MCP Servers

spanlens/Spanlens

Open source LLM observability and monitoring. Drop-in proxy for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini with request logging, cost tracking, and agent tracing.

Our verdict

Not reviewed yet

We have not reviewed spanlens/Spanlens yet

No one at Enterprise DNA has checked this listing against its sources. The description comes from public listings gathered automatically. Any fact below shows where it came from and when it was last checked.

How we review records

From the listing

About spanlens/Spanlens

Open source LLM observability and monitoring tool. Acts as a drop-in proxy for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini, logging requests, tracking costs, and tracing agents. Self-hosted via a single Docker command, licensed under MIT.

Best for

Developers who want lightweight, self-hosted LLM observability without vendor lock-in.

Use cases

Monitor LLM API usage and costs
Trace multi-step agent executions
Log and inspect requests for debugging

Notes

13 stars on GitHub. Last updated 2026-08-31. Licensed MIT.

Pros

Drop-in proxy requires no code changes
Self-hosted with one Docker command
MIT licensed, open source

Cons

Low adoption (13 GitHub stars)
Requires self-hosting and maintenance
Adds a proxy layer, potential latency

Key facts

What we have checked

Not checked yet. Dated facts such as prices, releases and repository activity appear here once we have confirmed them from a source.

How to use

How to set it up

As the listing publishes it. We have not run this install.

Install

npx @spanlens/cli init

Tools exposed

Self-hostable

Clients the listing names (not checked here)

Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, ChatGPT

Install

Add spanlens/Spanlens to your client

Not verified yet

Our lab has not run this server yet. "Config checked" on a client means the recipe matches that client's documented config format; it does not mean we ran it.

Claude Code

Config checked

Run in your terminal (runs on your computer)

claude mcp add --env SPANLENS_API_KEY=YOUR_SPANLENS_API_KEY --transport stdio spanlens-spanlens -- npx -y @spanlens/mcp-server@0.3.0

Needs SPANLENS_API_KEY: replace each YOUR_ value with your own.

Version 0.3.0 · From the Official MCP registry, read 24 Oct 2026 · Format checked against Claude Code's config docs

Claude Desktop

Config checked

Add to claude_desktop_config.json (runs on your computer)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spanlens-spanlens": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@spanlens/mcp-server@0.3.0"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SPANLENS_API_KEY": "YOUR_SPANLENS_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Needs SPANLENS_API_KEY: replace each YOUR_ value with your own.

Version 0.3.0 · From the Official MCP registry, read 24 Oct 2026 · Format checked against Claude Desktop's config docs

Cursor

Config checked

Add to .cursor/mcp.json (runs on your computer)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "spanlens-spanlens": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@spanlens/mcp-server@0.3.0"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SPANLENS_API_KEY": "YOUR_SPANLENS_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Needs SPANLENS_API_KEY: replace each YOUR_ value with your own.

Version 0.3.0 · From the Official MCP registry, read 24 Oct 2026 · Format checked against Cursor's config docs

VS Code

Config checked

Add to .vscode/mcp.json (runs on your computer)

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "spanlens-api-key",
      "description": "Spanlens API key. Must be a scope=public key (sl_live_pub_*) issued from the Public Keys card at https://spanlens.io/projects — the server refuses to start with a full-access sl_live_* key.",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "spanlens-spanlens": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@spanlens/mcp-server@0.3.0"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SPANLENS_API_KEY": "${input:spanlens-api-key}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Needs SPANLENS_API_KEY: replace each YOUR_ value with your own.

Version 0.3.0 · From the Official MCP registry, read 24 Oct 2026 · Format checked against VS Code's config docs

Codex

Config checked

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml (runs on your computer)

[mcp_servers.spanlens-spanlens]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@spanlens/mcp-server@0.3.0"]
env_vars = ["SPANLENS_API_KEY"]

Needs SPANLENS_API_KEY: replace each YOUR_ value with your own.

Version 0.3.0 · From the Official MCP registry, read 24 Oct 2026 · Format checked against Codex's config docs

ChatGPT: ChatGPT connects only to remote servers that need no API key.

Recipes come from the server's entry in the official MCP registry. Check the package name before you run it, and keep keys out of shared files.

Works with

What spanlens/Spanlens connects to

5 clients, each with how we know and when we checked.

Works with	Type	How we know	Checked
Claude Code	Client	Install recipe matches the client's documented formatRuns locally, version 0.3.0Config checked	24 Oct 2026Claude Code docs
Claude Desktop	Client	Install recipe matches the client's documented formatRuns locally, version 0.3.0Config checked	24 Oct 2026Claude Desktop docs
Cursor	Client	Install recipe matches the client's documented formatRuns locally, version 0.3.0Config checked	24 Oct 2026Cursor docs
VS Code	Client	Install recipe matches the client's documented formatRuns locally, version 0.3.0Config checked	24 Oct 2026VS Code docs
Codex	Client	Install recipe matches the client's documented formatRuns locally, version 0.3.0Config checked	24 Oct 2026Codex docs

Alternatives

Alternatives to spanlens/Spanlens

Record	Type	How we know	Checked
LiteLLMThis is an alternative to it	Open source	Named in the listing	Not dated

Compare

Compare spanlens/Spanlens side by side

spanlens/Spanlens vs LiteLLM

Sources

Where this comes from

No sources recorded yet. Each source we check is listed here with the date we checked it.

A source shows what was published when we checked it. It does not certify security, performance or a working installation. Read our method.

Changelog

What changed

No changes recorded yet. Releases, price changes and deprecations appear here, with their dates, once we track them for this record.

Open-source & AI alternatives

Swap-in tools that solve the same job. Weigh the trade-offs before you commit.

Alternative to1 entry

Source reviewedOOSS

LiteLLM

BerriAI

A Python SDK and a self-hosted proxy, the LiteLLM AI Gateway, that let apps call more than 100 model providers through one OpenAI-format API, with virtual keys, budgets, fallbacks and spend tracking.

Pairs with

Other entries in the index that connect to this one. Click through to see the chain.

Pairs with2 entries

AAgentslowCatalogue

Crewai

Community

Framework for orchestrating role-playing, autonomous AI agents. By fostering collaborative intelligence, CrewAI empowers agents to work together seamlessly, tackling complex tasks.

AAgentslowCatalogue

OpenDevin

Community

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