Embedded Agent Configuration

July 27, 2026 · View on GitHub

Configuration guide for embedded AI agents used by AI-powered search tools in Sentry MCP.

Overview

Sentry MCP uses embedded AI agents for the following tools:

  • search_events - Natural language search across events, metrics, and session replays
  • search_issues - Natural language search across issues
  • search_issue_events - Search events within a specific issue

These tools require an LLM provider (OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter) to be configured.

Provider Selection

Always set EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER to explicitly specify your LLM provider:

export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=openai   # or 'azure-openai' / 'anthropic' / 'openrouter'
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...            # corresponding API key

Deprecation Notice: Auto-detection based on API keys alone is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Please update your configuration to explicitly set EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER.

Resolution Order

Sentry MCP resolves the LLM provider in this order:

  1. Explicit configuration (highest priority)

    • EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER environment variable
    • --agent-provider CLI flag

  2. Conflict detection

    • If multiple provider keys are set without explicit provider selection, an error is thrown
    • This prevents silent bugs when external tools inject API keys

  3. Auto-detection (lowest priority, deprecated)

    • If only ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set → use Anthropic
    • If only OPENAI_API_KEY is set → use OpenAI
    • If only OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set → use OpenRouter
    • A deprecation warning is logged when this fallback is used

Configuration Methods

Set EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER to explicitly choose a provider:

export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=openai
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

Or:

export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=azure-openai
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
npx @sentry/mcp-server --openai-base-url=https://example.openai.azure.com/openai/v1/

Or:

export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=anthropic
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

For OpenRouter:

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...
# Optional; defaults to openai/gpt-5
export OPENROUTER_MODEL=openai/gpt-5
# Recommended, and required when multiple provider keys are set
export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=openrouter

Method 2: CLI Flag

npx @sentry/mcp-server --agent-provider=openai --access-token=...

Method 3: MCP Configuration File

In your MCP settings (e.g., Claude Desktop config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sentry": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@sentry/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SENTRY_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-token",
        "EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER": "openai",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Handling Conflicts with External Tools

Problem: Claude Agent SDK Injection

When using Sentry MCP with tools like the Claude Agent SDK, the SDK may inject ANTHROPIC_API_KEY into the environment. This causes conflicts if you want to use OpenAI instead.

Before (incorrect auto-detection):

# Claude SDK injects ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
# Your MCP config only sets OPENAI_API_KEY
# Result: Sentry MCP incorrectly uses Anthropic

After (explicit provider selection):

# Claude SDK injects ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
# Your MCP config sets OPENAI_API_KEY and EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=openai
# Result: Sentry MCP correctly uses OpenAI

Solution

Always set EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER when multiple API keys might be present:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sentry": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@sentry/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SENTRY_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-token",
        "EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER": "openai",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "sk-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Error Messages

"Multiple LLM API keys are set"

Error: Multiple LLM API keys are set.
Please specify which provider to use by setting the EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER
environment variable to 'openai', 'azure-openai', 'anthropic', or 'openrouter'.

Cause: Multiple API keys detected without explicit provider selection.

Solution: Set EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER to choose which provider to use.

"Provider configured but API key not set"

Error: Provider "openai" is configured but OPENAI_API_KEY is not set.
Please set the API key environment variable.

Cause: Explicit provider selected but corresponding API key is missing.

Solution: Set the required API key environment variable.

"No embedded agent provider configured"

Error: No embedded agent provider configured.
Set OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, or OPENROUTER_API_KEY environment variable,
or use --agent-provider flag to specify a provider.

Cause: No API keys found and no provider specified.

Solution: Set at least one API key environment variable.

Advanced Configuration

Custom Base URLs

For custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints or Anthropic proxies:

export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=openai
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
npx @sentry/mcp-server --openai-base-url=https://custom.openai.example.com

For Azure OpenAI or Azure-compatible deployment proxies, use the dedicated provider instead of the generic openai mode:

export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=azure-openai
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
export OPENAI_API_VERSION=2024-02-15-preview

# Azure v1 endpoint -> Responses API
npx @sentry/mcp-server --openai-base-url=https://example.openai.azure.com/openai/v1/

# Deployment endpoint -> chat completions
npx @sentry/mcp-server --openai-base-url=https://example.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/my-assistant

Model Selection

Override the default model for each provider:

# OpenAI (default: gpt-5)
export OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-4

# Anthropic (default: claude-opus-4-5-20251101)
export ANTHROPIC_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929

# OpenRouter (default: openai/gpt-5)
export OPENROUTER_MODEL=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4

Verify Configuration

Check which provider is being used:

npx @sentry/mcp-server --access-token=... 2>&1 | grep "Using"

Expected output:

Using openai responses API for AI-powered search tools (from EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER).

Or:

Using anthropic for AI-powered search tools (auto-detected).

Or:

Using openrouter for AI-powered search tools (auto-detected).

Troubleshooting

Provider not detected

Check environment variables:

echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
echo $OPENAI_API_KEY
echo $OPENROUTER_API_KEY
echo $EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER

Verify API key format:

  • OpenAI: sk-... (starts with sk-)
  • Anthropic: sk-ant-... (starts with sk-ant-)
  • OpenRouter: sk-or-... (starts with sk-or-)

External tool conflicts

If external tools (like Claude SDK, LangChain, etc.) inject API keys:

  1. Use EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER to override auto-detection
  2. Consider using a wrapper script to filter environment variables
  3. Report the issue to the external tool's maintainers

Testing provider selection

Test with both API keys present:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-test
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-test
export EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER=openai

npx @sentry/mcp-server --access-token=...

Should output:

Using openai responses API for AI-powered search tools (from EMBEDDED_AGENT_PROVIDER).