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Both SDKs resolve configuration the same way, from the same environment variable names, with the same defaults.

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Precedence

Explicit arguments to init() win, then ATLAN_* environment variables, then the standard OTLP environment variables, then the built-in defaults.

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Environment variables

Boolean variables accept true, 1, or yes, case-insensitively. Anything else reads as false. A non-numeric value in a numeric variable is ignored with a warning and the default applies. When no ATLAN_API_KEY is set, the SDK falls back to OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_ENDPOINT or OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT and behaves as a generic OTLP client.
Cloudflare Workers have no ambient environment, so none of these variables are readable there. Pass every value through init() options instead — see Serverless.

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Export modes

init() resolves exactly one mode and logs which:

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When tracing disables itself

Misconfiguration degrades to disabled with a warning rather than breaking your application. The SDK disables itself when:
  • no API key and no OTLP endpoint are configured
  • service_name is missing
  • base_url is not https — plain http is allowed only for localhost, 127.0.0.1, and ::1
Because these are warnings, a misconfigured process starts and serves traffic normally while reporting nothing. If traces are missing, check the startup logs first.

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The one hard failure

Exporting to an Atlan endpoint with no workspace raises AtlanConfigError at init():
This is deliberate. Traces without a workspace land in default and are effectively lost, so failing at startup is better than silently discarding production telemetry.

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init() options

Every environment variable above has an equivalent option. These have no environment equivalent: init() is idempotent per API key. Calling it again with the same key returns the existing client rather than building a second pipeline — safe in a module that may be imported more than once.

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Lifecycle

flush() exports everything buffered and resolves when the request completes. shutdown() flushes and then tears the pipeline down; use it on final exit. Long-lived services rely on the background batch and need neither.

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Next steps

Serverless

Immediate export, waitUntil, and Workers bundling.

Privacy controls

Content suppression, masking, and sampling.