sentry-nextjs-sdk

All Skills > SDK Setup > Next.js SDK

Sentry Next.js SDK

Opinionated wizard that scans your Next.js project and guides you through complete Sentry setup across all three runtimes: browser, Node.js server, and Edge.

Invoke This Skill When

• User asks to "add Sentry to Next.js" or "set up Sentry" in a Next.js app
• User wants to install or configure @sentry/nextjs
• User wants error monitoring, tracing, session replay, logging, or profiling for Next.js
• User asks about instrumentation.ts, withSentryConfig(), or global-error.tsx
• User wants to capture server actions, server component errors, or edge runtime errors

Note: SDK versions and APIs below reflect current Sentry docs at time of writing (@sentry/nextjs ≥8.28.0). Always verify against docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/nextjs/ before implementing.

---

Phase 1: Detect

Run these commands to understand the project before making any recommendations:

# Detect Next.js version and existing Sentry
cat package.json | grep -E '"next"|"@sentry/'

# Detect router type (App Router vs Pages Router)
ls src/app app src/pages pages 2>/dev/null

# Check for existing Sentry config files
ls instrumentation.ts instrumentation-client.ts sentry.server.config.ts sentry.edge.config.ts 2>/dev/null
ls src/instrumentation.ts src/instrumentation-client.ts 2>/dev/null

# Check next.config
ls next.config.ts next.config.js next.config.mjs 2>/dev/null

# Check for existing error boundaries
find . -name "global-error.tsx" -o -name "_error.tsx" 2>/dev/null | grep -v node_modules

# Check build tool
cat package.json | grep -E '"turbopack"|"webpack"'

# Check for logging libraries
cat package.json | grep -E '"pino"|"winston"|"bunyan"'

# Check for companion backend
ls ../backend ../server ../api 2>/dev/null
cat ../go.mod ../requirements.txt ../Gemfile 2>/dev/null | head -3

What to determine:

Question	Impact
Next.js version?	13+ required; 15+ needed for Turbopack support
App Router or Pages Router?	Determines error boundary files needed (global-error.tsx vs _error.tsx)
@sentry/nextjs already present?	Skip install, go to feature config
Existing instrumentation.ts?	Merge Sentry into it rather than replace
Turbopack in use?	Tree-shaking in withSentryConfig is webpack-only
Logging library detected?	Recommend Sentry Logs integration
Backend directory found?	Trigger Phase 4 cross-link suggestion

---

Phase 2: Recommend

Present a concrete recommendation based on what you found. Don't ask open-ended questions — lead with a proposal:

Recommended (core coverage):

• ✅ Error Monitoring — always; captures server errors, client errors, server actions, and unhandled promise rejections
• ✅ Tracing — server-side request tracing + client-side navigation spans across all runtimes
• ✅ Session Replay — recommended for user-facing apps; records sessions around errors

Optional (enhanced observability):

• ⚡ Logging — structured logs via Sentry.logger.*; recommend when pino/winston or log search is needed
• ⚡ Profiling — continuous profiling; requires Document-Policy: js-profiling header
• ⚡ AI Monitoring — OpenAI, Vercel AI SDK, Anthropic; recommend when AI/LLM calls detected
• ⚡ Crons — detect missed/failed scheduled jobs; recommend when cron patterns detected
• ⚡ Metrics — custom metrics via Sentry.metrics.*; recommend when custom KPIs or business metrics needed

Recommendation logic:

Feature	Recommend when...
Error Monitoring	Always — non-negotiable baseline
Tracing	Always for Next.js — server route tracing + client navigation are high-value
Session Replay	User-facing app, login flows, or checkout pages
Logging	App uses structured logging or needs log-to-trace correlation
Profiling	Performance-critical app; client sets Document-Policy: js-profiling
AI Monitoring	App makes OpenAI, Vercel AI SDK, or Anthropic calls
Crons	App has Vercel Cron jobs, scheduled API routes, or node-cron usage
Metrics	App needs custom counters, gauges, or histograms via Sentry.metrics.*

Propose: "I recommend setting up Error Monitoring + Tracing + Session Replay. Want me to also add Logging or Profiling?"

---

Phase 3: Guide

Option 1: Wizard (Recommended)

You need to run this yourself — the wizard opens a browser for login and requires interactive input that the agent can't handle. Copy-paste into your terminal:

npx @sentry/wizard@latest -i nextjs

It handles login, org/project selection, SDK installation, config files (instrumentation-client.ts, sentry.server.config.ts, sentry.edge.config.ts, instrumentation.ts), next.config.ts wrapping, source map upload, and adds a /sentry-example-page.

Once it finishes, come back and skip to Verification.

If the user skips the wizard, proceed with Option 2 (Manual Setup) below.

---

Option 2: Manual Setup

Install

npm install @sentry/nextjs --save

Create instrumentation-client.ts — Browser / Client Runtime

Older docs used sentry.client.config.ts — the current pattern is instrumentation-client.ts.

