How to Configure OpenTelemetry and PostHog Telemetry for Strix

Strix supports both OpenTelemetry (OTEL) span export to Traceloop and anonymized PostHog usage analytics, with each subsystem independently toggleable via environment variables or the ~/.strix/cli-config.json file.

The usestrix/strix repository ships with a built-in telemetry stack that captures execution traces and high-level usage metrics. You can configure OpenTelemetry for distributed tracing and PostHog for product analytics without modifying source code, using only runtime configuration flags.

Understanding Strix Telemetry Flags

Strix evaluates three hierarchical flags defined in strix/config/config.py to determine whether telemetry flows are active. According to the source code, these boolean-ish values are parsed from environment variables or the CLI config file:

• Master switch: STRIX_TELEMETRY (config key: strix_telemetry) defaults to "1" (enabled)
• OpenTelemetry: STRIX_OTEL_TELEMETRY (config key: strix_otel_telemetry) defaults to None, falling back to the master switch
• PostHog: STRIX_POSTHOG_TELEMETRY (config key: strix_posthog_telemetry) defaults to None, falling back to the master switch

In strix/telemetry/flags.py, the helper functions is_otel_enabled() and is_posthog_enabled() check these variables. If any flag resolves to a disabled value (0, false, no, or off), that telemetry path is silently skipped.

Configuring OpenTelemetry (Traceloop)

When the Tracer class initializes in strix/telemetry/tracer.py (lines 48-82), it inspects the OTEL flag and conditionally invokes _setup_telemetry() (lines 114-121). This method performs two distinct export configurations based on your environment.

Local-Only JSONL Export

By default, Strix writes spans to a local JSON Lines file. The bootstrap_otel() function in strix/telemetry/utils.py (lines 337-445) creates a simple exporter that appends each span to events.jsonl inside the current run directory.

Remote Export via Traceloop

To forward spans to a remote collector, provide both a base URL and API key. The tracer reads traceloop_base_url and traceloop_api_key from the global Config object (lines 124-126 in tracer.py). If present, bootstrap_otel() adds an OTLP HTTP exporter and sets the internal _remote_export_enabled flag to True.

Enable remote OpenTelemetry export with these variables:

export STRIX_OTEL_TELEMETRY=1
export STRIX_TRACELOOP_BASE_URL="https://otlp.traceloop.com"
export STRIX_TRACELOOP_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

If either URL or key is missing, Strix falls back to local-only JSONL output.

Configuring PostHog Analytics

PostHog telemetry lives in strix/telemetry/posthog.py (lines 9-31 and 78-107). When enabled, the library emits anonymized usage events containing no target URLs, source code, or vulnerability details.

Event lifecycle:

• Start: posthog.start() fires a scan_started event capturing model type, scan mode (white-box vs. black-box), interactivity flags, and first-run detection
• End: At the conclusion of main() in strix/interface/main.py (lines 47-53), a scan_ended event transmits aggregated counts, token usage, and total duration

Disable PostHog while keeping OTEL active:

export STRIX_POSTHOG_TELEMETRY=0

Complete Configuration Example

The following shell script demonstrates a fully enabled telemetry stack with remote OTEL export:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Enable all telemetry channels

export STRIX_TELEMETRY=1
export STRIX_OTEL_TELEMETRY=1
export STRIX_POSTHOG_TELEMETRY=1

# Configure remote Traceloop endpoint (omit for local-only)

export STRIX_TRACELOOP_BASE_URL="https://otlp.traceloop.com"
export STRIX_TRACELOOP_API_KEY="my-secret-key"

# Execute scan

strix --target https://example.com --scan-mode quick

After execution, verify that ./strix_runs/<run-name>/events.jsonl contains OTEL spans, and check your Traceloop dashboard for remote traces.

Verifying Your Telemetry Configuration

You can inspect the active configuration at runtime using the public API from strix/telemetry/flags.py:

from strix.telemetry.flags import is_otel_enabled, is_posthog_enabled

print("OTEL enabled:", is_otel_enabled())       # Checks STRIX_OTEL_TELEMETRY

print("PostHog enabled:", is_posthog_enabled()) # Checks STRIX_POSTHOG_TELEMETRY

To confirm whether remote export is active for the current tracer instance:

from strix.telemetry.tracer import get_global_tracer

tracer = get_global_tracer()
if tracer:
    print("Remote OTEL export:", tracer._remote_export_enabled)

Summary

• Three-tier controls: The master STRIX_TELEMETRY flag governs both subsystems, while STRIX_OTEL_TELEMETRY and STRIX_POSTHOG_TELEMETRY allow fine-grained overrides.
• Dual OTEL modes: OpenTelemetry spans write locally to events.jsonl by default; supply STRIX_TRACELOOP_BASE_URL and STRIX_TRACELOOP_API_KEY to enable remote OTLP export.
• Privacy-first analytics: PostHog captures only high-level metadata (scan_started, scan_ended) with zero code or vulnerability payload transmission.
• Runtime verification: Use is_otel_enabled(), is_posthog_enabled(), and the tracer's _remote_export_enabled attribute to audit active exporters programmatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I completely disable all telemetry in Strix?

Set the master switch to 0, false, no, or off:

export STRIX_TELEMETRY=0

This disables both OpenTelemetry and PostHog regardless of their individual flag values, as implemented in strix/telemetry/flags.py.

Can I use OpenTelemetry without sending data to a remote collector?

Yes. Simply omit STRIX_TRACELOOP_BASE_URL and STRIX_TRACELOOP_API_KEY. The bootstrap_otel() function in strix/telemetry/utils.py will initialize only the local JSONL exporter, writing spans to events.jsonl in your run directory without network transmission.

What data does PostHog receive during a scan?

PostHog receives anonymized aggregate metrics only. According to strix/telemetry/posthog.py and strix/interface/main.py, events include the LLM model name, scan mode classification, token counts, and duration—but never the target URL, source code under review, or identified vulnerabilities.

Where does Strix store the local OTEL span data?

Spans are written to events.jsonl inside the specific run directory (typically ./strix_runs/<run-name>/). This path is determined during Tracer initialization in strix/telemetry/tracer.py, where the JSONL exporter is configured alongside any remote OTLP endpoints.

{
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    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
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}