Otel: llm.request client spans + traceparent on LLM calls (#130)

Add OpenTelemetry tracing to every LLM client call so an insight/chat
turn is a single trace from HTTP entry to each downstream inference.

- LlmClient trait: thread a &opentelemetry::Context through all 5
  methods (generate, chat_with_tools, chat_with_tools_stream,
  generate_embeddings, describe_image), matching the DAO convention of
  explicit context threading rather than ambient Context::current().
- otel::start_llm_request_span: single shared helper that every
  provider (openrouter / llamacpp / ollama) funnels through, so the
  span shape is identical: name llm.request, SpanKind::Client,
  llm.provider / llm.operation / llm.model.
- Per-method spans in all three clients with the spec's operation enum
  (chat | chat_stream | embeddings | describe_image | generate); stream
  spans are owned and moved into the async_stream generator so they end
  when the response drains, not when headers arrive.
- llm.tokens.input / llm.tokens.output recorded on non-stream and
  stream completion; llm.cost_usd from usage.cost (OpenRouter);
  http.status_code + error status on failure.
- W3C traceparent injected on outgoing LLM HTTP requests (llama-swap,
  Ollama, OpenRouter) gated on span_context.is_valid() so debug
  no-op-tracer builds don't send an all-zero parent.
- Turn-level spans (ai.chat.turn.execute, ai.persona_chat.turn.execute)
  now carry llm.backend + llm.model; with_entry streaming paths thread
  the turn context (turn_cx) to child describe_image / agentic-loop
  calls instead of the ambient context.

clippy clean; 690 lib + 775 integration + 4 doc tests green.

src/ai/daily_summary_job.rs

@@ -360,11 +360,17 @@ async fn generate_and_store_daily_summary(
     span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("date", date.to_string()));
     span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("contact", contact.to_string()));
     span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("message_count", messages.len() as i64));
+    // Parent context for the child llm.request spans; the span itself stays
+    // borrowed here for the attribute updates below.
+    let llm_cx =
+        opentelemetry::Context::new().with_remote_span_context(span.span_context().clone());
 
     let (prompt, system_prompt) = build_daily_summary_prompt(contact, date, messages);
 
     // Generate summary with LLM
-    let summary = ollama.generate(&prompt, Some(system_prompt)).await?;
+    let summary = ollama
+        .generate(&llm_cx, &prompt, Some(system_prompt))
+        .await?;
 
     log::debug!(
         "Generated summary for {}: {}",
@@ -382,7 +388,9 @@ async fn generate_and_store_daily_summary(
     );
 
     // Embed the stripped summary (store original summary in DB)
-    let embedding = ollama.generate_embedding(&stripped_summary).await?;
+    let embedding = ollama
+        .generate_embedding(&llm_cx, &stripped_summary)
+        .await?;
 
     span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
         "embedding_dimensions",

src/ai/insight_chat.rs

@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
 
             let (response, prompt_tokens, eval_tokens) = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await?;
             last_prompt_eval_count = prompt_tokens;
             last_eval_count = eval_tokens;
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
             let synthetic_idx = push_synthetic_final_prompt(&mut messages);
             let (final_response, prompt_tokens, eval_tokens) = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), vec![])
+                .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), vec![])
                 .await?;
             last_prompt_eval_count = prompt_tokens;
             last_eval_count = eval_tokens;
@@ -492,6 +492,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
             let title_raw = backend
                 .chat()
                 .generate(
+                    &loop_cx,
                     &title_prompt,
                     Some(
                         "You are my long term memory assistant. Use only the information provided. Do not invent details.",
@@ -852,7 +853,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
             span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("library_id", library_id as i64));
 
