# Default exporter

The `DefaultExporter` persists traces to your configured storage backend, making them accessible through Studio. It's automatically enabled when using the default observability configuration and requires no external services.

> **Production Observability:** Observability data can quickly overwhelm general-purpose databases in production. For high-traffic applications, we recommend using **ClickHouse** for the observability storage domain via [composite storage](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/composite). See [Production Recommendations](#production-recommendations) for details.

## Configuration

### Prerequisites

1. **Storage Backend**: Configure a storage provider (libSQL, PostgreSQL, etc.)
2. **Studio**: Install for viewing traces locally

### Basic Setup

```typescript
import { Mastra } from '@mastra/core'
import { Observability, DefaultExporter } from '@mastra/observability'
import { LibSQLStore } from '@mastra/libsql'

export const mastra = new Mastra({
  storage: new LibSQLStore({
    id: 'mastra-storage',
    url: 'file:./mastra.db', // Required for trace persistence
  }),
  observability: new Observability({
    configs: {
      local: {
        serviceName: 'my-service',
        exporters: [new DefaultExporter()],
      },
    },
  }),
})
```

### Recommended Configuration

Include DefaultExporter in your observability configuration:

```typescript
import { Mastra } from '@mastra/core'
import {
  Observability,
  DefaultExporter,
  CloudExporter,
  SensitiveDataFilter,
} from '@mastra/observability'
import { LibSQLStore } from '@mastra/libsql'

export const mastra = new Mastra({
  storage: new LibSQLStore({
    id: 'mastra-storage',
    url: 'file:./mastra.db',
  }),
  observability: new Observability({
    configs: {
      default: {
        serviceName: 'mastra',
        exporters: [
          new DefaultExporter(), // Persists traces to storage for Studio
          new CloudExporter(), // Sends traces to Mastra Cloud (requires MASTRA_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN)
        ],
        spanOutputProcessors: [new SensitiveDataFilter()],
      },
    },
  }),
})
```

## Studio

Access your traces through Studio:

1. Start Studio
2. Navigate to Observability
3. Filter and search your local traces
4. Inspect detailed span information

## Tracing strategies

DefaultExporter automatically selects the optimal tracing strategy based on your storage provider. You can also override this selection if needed.

### Available Strategies

| Strategy               | Description                                               | Use Case                            |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **realtime**           | Process each event immediately                            | Development, debugging, low traffic |
| **batch-with-updates** | Buffer events and batch write with full lifecycle support | Low volume Production               |
| **insert-only**        | Only process completed spans, ignore updates              | High volume Production              |

### Strategy Configuration

```typescript
new DefaultExporter({
  strategy: 'auto', // Default - let storage provider decide
  // or explicitly set:
  // strategy: 'realtime' | 'batch-with-updates' | 'insert-only'

  // Batching configuration (applies to both batch-with-updates and insert-only)
  maxBatchSize: 1000, // Max spans per batch
  maxBatchWaitMs: 5000, // Max wait before flushing
  maxBufferSize: 10000, // Max spans to buffer
})
```

## Storage provider support

Different storage providers support different tracing strategies. Some providers support observability for production workloads, while others are intended primarily for local development.

If you set the strategy to `'auto'`, the `DefaultExporter` automatically selects the optimal strategy for the storage provider. If you set the strategy to a mode that the storage provider doesn't support, you will get an error message.

### Providers with Observability Support

| Storage Provider                                                 | Preferred Strategy | Supported Strategies            | Recommended Use                       |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| **ClickHouse** (`@mastra/clickhouse`)                            | insert-only        | insert-only                     | Production (high-volume)              |
| **[PostgreSQL](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/postgresql)** | batch-with-updates | batch-with-updates, insert-only | Production (low volume)               |
| **[MSSQL](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/mssql)**           | batch-with-updates | batch-with-updates, insert-only | Production (low volume)               |
| **[MongoDB](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/mongodb)**       | batch-with-updates | batch-with-updates, insert-only | Production (low volume)               |
| **[libSQL](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/libsql)**         | batch-with-updates | batch-with-updates, insert-only | Default storage, good for development |

### Providers without Observability Support

The following storage providers **don't support** the observability domain. If you're using one of these providers and need observability, use [composite storage](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/composite) to route observability data to a supported provider:

- [Convex](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/convex)
- [DynamoDB](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/dynamodb)
- [Cloudflare D1](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/cloudflare-d1)
- [Cloudflare Durable Objects](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/cloudflare)
- [Upstash](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/upstash)
- [LanceDB](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/lance)

### Strategy Benefits

- **realtime**: Immediate visibility, best for debugging
- **batch-with-updates**: 10-100x throughput improvement, full span lifecycle
- **insert-only**: Additional 70% reduction in database operations, perfect for analytics

## Production recommendations

Observability data grows quickly in production environments. A single agent interaction can generate hundreds of spans, and high-traffic applications can produce thousands of traces per day. Most general-purpose databases aren't optimized for this write-heavy, append-only workload.

### Recommended: ClickHouse for High-Volume Production

[ClickHouse](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/composite) is a columnar database designed for high-volume analytics workloads. It's the recommended choice for production observability because:

- **Optimized for writes**: Handles millions of inserts per second
- **Efficient compression**: Reduces storage costs for trace data
- **Fast queries**: Columnar storage enables quick trace lookups and aggregations
- **Time-series native**: Built-in support for time-based data retention and partitioning

### Using Composite Storage

If you're using a provider without observability support (like Convex or DynamoDB) or want to optimize performance, use [composite storage](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/composite) to route observability data to ClickHouse while keeping other data in your primary database.

## Batching behavior

### Flush Triggers

For both batch strategies (`batch-with-updates` and `insert-only`), traces are flushed to storage when any of these conditions are met:

1. **Size trigger**: Buffer reaches `maxBatchSize` spans
2. **Time trigger**: `maxBatchWaitMs` elapsed since first event
3. **Emergency flush**: Buffer approaches `maxBufferSize` limit
4. **Shutdown**: Force flush all pending events

### Error handling

The DefaultExporter includes robust error handling for production use:

- **Retry Logic**: Exponential backoff (500ms, 1s, 2s, 4s)
- **Transient Failures**: Automatic retry with backoff
- **Persistent Failures**: Drop batch after 4 failed attempts
- **Buffer Overflow**: Prevent memory issues during storage outages

### Configuration Examples

```typescript
// Zero config - recommended for most users
new DefaultExporter()

// Development override
new DefaultExporter({
  strategy: 'realtime', // Immediate visibility for debugging
})

// High-throughput production
new DefaultExporter({
  maxBatchSize: 2000, // Larger batches
  maxBatchWaitMs: 10000, // Wait longer to fill batches
  maxBufferSize: 50000, // Handle longer outages
})

// Low-latency production
new DefaultExporter({
  maxBatchSize: 100, // Smaller batches
  maxBatchWaitMs: 1000, // Flush quickly
})
```

## Related

- [Tracing Overview](https://mastra.ai/docs/observability/tracing/overview)
- [CloudExporter](https://mastra.ai/docs/observability/tracing/exporters/cloud)
- [Composite Storage](https://mastra.ai/reference/storage/composite) - Combine multiple storage providers
- [Storage Configuration](https://mastra.ai/docs/memory/storage)