans created automatically
with a request hook:

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{{% tab TypeScript %}}

```typescript
import { Span } from '@opentelemetry/api';
import {
  SEMATTRS_HTTP_METHOD,
  SEMATTRS_HTTP_URL,
} from '@opentelemetry/semantic-conventions';
import {
  ExpressInstrumentation,
  ExpressLayerType,
  ExpressRequestInfo,
} from '@opentelemetry/instrumentation-express';

const expressInstrumentation = new ExpressInstrumentation({
  requestHook: function (span: Span, info: ExpressRequestInfo) {
    if (info.layerType === ExpressLayerType.REQUEST_HANDLER) {
      span.setAttribute(SEMATTRS_HTTP_METHOD, info.request.method);
      span.setAttribute(SEMATTRS_HTTP_URL, info.request.baseUrl);
    }
  },
});
```

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{{% tab JavaScript %}}

```javascript
/*instrumentation.js*/
const {
  SEMATTRS_HTTP_METHOD,
  SEMATTRS_HTTP_URL,
} = require('@opentelemetry/semantic-conventions');
const {
  ExpressInstrumentation,
  ExpressLayerType,
} = require('@opentelemetry/instrumentation-express');

const expressInstrumentation = new ExpressInstrumentation({
  requestHook: function (span, info) {
    if (info.layerType === ExpressLayerType.REQUEST_HANDLER) {
      span.setAttribute(SEMATTRS_HTTP_METHOD, info.request.method);
      span.setAttribute(SEMATTRS_HTTP_URL, info.request.baseUrl);
    }
  },
});
```

{{% /tab %}}

{{< /tabpane >}}

You'll need to refer to each instrumentation library's documentation for
advanced configuration.

### Available instrumentation libraries

You can find a list of available instrumentation in the
[registry](/ecosystem/registry/?language=js&component=instrumentation).

## Instrument a library natively

If you want to add native instrumentation to your library, you should review the
following documentation:

- The concept page [Libraries](/docs/concepts/instrumentation/libraries/)
  provides you with insights on when to instrument and what to instrument
- The [manual instrumentation](/docs/languages/js/instrumentation/) provides you
  with the required code examples to create traces, metrics and logs for your
  library
- The
  [Instrumentation Implementation Guide](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js-contrib/blob/main/GUIDELINES.md)
  for Node.js and browser contains JavaScript specific best practices for
  creating library instrumentation.

## Create an instrumentation library

While having out of the box observability for an application is the preferred
way, this is not always possible or desired. In those cases, you can create an
instrumentation library, which would inject instrumentation calls, using
mechanisms such as wrapping interfaces, subscribing to library-specific
callbacks, or translating existing telemetry into the OpenTelemetry model.

To create such a library follow the
[Instrumentation Implementation Guide](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js-contrib/blob/main/GUIDELINES.md)
for Node.js and browser.