             let result = svc
-                .run_streaming_turn_with_entry(req, entry_clone.clone())
+                .run_streaming_turn_with_entry(req, entry_clone.clone(), &mut span)
                 .await;
             if let Err(ref e) = result {
                 span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("status", "error"));
@@ -882,6 +883,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         self: Arc<Self>,
         req: ChatTurnRequest,
         entry: Arc<TurnEntry>,
+        turn_span: &mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         if req.user_message.trim().is_empty() {
             bail!("user_message must not be empty");
@@ -911,11 +913,11 @@ impl InsightChatService {
 
         if req.regenerate || existing_insight.is_none() {
             return self
-                .run_bootstrap_streaming_with_entry(req, normalized, entry)
+                .run_bootstrap_streaming_with_entry(req, normalized, entry, turn_span)
                 .await;
         }
         let insight = existing_insight.expect("just checked Some above");
-        self.run_continuation_streaming_with_entry(req, normalized, insight, entry)
+        self.run_continuation_streaming_with_entry(req, normalized, insight, entry, turn_span)
             .await
     }
 
@@ -926,6 +928,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         normalized: String,
         insight: crate::database::models::PhotoInsight,
         entry: Arc<TurnEntry>,
+        turn_span: &mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         let active_persona = req
             .persona_id
@@ -981,6 +984,12 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         };
         let backend = self.generator.resolve_backend(kind, &overrides).await?;
         let model_used = backend.model().to_string();
+        // llm.* attributes on the turn-level span (issue #130): clients can't
+        // know local-vs-hybrid, but the turn knows its resolved backend.
+        turn_span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.backend", kind.as_str()));
+        turn_span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.model", model_used.clone()));
+        let turn_cx = opentelemetry::Context::new()
+            .with_remote_span_context(turn_span.span_context().clone());
 
         let local_first_user_has_image = messages
             .iter()
@@ -1030,6 +1039,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
                 &active_persona,
                 max_iterations,
                 &entry,
+                &turn_cx,
             )
             .await?;
         let AgenticLoopOutcome {
@@ -1146,6 +1156,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         req: ChatTurnRequest,
         normalized: String,
         entry: Arc<TurnEntry>,
+        turn_span: &mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         let active_persona = req
             .persona_id
@@ -1171,6 +1182,11 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         };
         let backend = self.generator.resolve_backend(kind, &overrides).await?;
         let model_used = backend.model().to_string();
+        // llm.* attributes on the turn-level span (issue #130).
+        turn_span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.backend", kind.as_str()));
+        turn_span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.model", model_used.clone()));
+        let turn_cx = opentelemetry::Context::new()
+            .with_remote_span_context(turn_span.span_context().clone());
 
         let image_base64: Option<String> = self.generator.load_image_as_base64(&normalized).ok();
 
@@ -1190,7 +1206,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
 
         let visual_block = if !backend.images_inline {
             match image_base64.as_deref() {
-                Some(b64) => match backend.local().describe_image(b64).await {
+                Some(b64) => match backend.local().describe_image(&turn_cx, b64).await {
                     Ok(desc) => {
                         format!("Visual description (from local vision model):\n{}\n", desc)
                     }
@@ -1245,6 +1261,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
                 &active_persona,
                 max_iterations,
                 &entry,
+                &turn_cx,
             )
             .await?;
         let AgenticLoopOutcome {
@@ -1333,6 +1350,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         active_persona: &str,
         max_iterations: usize,
         entry: &Arc<TurnEntry>,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> Result<AgenticLoopOutcome> {
         crate::ai::insight_chat::run_streaming_agentic_loop_with_entry(
             &self.generator,
@@ -1345,6 +1363,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
             active_persona,
             max_iterations,
             entry,
+            cx,
         )
         .await
     }
@@ -1500,6 +1519,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
                 &active_persona,
                 max_iterations,
                 &tx,
+                &opentelemetry::Context::current(),
             )
             .await?;
         let AgenticLoopOutcome {
@@ -1667,7 +1687,11 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         // images_inline backends send images directly to the chat model.
         let visual_block = if !backend.images_inline {
             match image_base64.as_deref() {
-                Some(b64) => match backend.local().describe_image(b64).await {
+                Some(b64) => match backend
+                    .local()
+                    .describe_image(&opentelemetry::Context::current(), b64)
+                    .await
+                {
                     Ok(desc) => {
                         format!("Visual description (from local vision model):\n{}\n", desc)
                     }
@@ -1734,6 +1758,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
                 &active_persona,
                 max_iterations,
                 &tx,
+                &opentelemetry::Context::current(),
             )
             .await?;
         let AgenticLoopOutcome {
@@ -1816,6 +1841,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
         active_persona: &str,
         max_iterations: usize,
         tx: &tokio::sync::mpsc::Sender<ChatStreamEvent>,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> Result<AgenticLoopOutcome> {
         let mut tool_calls_made = 0usize;
         let mut iterations_used = 0usize;
@@ -1834,7 +1860,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
 
