Documentation

Auto Dashboard Launch

What happens when you run tracellm start.

Overview

When you run tracellm start, TraceLLM boots the entire observability stack and opens the dashboard in your browser automatically. No manual configuration, no separate commands, no Docker Compose.

What Happens

The startup sequence runs five steps in order, each one verified before the next begins:

SQLite Starts

The database is initialized at ~/.tracellm/traces.db. If the file does not exist, it is created automatically along with the required tables and indexes. A yellow warning is shown if creation fails, but the stack continues.

API Starts

The FastAPI backend starts via uvicorn on port 8000 (configurable with --port). TraceLLM polls the health endpoint every 500ms with a 15-second timeout to confirm the API is ready.

WebSocket Starts

The WebSocket server is embedded in the FastAPI app at /ws. The dashboard and CLI monitor subscribe here for real-time trace.created events.

Dashboard Starts

If the --dashboard flag is set (default behavior), the frontend dashboard is served. The dashboard connects to the backend API and WebSocket automatically.

Browser Opens Automatically

Once all services are verified healthy, your default browser opens to http://localhost:3000. The dashboard loads immediately and displays the trace list, ready to receive data.

Tracey Guide

That is it. Five steps, one command, zero configuration. Your observability stack is live and your browser is already pointing at it.

Startup Output

Here is what you see in the terminal when running tracellm start:

Terminal outputCopy

text

  TraceLLM starting...

  ✓ SQLite connected
  ✓ API ready
  ✓ WebSocket ready
  ✓ Dashboard ready

  Opening browser at http://localhost:3000 ...

  ╭── TraceLLM Stack ────────────────────────────────────────╮
  │                                                          │
  │  API Server   ● http://127.0.0.1:8000                    │
  │  SQLite      ● Connected                                │
  │  Dashboard    ● http://localhost:3000                     │
  │  WebSocket    ws://127.0.0.1:8000/ws                     │
  │                                                          │
  ╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

  Press Ctrl+C to stop the stack.

Configuration

The auto-launch behavior can be customized with these flags:

Flag	Default	Description
--port, -p	8000	API server port
--dashboard-port	3000	Frontend dashboard port
--no-browser	false	Skip automatic browser launch

Troubleshooting

Warning

If the browser does not open automatically, check that your system has a default browser configured. Use --no-browser and navigate manually to http://localhost:3000.