Show HN: Local-first observability for AI SDK on Next.js in 10 lines of code (github.com)

The Context Company released a local-first, open-source observability option for instrumenting Vercel’s AI SDK on Next.js—promised to work in “about 10 lines of code,” requires no account or API key, and is designed to prioritize developer experience. To use it you install @contextcompany/otel, @vercel/otel and @opentelemetry/api, add an instrumentation file that calls registerOTelTCC({ local: true }) (it wraps @vercel/otel), drop their widget script into your app/layout, and enable experimental_telemetry: { isEnabled: true } on AI SDK calls (AI SDK v5). Local mode currently supports only Vercel AI SDK on Next.js. Technically this leverages OpenTelemetry integration with Vercel’s OTEL helper to capture AI SDK telemetry locally, giving fast, privacy-conscious debugging and observability for LLM/agent calls without shipping data to a managed backend. By default the local mode collects limited anonymous usage data (no PII) and you can disable it with TCC_DISABLE_ANONYMOUS_TELEMETRY=true. Significance: it lowers the barrier to instrumenting AI interactions, speeds developer feedback loops for agent behavior and performance, and provides an opt-out, local-first path for teams concerned about telemetry and data governance.