             let mut stream = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools_stream(messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .chat_with_tools_stream(cx, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await?;
 
             let mut final_message: Option<ChatMessage> = None;
@@ -1928,7 +1954,7 @@ impl InsightChatService {
             let synthetic_idx = push_synthetic_final_prompt(messages);
             let mut stream = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools_stream(messages.clone(), vec![])
+                .chat_with_tools_stream(cx, messages.clone(), vec![])
                 .await?;
             let mut final_message: Option<ChatMessage> = None;
             while let Some(ev) = stream.next().await {
@@ -2308,6 +2334,7 @@ pub async fn run_streaming_agentic_loop_with_entry(
     active_persona: &str,
     max_iterations: usize,
     entry: &Arc<TurnEntry>,
+    cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
 ) -> Result<AgenticLoopOutcome> {
     let mut tool_calls_made = 0usize;
     let mut iterations_used = 0usize;
@@ -2337,7 +2364,7 @@ pub async fn run_streaming_agentic_loop_with_entry(
 
         let mut stream = backend
             .chat()
-            .chat_with_tools_stream(messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+            .chat_with_tools_stream(cx, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
             .await?;
 
         let mut final_message: Option<ChatMessage> = None;
@@ -2420,7 +2447,7 @@ pub async fn run_streaming_agentic_loop_with_entry(
         let synthetic_idx = push_synthetic_final_prompt(messages);
         let mut stream = backend
             .chat()
-            .chat_with_tools_stream(messages.clone(), vec![])
+            .chat_with_tools_stream(cx, messages.clone(), vec![])
             .await?;
         let mut final_message: Option<ChatMessage> = None;
         while let Some(ev) = stream.next().await {

src/ai/insight_generator.rs

@@ -646,7 +646,8 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
         // (`LLM_BACKEND` switch). Must match the backend that populated the
         // daily-summary embeddings or similarity search will be garbage.
         let query_embedding =
-            crate::ai::embed_query(&self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), &query).await?;
+            crate::ai::embed_query(&search_cx, &self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), &query)
+                .await?;
 
         // Search for similar daily summaries with time-based weighting
         // This prioritizes summaries temporally close to the query date
@@ -712,7 +713,8 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
         // Must use the same backend that populated the daily-summary
         // embeddings or similarity search is garbage (see embed_one docs).
         let query_embedding =
-            crate::ai::embed_query(&self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), query).await?;
+            crate::ai::embed_query(&search_cx, &self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), query)
+                .await?;
 
         let mut summary_dao = self
             .daily_summary_dao
@@ -798,7 +800,9 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
         let calendar_cx = parent_cx.with_span(span);
 
         let query_embedding = if let Some(loc) = location {
-            match crate::ai::embed_query(&self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), loc).await {
+            match crate::ai::embed_query(&calendar_cx, &self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), loc)
+                .await
+            {
                 Ok(emb) => Some(emb),
                 Err(e) => {
                     log::warn!("Failed to generate embedding for location '{}': {}", loc, e);
@@ -969,8 +973,13 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
             )
         };
 
