diff --git a/agentops/client/client.py b/agentops/client/client.py
index b0a18f1ca..8465c57b6 100644
--- a/agentops/client/client.py
+++ b/agentops/client/client.py
@@ -56,10 +56,16 @@ def init(self, **kwargs):
 
         self.initialized = True
 
-        if self.config.auto_start_session:
+        # Only start a session if auto_start_session is True and we're not already in start_session
+        # Prevents infinite recursion
+        if self.config.auto_start_session and not getattr(self, "_in_start_session", False):
             from agentops.legacy import start_session
 
-            start_session()
+            self._in_start_session = True
+            try:
+                start_session()
+            finally:
+                self._in_start_session = False
 
     def configure(self, **kwargs):
         """Update client configuration"""
diff --git a/agentops/config.py b/agentops/config.py
index b496e8039..b663bb8f3 100644
--- a/agentops/config.py
+++ b/agentops/config.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class Config:
     )
 
     auto_start_session: bool = field(
-        default_factory=lambda: get_env_bool("AGENTOPS_AUTO_START_SESSION", False),
+        default_factory=lambda: get_env_bool("AGENTOPS_AUTO_START_SESSION", True),
         metadata={"description": "Whether to automatically start a session when initializing"},
     )
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class Config:
     )
 
     log_level: Union[str, int] = field(
-        default_factory=lambda: os.getenv("AGENTOPS_LOG_LEVEL", "WARNING"),
+        default_factory=lambda: os.getenv("AGENTOPS_LOG_LEVEL", "INFO"),
         metadata={"description": "Logging level for AgentOps logs"},
     )
 
@@ -170,7 +170,14 @@ def configure(
             self.env_data_opt_out = env_data_opt_out
 
         if log_level is not None:
-            self.log_level = log_level
+            if isinstance(log_level, str):
+                log_level_str = log_level.upper()
+                if hasattr(logging, log_level_str):
+                    self.log_level = getattr(logging, log_level_str)
+                else:
+                    self.log_level = logging.INFO
+            else:
+                self.log_level = log_level
 
         if fail_safe is not None:
             self.fail_safe = fail_safe
diff --git a/agentops/logging/config.py b/agentops/logging/config.py
index a51a09bc8..3abfa2d12 100644
--- a/agentops/logging/config.py
+++ b/agentops/logging/config.py
@@ -28,7 +28,15 @@ def configure_logging(config=None):  # Remove type hint temporarily to avoid cir
     if log_level_env and hasattr(logging, log_level_env):
         log_level = getattr(logging, log_level_env)
     else:
-        log_level = config.log_level if isinstance(config.log_level, int) else logging.CRITICAL
+        # Handle string log levels from config
+        if isinstance(config.log_level, str):
+            log_level_str = config.log_level.upper()
+            if hasattr(logging, log_level_str):
+                log_level = getattr(logging, log_level_str)
+            else:
+                log_level = logging.INFO
+        else:
+            log_level = config.log_level if isinstance(config.log_level, int) else logging.INFO
 
     logger.setLevel(log_level)
 
@@ -38,7 +46,7 @@ def configure_logging(config=None):  # Remove type hint temporarily to avoid cir
 
     # Configure console logging
     stream_handler = logging.StreamHandler()
-    stream_handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+    stream_handler.setLevel(log_level)
     stream_handler.setFormatter(AgentOpsLogFormatter())
     logger.addHandler(stream_handler)
 
@@ -46,7 +54,7 @@ def configure_logging(config=None):  # Remove type hint temporarily to avoid cir
     log_to_file = os.environ.get("AGENTOPS_LOGGING_TO_FILE", "True").lower() == "true"
     if log_to_file:
         file_handler = logging.FileHandler("agentops.log", mode="w")
-        file_handler.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+        file_handler.setLevel(log_level)
         formatter = AgentOpsLogFileFormatter("%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s")
         file_handler.setFormatter(formatter)
         logger.addHandler(file_handler)