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN ?? "___PUBLIC_DSN___",

  sendDefaultPii: true,

  // 100% in dev, 10% in production
  tracesSampleRate: process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? 1.0 : 0.1,

  // Session Replay: 10% of all sessions, 100% of sessions with errors
  replaysSessionSampleRate: 0.1,
  replaysOnErrorSampleRate: 1.0,

  enableLogs: true,

  integrations: [
    Sentry.replayIntegration(),
    // Optional: user feedback widget
    // Sentry.feedbackIntegration({ colorScheme: "system" }),
  ],
});

// Hook into App Router navigation transitions (App Router only)
export const onRouterTransitionStart = Sentry.captureRouterTransitionStart;

Create sentry.server.config.ts — Node.js Server Runtime

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN ?? "___DSN___",

  sendDefaultPii: true,
  tracesSampleRate: process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? 1.0 : 0.1,

  // Attach local variable values to stack frames
  includeLocalVariables: true,

  enableLogs: true,
});

Create sentry.edge.config.ts — Edge Runtime

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN ?? "___DSN___",

  sendDefaultPii: true,
  tracesSampleRate: process.env.NODE_ENV === "development" ? 1.0 : 0.1,

  enableLogs: true,
});

Create instrumentation.ts — Server-Side Registration Hook

Requires experimental.instrumentationHook: true in next.config for Next.js < 14.0.4. It's stable in 14.0.4+.

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";

export async function register() {
  if (process.env.NEXT_RUNTIME === "nodejs") {
    await import("./sentry.server.config");
  }

  if (process.env.NEXT_RUNTIME === "edge") {
    await import("./sentry.edge.config");
  }
}

// Automatically captures all unhandled server-side request errors
// Requires @sentry/nextjs >= 8.28.0
export const onRequestError = Sentry.captureRequestError;

Runtime dispatch:

NEXT_RUNTIME	Config file loaded
"nodejs"	sentry.server.config.ts
"edge"	sentry.edge.config.ts
(client bundle)	instrumentation-client.ts (Next.js handles this directly)

App Router: Create app/global-error.tsx

This catches errors in the root layout and React render errors:

"use client";

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";
import NextError from "next/error";
import { useEffect } from "react";

export default function GlobalError({
  error,
}: {
  error: Error & { digest?: string };
}) {
  useEffect(() => {
    Sentry.captureException(error);
  }, [error]);

  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <NextError statusCode={0} />
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

Pages Router: Update pages/_error.tsx

import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";
import type { NextPageContext } from "next";
import NextErrorComponent from "next/error";

type ErrorProps = { statusCode: number };

export default function CustomError({ statusCode }: ErrorProps) {
  return <NextErrorComponent statusCode={statusCode} />;
}

CustomError.getInitialProps = async (ctx: NextPageContext) => {
  await Sentry.captureUnderscoreErrorException(ctx);
  return NextErrorComponent.getInitialProps(ctx);
};

Wrap next.config.ts with withSentryConfig()

import type { NextConfig } from "next";
import { withSentryConfig } from "@sentry/nextjs";

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  // your existing Next.js config
};

export default withSentryConfig(nextConfig, {
  org: "___ORG_SLUG___",
  project: "___PROJECT_SLUG___",

  // Source map upload auth token (see Source Maps section below)
  authToken: process.env.SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN,

  // Upload wider set of client source files for better stack trace resolution
  widenClientFileUpload: true,

  // Create a proxy API route to bypass ad-blockers
  tunnelRoute: "/monitoring",

  // Suppress non-CI output
  silent: !process.env.CI,
});

Exclude Tunnel Route from Middleware

If you have middleware.ts, exclude the tunnel path from auth or redirect logic:

// middleware.ts
export const config = {
  matcher: [
    // Exclude monitoring route, Next.js internals, and static files
    "/((?!monitoring|_next/static|_next/image|favicon.ico).*)",
  ],
};

---

Source Maps Setup

Source maps make production stack traces readable — without them, you see minified code. This is non-negotiable for production apps.

Step 1: Generate a Sentry auth token

Go to sentry.io/settings/auth-tokens/ and create a token with project:releases and org:read scopes.

Step 2: Set environment variables

# .env.sentry-build-plugin  (gitignore this file)
SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN=sntrys_eyJ...

Or set in CI secrets:

SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN=sntrys_eyJ...
SENTRY_ORG=my-org        # optional if set in next.config
SENTRY_PROJECT=my-project # optional if set in next.config

Step 3: Add to .gitignore

.env.sentry-build-plugin

Step 4: Verify authToken is wired in next.config.ts

withSentryConfig(nextConfig, {
  org: "my-org",
  project: "my-project",
  authToken: process.env.SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN, // reads from .env.sentry-build-plugin or CI env
  widenClientFileUpload: true,
});

Source maps are uploaded automatically on every next build.