-        let query_embedding =
-            match crate::ai::embed_query(&self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), &query_text).await
+        let query_embedding = match crate::ai::embed_query(
+            &search_cx,
+            &self.ollama,
+            self.llamacpp.as_deref(),
+            &query_text,
+        )
+        .await
         {
             Ok(emb) => emb,
             Err(e) => {
@@ -1254,7 +1263,10 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
 
         // Generate brief photo description for RAG enrichment (vision models only)
         let photo_description: Option<String> = if let Some(ref img_b64) = image_base64 {
-            match ollama_client.generate_photo_description(img_b64).await {
+            match ollama_client
+                .generate_photo_description(&insight_cx, img_b64)
+                .await
+            {
                 Ok(desc) => {
                     log::info!("Photo description for RAG enrichment: {}", desc);
                     Some(desc)
@@ -1323,7 +1335,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
             if !immediate_messages.is_empty() {
                 // Step 2: Extract topics from immediate messages to enrich RAG query
                 let topics = self
-                    .extract_topics_from_messages(&immediate_messages, &ollama_client)
+                    .extract_topics_from_messages(&immediate_messages, &ollama_client, &insight_cx)
                     .await;
 
                 log::info!("Extracted topics for query enrichment: {:?}", topics);
@@ -1379,6 +1391,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
                                 &immediate_messages,
                                 &ollama_client,
                                 custom_system_prompt.as_deref(),
+                                &insight_cx,
                             )
                             .await
                             .unwrap_or_else(|| String::from("No immediate context"));
@@ -1388,6 +1401,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
                                 &historical_messages,
                                 &ollama_client,
                                 custom_system_prompt.as_deref(),
+                                &insight_cx,
                             )
                             .await
                             .unwrap_or_else(|| String::from("No historical context"));
@@ -1406,6 +1420,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
                                 &immediate_messages,
                                 &ollama_client,
                                 custom_system_prompt.as_deref(),
+                                &insight_cx,
                             )
                             .await;
                     }
@@ -1416,6 +1431,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
                                 &immediate_messages,
                                 &ollama_client,
                                 custom_system_prompt.as_deref(),
+                                &insight_cx,
                             )
                             .await;
                     }
@@ -1441,6 +1457,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
                                 &rag_messages,
                                 &ollama_client,
                                 custom_system_prompt.as_deref(),
+                                &insight_cx,
                             )
                             .await;
                     }
@@ -1473,7 +1490,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
             if !sms_messages.is_empty() {
                 match self
                     .sms_client
-                    .summarize_context(&sms_messages, &ollama_client)
+                    .summarize_context(&sms_messages, &ollama_client, &insight_cx)
                     .await
                 {
                     Ok(summary) => {
@@ -1557,6 +1574,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
         // 10. Generate summary first, then derive title from the summary
         let summary = ollama_client
             .generate_photo_summary(
+                &insight_cx,
                 date_taken,
                 location.as_deref(),
                 contact.as_deref(),
@@ -1567,7 +1585,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
             .await?;
 
         let title = ollama_client
-            .generate_photo_title(&summary, custom_system_prompt.as_deref())
+            .generate_photo_title(&insight_cx, &summary, custom_system_prompt.as_deref())
             .await?;
 
         log::info!("Generated title: {}", title);
@@ -1634,6 +1652,7 @@ impl InsightGenerator {
         &self,
         messages: &[crate::ai::SmsMessage],
         ollama: &OllamaClient,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> Vec<String> {
         if messages.is_empty() {
             return Vec::new();
@@ -1669,7 +1688,7 @@ Return ONLY the comma-separated list, nothing else."#,
         );
 
         match ollama
-            .generate(&prompt, Some("You are an entity extraction assistant. Extract proper nouns, people, places, and domain-specific terms that provide context."))
+            .generate(cx, &prompt, Some("You are an entity extraction assistant. Extract proper nouns, people, places, and domain-specific terms that provide context."))
             .await
         {
             Ok(response) => {
@@ -1704,6 +1723,7 @@ Return ONLY the comma-separated list, nothing else."#,
         messages: &[String],
         ollama: &OllamaClient,
         custom_system: Option<&str>,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> Option<String> {
         if messages.is_empty() {
             return None;
@@ -1724,7 +1744,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         let system = custom_system
             .unwrap_or("You are a context summarization assistant. Be concise and factual.");
 
