---
title: "Agent-Assisted Setup"
description: >-
  Add Phoenix tracing to your app with a single command — `px setup` hands the
  instrumentation to your coding agent and waits until a real trace arrives.
---

# Agent-Assisted Setup

The fastest way to add Phoenix tracing to your application. One command connects your app to Phoenix, hands the instrumentation to your coding agent, and confirms a real trace arrived — so "done" means traces are actually flowing.

<Tip>
**Run this from your app's root directory:**
```bash
npx -y @arizeai/phoenix-cli setup
```
Already installed the CLI (`npm install -g @arizeai/phoenix-cli`)? Just run `px setup`.
</Tip>

<Info>
**Supported stacks:** Python and TypeScript/JavaScript. See the [full integration list](/docs/phoenix/integrations) for the LLM providers and frameworks Phoenix instruments.
</Info>

## What happens when you run it

`px setup` walks you through an interactive flow with five steps:

1. **Checks git safety.** Warns on a dirty tree so agent edits stay separate from your own work.
2. **Establishes the connection.** Asks where your Phoenix instance is running, handles auth, and writes a gitignored `.env.phoenix` file.
3. **Hands off instrumentation.** Passes an instrumentation task to a coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or OpenCode), which detects your language, LLM providers, and frameworks, then adds tracing.
4. **Verifies traces.** Waits until the Phoenix API confirms a real trace arrived.
5. **Sets up tooling.** Optionally points `px` at the new project and installs Phoenix [skills](/docs/phoenix/integrations/developer-tools/coding-agents#skills) so your agent can query what you captured.

## Confirm traces are flowing

`px setup` verifies traces automatically. To check for yourself:

1. Run your application and trigger at least one LLM call.
2. Open the Phoenix UI (local: http://localhost:6006, or your deployment URL).
3. Open the **Traces** view and verify traces appear under your project.

If no traces appear, check the [Troubleshooting FAQ](/docs/phoenix/tracing/concepts-tracing/faqs-tracing).

## Re-run a single step

The connection questions only need answering once. On a repo that's already registered, re-run just the slice you need:

```bash
px setup instrument   # Instrument and verify traces again
px setup skills       # Install the coding-agent skills alone
```

## Run non-interactively (CI or agents)

Pass flags instead of answering prompts:

```bash
# Connection only. Writes .env.phoenix, no source changes.
px setup --no-input --endpoint http://localhost:6006 --project my-app

# Instrument too. Requires --agent when there's no TTY to choose one.
px setup --no-input --instrument --agent claude --yolo --format raw
```

A run that instruments only succeeds if a trace actually arrived — the agent's
own claim that it finished doesn't count. **Exit code `6` means the wait ran out
with no trace**, so tracing isn't confirmed working even though the connection,
`.env.phoenix`, and the agent's edits are all in place. In a pipeline, treat `6`
as "configured but unverified" rather than a hard failure: re-run
`px setup instrument` or check the exporter. In `--format json|raw`, the
`verification` field carries the same verdict.

See the [CLI reference](/docs/phoenix/sdk-api-reference/typescript/arizeai-phoenix-cli#px-setup) for the full list of flags.

## Use an unsupported agent

`px setup` hands off to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode. If your agent isn't one of those (Windsurf, Copilot, and others), paste this prompt into it instead:

```text
Follow the instructions from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Arize-ai/phoenix/main/docs/PROMPT.md and ask me questions as needed.
```

For ongoing agent workflows beyond initial setup (CLI, MCP, and skills), see the [Coding Agents](/docs/phoenix/integrations/developer-tools/coding-agents) guide.
