Realtime Tracing Architecture

Use this reference when reviewing or implementing Realtime tracing behavior, especially claims that RealtimeSession should emit the same trace hierarchy as Runner.

Two Separate Tracing Systems

Realtime integrations involve two independent tracing paths:

Path	Owner	Configuration	Result
Realtime API server tracing	Realtime API	"auto", workflow_name, group_id, and metadata	The server creates a Realtime session trace in the Traces Dashboard.
Agents SDK client tracing	Agents SDK tracing provider	trace(), agent_span(), and other SDK span factories	The SDK exports locally created traces and spans through its tracing processor.

The current Python SDK has no mapping from an Agents SDK client trace_id, span_id, or parent context into RealtimeModelTracingConfig or the model's session.update. A server-created Realtime trace is therefore not attached as a child of an SDK-created trace or span by this implementation. Likewise, adding an SDK agent_span() around RealtimeSession does not make server-side trace contents children of that span.

If both paths are enabled, the dashboard can contain two separate traces. A shared group_id can make them easier to filter and correlate, but it does not merge them or create a parent-child relationship.

Current Python SDK Behavior

• RealtimeModelTracingConfig exposes only workflow_name, group_id, and metadata in src/agents/realtime/config.py.
• OpenAIRealtimeWebSocketModel defaults the Realtime tracing configuration to "auto" when the caller does not provide one.
• After receiving session.created, the model sends the tracing configuration through a session.update event.
• RealtimeRunConfig.tracing_disabled prevents the SDK from enabling Realtime tracing for that session.

Verify these paths in src/agents/realtime/openai_realtime.py and src/agents/realtime/session.py; do not rely on old issue descriptions because Realtime tracing support has changed over time.

Maintainer Constraints

1. Identify whether the behavior belongs to the Realtime API's server trace or an Agents SDK client trace created with trace().
2. A client-side agent span does not repair missing server tracing and does not create the unified hierarchy produced by Runner.
3. The current Python SDK cannot place server-created Realtime spans under an SDK-created trace or span because it does not carry client trace parentage through the Realtime tracing configuration. Recheck the live protocol with $openai-knowledge before treating that implementation gap as permanent.
4. Use the server trace for Realtime model activity. Use a shared group_id or metadata when correlation with a client trace is required.
5. Parallel SDK spans need an explicit product and maintenance contract covering the dual-trace user experience, async task context, handoff parenting, failure cleanup, and the client-only operations represented by those spans.
6. A client trace becoming non-empty is not evidence that Realtime server activity has been captured or parented correctly.

Sources

• src/agents/realtime/config.py
• src/agents/realtime/openai_realtime.py
• src/agents/realtime/session.py

Recheck the official API reference with $openai-knowledge before changing this guidance or implementing new protocol behavior.