-        match ollama.generate(&prompt, Some(system)).await {
+        match ollama.generate(cx, &prompt, Some(system)).await {
             Ok(summary) => Some(summary),
             Err(e) => {
                 log::warn!("Failed to summarize messages: {}", e);
@@ -1740,6 +1760,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         messages: &[crate::ai::SmsMessage],
         ollama: &OllamaClient,
         custom_system: Option<&str>,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> Option<String> {
         if messages.is_empty() {
             return None;
@@ -1785,7 +1806,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
             "You are a context summarization assistant. Be detailed and factual, preserving important context.",
         );
 
-        match ollama.generate(&prompt, Some(system)).await {
+        match ollama.generate(cx, &prompt, Some(system)).await {
             Ok(summary) => Some(summary),
             Err(e) => {
                 log::warn!("Failed to summarize immediate context: {}", e);
@@ -1829,7 +1850,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
             "get_file_tags" => self.tool_get_file_tags(arguments, cx).await,
             "get_faces_in_photo" => self.tool_get_faces_in_photo(arguments, cx).await,
             "describe_photo" => {
-                self.tool_describe_photo(backend.local(), image_base64)
+                self.tool_describe_photo(backend.local(), image_base64, cx)
                     .await
             }
             "reverse_geocode" => self.tool_reverse_geocode(arguments).await,
@@ -1880,7 +1901,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         &self,
         args: &serde_json::Value,
         local: &dyn LlmClient,
-        _cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> String {
         let query = match args.get("query").and_then(|v| v.as_str()) {
             Some(q) => q.to_string(),
@@ -1944,7 +1965,10 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         };
 
         let final_results = if rerank_enabled && results.len() > limit {
-            match self.rerank_with_llm(&query, &results, limit, local).await {
+            match self
+                .rerank_with_llm(cx, &query, &results, limit, local)
+                .await
+            {
                 Ok(reordered) => reordered,
                 Err(e) => {
                     log::warn!("rerank failed, using vector order: {}", e);
@@ -1967,6 +1991,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
     /// tool_result. On parse failure we fall back to the input order.
     async fn rerank_with_llm(
         &self,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
         query: &str,
         candidates: &[String],
         limit: usize,
@@ -2010,7 +2035,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         let started = std::time::Instant::now();
         let system =
             Some("You are a terse relevance ranker. You output only numbers separated by commas.");
-        let response = local.generate(&prompt, system, None).await?;
+        let response = local.generate(cx, &prompt, system, None).await?;
         log::info!(
             "rerank: finished in {} ms (prompt={} chars)",
             started.elapsed().as_millis(),
@@ -2620,10 +2645,11 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         &self,
         local: &dyn LlmClient,
         image_base64: &Option<String>,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> String {
         log::info!("tool_describe_photo: generating visual description");
         match image_base64 {
-            Some(img) => match local.describe_image(img).await {
+            Some(img) => match local.describe_image(cx, img).await {
                 Ok(desc) => desc,
                 Err(e) => format!("Error describing photo: {}", e),
             },
@@ -3031,6 +3057,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         // configured local backend.
         let embed_text = format!("{} {}", name, description);
         let embedding: Option<Vec<u8>> = match crate::ai::embed_document(
+            cx,
             &self.ollama,
             self.llamacpp.as_deref(),
             &embed_text,
@@ -4277,7 +4304,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         // the local backend so non-text work stays off OpenRouter.
         let inlined_visual_description: Option<String> = if !backend.images_inline {
             match image_base64.as_deref() {
-                Some(b64) => match backend.local().describe_image(b64).await {
+                Some(b64) => match backend.local().describe_image(&insight_cx, b64).await {
                     Ok(desc) => {
                         log::info!("{}: vision describe succeeded ({} chars)", kind, desc.len());
                         Some(desc)
@@ -4397,7 +4424,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
 
