feat: add Aspire telemetry to HTTP server

document how to run the Aspire dashboard and view traces
add OpenTelemetry middleware helper with OTLP exporters
wire middleware into basic_mcp_http.py and auto-configure when OTEL endpoint set

Author: madebygps

README.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ A demonstration project showcasing Model Context Protocol (MCP) implementations
   - [Use with GitHub Copilot](#use-with-github-copilot)
   - [Debug with VS Code](#debug-with-vs-code)
   - [Inspect with MCP inspector](#inspect-with-mcp-inspector)
+  - [View traces with Aspire Dashboard](#view-traces-with-aspire-dashboard)
 - [Run local Agents <-> MCP](#run-local-agents---mcp)
 - [Deploy to Azure](#deploy-to-azure)
 - [Deploy to Azure with private networking](#deploy-to-azure-with-private-networking)
@@ -156,6 +157,28 @@ The inspector provides a web interface to:
 - Inspect server responses and errors
 - Debug server communication
 
+### View traces with Aspire Dashboard
+
+You can use the [.NET Aspire Dashboard](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspire/fundamentals/dashboard/standalone) to view OpenTelemetry traces, metrics, and logs from the MCP server.
+
+> **Note:** Aspire Dashboard integration is only configured for the HTTP server (`basic_mcp_http.py`).
+
+1. Start the Aspire Dashboard:
+
+   ```bash
+   docker run --rm -d -p 18888:18888 -p 4317:18889 --name aspire-dashboard \
+       mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspire-dashboard:latest
+   ```
+
+2. Set the environment variable and start the HTTP server:
+
+   ```bash
+   export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4317
+   uv run servers/basic_mcp_http.py
+   ```
+
+3. View the dashboard at: http://localhost:18888
+
 ---
 
 ## Run local Agents <-> MCP

servers/basic_mcp_http.py

@@ -1,21 +1,32 @@
 import csv
 import logging
+import os
 from datetime import date
 from enum import Enum
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Annotated
 
 from fastmcp import FastMCP
+from opentelemetry_middleware import OpenTelemetryMiddleware, configure_aspire_dashboard
 
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(asctime)s - %(message)s")
 logger = logging.getLogger("ExpensesMCP")
 
 
+# Configure Aspire Dashboard telemetry if OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT is set
+if os.getenv("OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT"):
+    logger.info("Setting up Aspire Dashboard instrumentation (OTLP)")
+    configure_aspire_dashboard(service_name="expenses-mcp")
+
+
 SCRIPT_DIR = Path(__file__).parent
 EXPENSES_FILE = SCRIPT_DIR / "expenses.csv"
 
 
-mcp = FastMCP("Expenses Tracker")
+mcp = FastMCP(
+    "Expenses Tracker",
+    middleware=[OpenTelemetryMiddleware(tracer_name="expenses.mcp")]
+)
 
 
 class PaymentMethod(Enum):

servers/opentelemetry_middleware.py

@@ -1,8 +1,66 @@
+import logging
+import os
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
+
 from fastmcp.server.middleware import Middleware, MiddlewareContext
-from opentelemetry import trace
+from opentelemetry import metrics, trace
+from opentelemetry._logs import set_logger_provider
+from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.grpc._log_exporter import OTLPLogExporter
+from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.grpc.metric_exporter import OTLPMetricExporter
+from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.grpc.trace_exporter import OTLPSpanExporter
+from opentelemetry.sdk._logs import LoggerProvider, LoggingHandler
+from opentelemetry.sdk._logs.export import BatchLogRecordProcessor
+from opentelemetry.sdk.metrics import MeterProvider
+from opentelemetry.sdk.metrics.export import PeriodicExportingMetricReader
+from opentelemetry.sdk.resources import Resource
+from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import TracerProvider
+from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import SimpleSpanProcessor
 from opentelemetry.trace import Status, StatusCode
 
 
+def configure_aspire_dashboard(service_name: str = "expenses-mcp"):
+    """Configure OpenTelemetry to send telemetry to the Aspire standalone dashboard."""
+    otlp_endpoint = os.getenv("OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT", "http://localhost:4317")
+    parsed_endpoint = urlparse(otlp_endpoint)
+    use_insecure = parsed_endpoint.scheme not in ("https", "grpcs")
+
+    # Create resource with service name
+    resource = Resource.create({"service.name": service_name})
+
+    # Configure Tracing
+    tracer_provider = TracerProvider(resource=resource)
+    tracer_provider.add_span_processor(
+        SimpleSpanProcessor(OTLPSpanExporter(endpoint=otlp_endpoint, insecure=use_insecure))
+    )
+    trace.set_tracer_provider(tracer_provider)
+
+    # Configure Metrics
+    metric_reader = PeriodicExportingMetricReader(
+        OTLPMetricExporter(endpoint=otlp_endpoint, insecure=use_insecure)
+    )
+    meter_provider = MeterProvider(resource=resource, metric_readers=[metric_reader])
+    metrics.set_meter_provider(meter_provider)
+
+    # Configure Logging
+    logger_provider = LoggerProvider(resource=resource)
+    logger_provider.add_log_record_processor(
+        BatchLogRecordProcessor(OTLPLogExporter(endpoint=otlp_endpoint, insecure=use_insecure))
+    )
+    set_logger_provider(logger_provider)
+
+    # Add logging handler to send Python logs to OTLP
+    root_logger = logging.getLogger()
+    handler_exists = any(
+        isinstance(existing, LoggingHandler)
+        and getattr(existing, "logger_provider", None) is logger_provider
+        for existing in root_logger.handlers
+    )
+
+    if not handler_exists:
+        handler = LoggingHandler(level=logging.NOTSET, logger_provider=logger_provider)
+        root_logger.addHandler(handler)
+
+
 class OpenTelemetryMiddleware(Middleware):
     """Middleware that creates OpenTelemetry spans for MCP operations."""