Using Arize Phoenix for Local Tracing Without Server Logging

ram l. · 2025-01-15T01:00:56.884Z

I just come across arize phoenix. Very new to this. Trying to use tracing for my project, is there a way to log only to trace files (stored on same server dir) but not sending to any server ? My idea is that it can be uploaded and get analyzed later

10 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Mikyo
·
Hey ram l. yeah you can do something like that. You can configure the PHOENIX_WORKING_DIR to point to some directory you have write access to. Your traces will then be written to sqlite - which is basically just a file. If you then mount phoenix on that db again you can view the traces
Mikyo
·
we can help you in Phoenix Support if you have any further questions. In general traces do go over the wire (http or gRPC but that doesn't have to hit the internet) - we often run phoenix as a sidecar.
Mikyo
·
You can run it local and use the loopback address too
ram l.
·
Let me try that Mikyo Thank you!
Mikyo
·
docs.arize.com/phoenix has a fine-tuned LLM that hopefully can help you if I'm not around. Let us know how it goes in Phoenix Support!
🙌1
ram l.
·
Phoenix Support Mikyo I think the server needs to run all the time. I see PHOENIX_WORKING_DIR has the db files in it. But launches localhost also in any case. I am testing in local notebook
session = px.launch_app(use_temp_dir=False) register()
ram l.
·
I wanted without any server running only creates the db files
Mikyo
·
So phoenix is a collector (e.g. a server). If you just wanted to write to files you would have to write a custom OTEL exporter. (https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/go/exporters/) totally possible but we don't have a file exporter or anything like that right now. Everything works over OTLP. ram l.
ram l.
·
Mikyo Ok. Understood. Thanks! Little confused about phoenix vs arize. Does Arize provide the hosting solution for open source phoenix server ?
Mikyo
·
I agree it can be a tad confusing ram l. Phoenix is open-source and free to self host. You can also use our free phoenix instances (https://app.phoenix.arize.com/login). The hosted ones are free as well and an area where we are investing (though if you want control over your data and want to share within a small team I would probably still advocate for self-hosting). Arize is a great fit if you are enterprise and you want support / SLAs / etc. (https://app.arize.com/auth/login?redirect_uri=/). This table might give you some clarity https://phoenix.arize.com/pricing/
🙌

Mikyo
·
Hey ram l. yeah you can do something like that. You can configure the PHOENIX_WORKING_DIR to point to some directory you have write access to. Your traces will then be written to sqlite - which is basically just a file. If you then mount phoenix on that db again you can view the traces
Mikyo
·
we can help you in Phoenix Support if you have any further questions. In general traces do go over the wire (http or gRPC but that doesn't have to hit the internet) - we often run phoenix as a sidecar.
Mikyo
·
You can run it local and use the loopback address too
ram l.
·
Let me try that Mikyo Thank you!
Mikyo
·
docs.arize.com/phoenix has a fine-tuned LLM that hopefully can help you if I'm not around. Let us know how it goes in Phoenix Support!
🙌1
ram l.
·
Phoenix Support Mikyo I think the server needs to run all the time. I see PHOENIX_WORKING_DIR has the db files in it. But launches localhost also in any case. I am testing in local notebook
session = px.launch_app(use_temp_dir=False) register()
ram l.
·
I wanted without any server running only creates the db files
Mikyo
·
So phoenix is a collector (e.g. a server). If you just wanted to write to files you would have to write a custom OTEL exporter. (https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/go/exporters/) totally possible but we don't have a file exporter or anything like that right now. Everything works over OTLP. ram l.
ram l.
·
Mikyo Ok. Understood. Thanks! Little confused about phoenix vs arize. Does Arize provide the hosting solution for open source phoenix server ?
Mikyo
·
I agree it can be a tad confusing ram l. Phoenix is open-source and free to self host. You can also use our free phoenix instances (https://app.phoenix.arize.com/login). The hosted ones are free as well and an area where we are investing (though if you want control over your data and want to share within a small team I would probably still advocate for self-hosting). Arize is a great fit if you are enterprise and you want support / SLAs / etc. (https://app.arize.com/auth/login?redirect_uri=/). This table might give you some clarity https://phoenix.arize.com/pricing/
🙌