             let (response, prompt_tokens, eval_tokens) = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await?;
 
             last_prompt_eval_count = prompt_tokens;
@@ -4466,7 +4493,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
             )));
             let (final_response, prompt_tokens, eval_tokens) = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await?;
             last_prompt_eval_count = prompt_tokens;
             last_eval_count = eval_tokens;
@@ -4499,7 +4526,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
                 }
                 let (resp2, pt2, et2) = backend
                     .chat()
-                    .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), vec![])
+                    .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), vec![])
                     .await?;
                 last_prompt_eval_count = pt2;
                 last_eval_count = et2;
@@ -4637,6 +4664,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
         max_iter: usize,
     ) -> Result<String> {
+        let loop_cx = opentelemetry::Context::current();
         let mut final_content = String::new();
 
         for iteration in 0..max_iter {
@@ -4644,7 +4672,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
 
             let (response, _prompt_tokens, _eval_tokens) = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await?;
 
             // Sanitize tool call arguments before pushing back into history.
@@ -4686,7 +4714,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
                             "",
                             0,
                             "",
-                            &opentelemetry::Context::new(),
+                            &loop_cx,
                         )
                         .await;
                     messages.push(ChatMessage::tool_result(result));
@@ -4710,7 +4738,7 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
             ));
             let (final_response, _, _) = backend
                 .chat()
-                .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await?;
             // Same bounded tool round as the insight loop: execute any last
             // tool call, then force a tool-less turn for the actual answer.
@@ -4728,14 +4756,14 @@ Return ONLY the summary, nothing else."#,
                             "",
                             0,
                             "",
-                            &opentelemetry::Context::new(),
+                            &loop_cx,
                         )
                         .await;
                     messages.push(ChatMessage::tool_result(result));
                 }
                 let (resp2, _, _) = backend
                     .chat()
-                    .chat_with_tools(messages.clone(), vec![])
+                    .chat_with_tools(&loop_cx, messages.clone(), vec![])
                     .await?;
                 final_content = resp2.content;
             } else {

src/ai/llamacpp.rs

@@ -20,8 +20,11 @@
 // insight_generator / insight_chat.
 #![allow(dead_code)]
 
-use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow, bail};
+use anyhow::Context as _;
+use anyhow::{Result, anyhow, bail};
 use async_trait::async_trait;
+use opentelemetry::trace::{Span, Status, TraceContextExt};
+use opentelemetry::{Context, KeyValue};
 use reqwest::Client;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use serde_json::{Value, json};
@@ -486,6 +489,7 @@ impl LlamaCppClient {
     async fn chat_completion_with_model(
         &self,
         model: &str,
+        mut span: Option<&mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan>,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<(ChatMessage, Option<i32>, Option<i32>)> {
@@ -517,19 +521,41 @@ impl LlamaCppClient {
         // Wait for any TTS synthesis to release the GPU before the request
         // timeout starts (see ai::gpu).
         let _gpu = crate::ai::gpu::llm_lease().await;
-        let resp = self
-            .client
-            .post(&url)
-            .json(&Value::Object(body))
-            .send()
-            .await
-            .with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url))?;
+        let mut request = self.client.post(&url).json(&Value::Object(body));
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            for (k, v) in crate::otel::traceparent_headers(
+                &Context::new().with_remote_span_context(s.span_context().clone()),
+            ) {
+                request = request.header(k, v);
+            }
+        }
+        let resp = match request.send().await {
+            Ok(r) => r,
+            Err(e) => {
+                if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                    s.set_status(Status::error("llama-swap request failed"));
+                }
+                return Err(e).with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url));
+            }
+        };
 
