# Observing AI Agent Decisions with OpenTelemetry

DevFeed: [Observing AI Agent Decisions with OpenTelemetry](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/your-ai-agent-won-t-crash-it-will-happily-pay-an-invoice-without-approval-17965.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://newsletter.systemdesignclassroom.com/p/your-ai-agent-wont-crash-the-same>)

Author: Raul Junco

Published: 2026-08-22T12:06:38Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [System Design Classroom](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/system-design-classroom.md>)

Topics: [agent observability](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/agent-observability.md>), [OpenTelemetry](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/opentelemetry.md>), [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [telemetry](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/telemetry.md>), [Back end](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/backend.md>)

Tags: [agent](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agent.md>), [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [ai-agent](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-agent.md>), [opentelemetry](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/opentelemetry.md>), [telemetry](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/telemetry.md>), [traces](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/traces.md>)

## AI overview

A practical guide to observing AI agent decisions with OpenTelemetry. It explains why conventional logs, metrics, and distributed traces may not show whether agents chose the correct workflow, and argues that decision recording and observation should be in place before production.

## Source excerpt

A practical guide to observing AI decisions with OpenTelemetry