# Sampling

> Reduce the amount of telemetry created

---

LLMS index: [llms.txt](/llms.txt)

---

[Sampling](/docs/concepts/sampling/) is a process that restricts the amount of
traces that are generated by a system. The JavaScript SDK offers several
[head samplers](/docs/concepts/sampling#head-sampling).

## Default behavior

By default, all spans are sampled, and thus, 100% of traces are sampled. If you
do not need to manage data volume, don't bother setting a sampler.

## TraceIDRatioBasedSampler

When sampling, the most common head sampler to use is the
TraceIdRatioBasedSampler. It deterministically samples a percentage of traces
that you pass in as a parameter.

### Environment Variables

You can configure the TraceIdRatioBasedSampler with environment variables:

```shell
export OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER="traceidratio"
export OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG="0.1"
```

This tells the SDK to sample spans such that only 10% of traces get created.

### Node.js

You can also configure the TraceIdRatioBasedSampler in code. Here's an example
for Node.js:

   <ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="tabs-0" role="tablist">
  <li class="nav-item">
      <button class="nav-link active"
          id="tabs-00-00-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-00-00" role="tab"
          data-td-tp-persist="typescript" aria-controls="tabs-00-00" aria-selected="true">
        TypeScript
      </button>
    </li><li class="nav-item">
      <button class="nav-link"
          id="tabs-00-01-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-00-01" role="tab"
          data-td-tp-persist="javascript" aria-controls="tabs-00-01" aria-selected="false">
        JavaScript
      </button>
    </li>
</ul>

<div class="tab-content" id="tabs-0-content">
    <div class="tab-body tab-pane fade show active"
        id="tabs-00-00" role="tabpanel" aria-labelled-by="tabs-00-00-tab" tabindex="0">
        <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-ts" data-lang="ts"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">import</span> <span class="p">{</span> <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span> <span class="p">}</span> <span class="kr">from</span> <span class="s1">&#39;@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-node&#39;</span><span class="p">;</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">samplePercentage</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mf">0.1</span><span class="p">;</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">sdk</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="k">new</span> <span class="nx">NodeSDK</span><span class="p">({</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="c1">// Other SDK configuration parameters go here
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">sampler</span>: <span class="kt">new</span> <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nx">samplePercentage</span><span class="p">),</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="p">});</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div>
    </div>
    <div class="tab-body tab-pane fade"
        id="tabs-00-01" role="tabpanel" aria-labelled-by="tabs-00-01-tab" tabindex="0">
        <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-js" data-lang="js"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="p">{</span> <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span> <span class="p">}</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">require</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-node&#39;</span><span class="p">);</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">samplePercentage</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mf">0.1</span><span class="p">;</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">sdk</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="k">new</span> <span class="nx">NodeSDK</span><span class="p">({</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="c1">// Other SDK configuration parameters go here
</span></span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">sampler</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="k">new</span> <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nx">samplePercentage</span><span class="p">),</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="p">});</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div>
    </div>
</div>


### Browser

You can also configure the TraceIdRatioBasedSampler in code. Here's an example
for browser apps:

   <ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="tabs-1" role="tablist">
  <li class="nav-item">
      <button class="nav-link active"
          id="tabs-01-00-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-01-00" role="tab"
          data-td-tp-persist="typescript" aria-controls="tabs-01-00" aria-selected="true">
        TypeScript
      </button>
    </li><li class="nav-item">
      <button class="nav-link"
          id="tabs-01-01-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-01-01" role="tab"
          data-td-tp-persist="javascript" aria-controls="tabs-01-01" aria-selected="false">
        JavaScript
      </button>
    </li>
</ul>

<div class="tab-content" id="tabs-1-content">
    <div class="tab-body tab-pane fade show active"
        id="tabs-01-00" role="tabpanel" aria-labelled-by="tabs-01-00-tab" tabindex="1">
        <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-ts" data-lang="ts"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">import</span> <span class="p">{</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">WebTracerProvider</span><span class="p">,</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span><span class="p">,</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="p">}</span> <span class="kr">from</span> <span class="s1">&#39;@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-web&#39;</span><span class="p">;</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">samplePercentage</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mf">0.1</span><span class="p">;</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">provider</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="k">new</span> <span class="nx">WebTracerProvider</span><span class="p">({</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">sampler</span>: <span class="kt">new</span> <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nx">samplePercentage</span><span class="p">),</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="p">});</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div>
    </div>
    <div class="tab-body tab-pane fade"
        id="tabs-01-01" role="tabpanel" aria-labelled-by="tabs-01-01-tab" tabindex="1">
        <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-js" data-lang="js"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="p">{</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">WebTracerProvider</span><span class="p">,</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span><span class="p">,</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="p">}</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nx">require</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-web&#39;</span><span class="p">);</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">samplePercentage</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mf">0.1</span><span class="p">;</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">const</span> <span class="nx">provider</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="k">new</span> <span class="nx">WebTracerProvider</span><span class="p">({</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl">  <span class="nx">sampler</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="k">new</span> <span class="nx">TraceIdRatioBasedSampler</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nx">samplePercentage</span><span class="p">),</span>
</span></span><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="p">});</span>
</span></span></code></pre></div>
    </div>
</div>