         if !resp.status().is_success() {
             let status = resp.status();
+            if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+                s.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                    "llama-swap chat request failed: {status}"
+                )));
+            }
             let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             bail!("llama-swap chat request failed: {} — {}", status, body);
         }
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+                "http.status_code",
+                resp.status().as_u16() as i64,
+            ));
+        }
 
         let parsed: Value = resp.json().await.context("parsing chat response")?;
         let choice = parsed
@@ -562,14 +588,35 @@ impl LlamaCppClient {
 
         log_timings(&parsed, prompt_tokens, completion_tokens);
 
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            if let Some(pt) = prompt_tokens {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.input", pt as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(ct) = completion_tokens {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.output", ct as i64));
+            }
+            s.set_status(Status::Ok);
+        }
+
         Ok((chat_msg, prompt_tokens, completion_tokens))
     }
+
+    /// Start the `llm.request` span for an outgoing llama-swap call.
+    fn start_request_span(
+        &self,
+        cx: &Context,
+        operation: &str,
+        model: &str,
+    ) -> opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan {
+        crate::otel::start_llm_request_span(cx, "llamacpp", operation, model)
+    }
 }
 
 #[async_trait]
 impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
     async fn generate(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         prompt: &str,
         system: Option<&str>,
         images: Option<Vec<String>>,
@@ -582,12 +629,15 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
         user.images = images;
         messages.push(user);
 
-        let (reply, _, _) = self.chat_with_tools(messages, Vec::new()).await?;
+        // Delegates to chat_with_tools, which starts the llm.request span
+        // (operation=chat) — one span per HTTP request.
+        let (reply, _, _) = self.chat_with_tools(cx, messages, Vec::new()).await?;
         Ok(reply.content)
     }
 
     async fn chat_with_tools(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<(ChatMessage, Option<i32>, Option<i32>)> {
@@ -597,15 +647,25 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
             messages.len(),
             tools.len()
         );
-        self.chat_completion_with_model(&self.primary_model.clone(), messages, tools)
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "chat", &self.primary_model);
+        self.chat_completion_with_model(
+            &self.primary_model.clone(),
+            Some(&mut span),
+            messages,
+            tools,
+        )
         .await
     }
 
     async fn chat_with_tools_stream(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<BoxStream<'static, Result<LlmStreamEvent>>> {
+        // The span outlives this method — it moves into the stream
+        // generator and is finalized when the response drains.
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "chat_stream", &self.primary_model);
         let url = format!("{}/chat/completions", self.base_url);
         let roles: Vec<&str> = messages.iter().map(|m| m.role.as_str()).collect();
         log::debug!(
@@ -639,19 +699,30 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
         // timeout starts (see ai::gpu). The guard is moved into the stream
         // below so the lease spans the whole generation, not just the send.
         let gpu = crate::ai::gpu::llm_lease().await;
-        let resp = self
-            .client
-            .post(&url)
-            .json(&Value::Object(body))
+        let mut request = self.client.post(&url).json(&Value::Object(body));
+        for (k, v) in crate::otel::traceparent_headers(
+            &Context::new().with_remote_span_context(span.span_context().clone()),
+        ) {
+            request = request.header(k, v);
+        }
+        let resp = request
             .send()
             .await
             .with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url))?;
 
         if !resp.status().is_success() {
             let status = resp.status();
+            span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+            span.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                "llama-swap stream request failed: {status}"
+            )));
             let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             bail!("llama-swap stream request failed: {} — {}", status, body);
         }
+        span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+            "http.status_code",
+            resp.status().as_u16() as i64,
+        ));
 
         let byte_stream = resp.bytes_stream();
         let stream = async_stream::stream! {
@@ -760,6 +831,13 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
                 tool_calls,
                 images: None,
             };
+            if let Some(pt) = prompt_tokens {
+                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.input", pt as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(ct) = completion_tokens {
+                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.output", ct as i64));
+            }
+            span.set_status(Status::Ok);
             yield Ok(LlmStreamEvent::Done {
                 message,
                 prompt_eval_count: prompt_tokens,
@@ -770,7 +848,8 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
         Ok(Box::pin(stream))
     }
 