---

For Each Agreed Feature

Load the corresponding reference file and follow its steps:

Feature	Reference file	Load when...
Error Monitoring	references/error-monitoring.md	Always (baseline) — App Router error boundaries, Pages Router _error.tsx, server action wrapping
Tracing	references/tracing.md	Server-side request tracing, client navigation, distributed tracing, tracePropagationTargets
Session Replay	references/session-replay.md	User-facing app; privacy masking, canvas recording, network capture
Logging	references/logging.md	Structured logs, Sentry.logger.*, log-to-trace correlation
Profiling	references/profiling.md	Continuous profiling, Document-Policy header, nodeProfilingIntegration
AI Monitoring	references/ai-monitoring.md	App uses OpenAI, Vercel AI SDK, or Anthropic
Crons	references/crons.md	Vercel Cron, scheduled API routes, node-cron
Metrics	references/metrics.md	Custom counters, gauges, distributions via Sentry.metrics.*

For each feature: read the reference file, follow its steps exactly, and verify before moving on.

---

Verification

After wizard or manual setup, verify Sentry is working:

// Add temporarily to a server action or API route, then remove
import * as Sentry from "@sentry/nextjs";

throw new Error("Sentry test error — delete me");
// or
Sentry.captureException(new Error("Sentry test error — delete me"));

Then check your Sentry Issues dashboard — the error should appear within ~30 seconds.

Verification checklist:

Check	How
Client errors captured	Throw in a client component, verify in Sentry
Server errors captured	Throw in a server action or API route
Edge errors captured	Throw in middleware or edge route handler
Source maps working	Check stack trace shows readable file names
Session Replay working	Check Replays tab in Sentry dashboard

---

Config Reference

Sentry.init() Options

Option	Type	Default	Notes
dsn	string	—	Required. Use NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN for client, SENTRY_DSN for server
tracesSampleRate	number	—	0–1; 1.0 in dev, 0.1 in prod recommended
replaysSessionSampleRate	number	0.1	Fraction of all sessions recorded
replaysOnErrorSampleRate	number	1.0	Fraction of error sessions recorded
sendDefaultPii	boolean	false	Include IP, request headers in events
includeLocalVariables	boolean	false	Attach local variable values to stack frames (server only)
enableLogs	boolean	false	Enable Sentry Logs product
environment	string	auto	"production", "staging", etc.
release	string	auto	Set to commit SHA or version tag
debug	boolean	false	Log SDK activity to console

withSentryConfig() Options

Option	Type	Notes
org	string	Sentry organization slug
project	string	Sentry project slug
authToken	string	Source map upload token (SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN)
widenClientFileUpload	boolean	Upload more client files for better stack traces
tunnelRoute	string	API route path for ad-blocker bypass (e.g. "/monitoring")
silent	boolean	Suppress build output (!process.env.CI recommended)
webpack.treeshake.*	object	Tree-shake SDK features (webpack only, not Turbopack)

Environment Variables

Variable	Runtime	Purpose
NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN	Client	DSN for browser Sentry init (public)
SENTRY_DSN	Server / Edge	DSN for server/edge Sentry init
SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN	Build	Source map upload auth token (secret)
SENTRY_ORG	Build	Org slug (alternative to org in config)
SENTRY_PROJECT	Build	Project slug (alternative to project in config)
SENTRY_RELEASE	Server	Release version string (auto-detected from git)
NEXT_RUNTIME	Server / Edge	"nodejs" or "edge" (set by Next.js internally)

---

Phase 4: Cross-Link

After completing Next.js setup, check for companion services:

# Check for backend services in adjacent directories
ls ../backend ../server ../api ../services 2>/dev/null

# Check for backend language indicators
cat ../go.mod 2>/dev/null | head -3
cat ../requirements.txt ../pyproject.toml 2>/dev/null | head -3
cat ../Gemfile 2>/dev/null | head -3
cat ../pom.xml ../build.gradle 2>/dev/null | head -3

If a backend is found, suggest the matching SDK skill:

Backend detected	Suggest skill
Go (go.mod)	sentry-go-sdk
Python (requirements.txt, pyproject.toml)	sentry-python-sdk
Ruby (Gemfile)	sentry-ruby-sdk
Java/Kotlin (pom.xml, build.gradle)	See docs.sentry.io/platforms/java/
Node.js (Express, Fastify, Hapi)	@sentry/node — see docs.sentry.io/platforms/javascript/guides/express/

Connecting frontend and backend with the same DSN or linked projects enables distributed tracing — stack traces that span your browser, Next.js server, and backend API in a single trace view.

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Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Solution
Events not appearing	DSN misconfigured or debug: false hiding errors	Set debug: true temporarily; check browser network tab for requests to sentry.io
Stack traces show minified code	Source maps not uploading	Check SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN is set; run next build and look for "Source Maps" in build output
onRequestError not firing	SDK version < 8.28.0	Upgrade: npm install @sentry/nextjs@latest
Edge runtime errors missing	sentry.edge.config.ts not loaded	Verify instrumentation.ts imports it when NEXT_RUNTIME === "edge"
Tunnel route returns 404	tunnelRoute set but Next.js route missing	The plugin creates it automatically; check you ran next build after adding tunnelRoute
withSentryConfig tree-shaking breaks build	Turbopack in use	Tree-shaking options only work with webpack; remove webpack.treeshake options when using Turbopack
global-error.tsx not catching errors	Missing "use client" directive	Add "use client" as the very first line of global-error.tsx
Session Replay not recording	replayIntegration() missing from client init	Add Sentry.replayIntegration() to integrations in instrumentation-client.ts