-    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
+    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, cx: &Context, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "embeddings", &self.embedding_model);
         // Deliberately NO GPU lease: the embed slot sits in llama-swap's
         // always-resident group and never participates in a model swap, so
         // leasing here would only stall searches behind a queued synthesis.
@@ -780,19 +859,33 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
             "input": texts,
         });
 
-        let resp = self
-            .client
-            .post(&url)
-            .json(&body)
-            .send()
-            .await
-            .with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url))?;
+        let mut request = self.client.post(&url).json(&body);
+        for (k, v) in crate::otel::traceparent_headers(
+            &Context::new().with_remote_span_context(span.span_context().clone()),
+        ) {
+            request = request.header(k, v);
+        }
+        let resp = match request.send().await {
+            Ok(r) => r,
+            Err(e) => {
+                span.set_status(Status::error("llama-swap embedding request failed"));
+                return Err(e).with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url));
+            }
+        };
 
         if !resp.status().is_success() {
             let status = resp.status();
+            span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+            span.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                "llama-swap embedding request failed: {status}"
+            )));
             let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             bail!("llama-swap embedding request failed: {} — {}", status, body);
         }
+        span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+            "http.status_code",
+            resp.status().as_u16() as i64,
+        ));
 
         #[derive(Deserialize)]
         struct EmbedResponse {
@@ -803,11 +896,20 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
             embedding: Vec<f32>,
         }
 
-        let parsed: EmbedResponse = resp.json().await.context("parsing embed response")?;
+        let parsed: EmbedResponse = match resp.json().await {
+            Ok(p) => p,
+            Err(e) => {
+                span.set_status(Status::error("parsing embed response failed"));
+                return Err(e).context("parsing embed response");
+            }
+        };
+        span.set_status(Status::Ok);
         Ok(parsed.data.into_iter().map(|i| i.embedding).collect())
     }
 
-    async fn describe_image(&self, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String> {
+    async fn describe_image(&self, cx: &Context, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String> {
+        // Own span with operation=describe_image — routes through the vision slot.
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "describe_image", &self.vision_model);
         let prompt = "Briefly describe what you see in this image in 1-2 sentences. \
                       Focus on the people, location, and activity.";
         let system = "You are a scene description assistant. Be concise and factual.";
@@ -823,7 +925,12 @@ impl LlmClient for LlamaCppClient {
         ];
 
         let (reply, _, _) = self
-            .chat_completion_with_model(&self.vision_model.clone(), messages, Vec::new())
+            .chat_completion_with_model(
+                &self.vision_model.clone(),
+                Some(&mut span),
+                messages,
+                Vec::new(),
+            )
             .await?;
         Ok(reply.content)
     }

src/ai/llm_client.rs

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use anyhow::Result;
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use futures::stream::BoxStream;
+use opentelemetry::Context;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 /// Provider-agnostic surface for LLM backends (Ollama, OpenRouter, …).
@@ -10,6 +11,12 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 /// when a provider requires it (OpenAI-compatible APIs do), and `images`
 /// stays as base64 strings here and is rewritten into content-parts where
 /// needed.
+///
+/// Every method that performs an HTTP call takes the caller's tracing
+/// `Context` as its first parameter so the impl can start an `llm.request`
+/// span parented under the caller's feature span — the codebase threads
+/// contexts explicitly rather than relying on ambient `Context::current()`
+/// at deep call sites.
 // First consumer lands in a later PR (OpenRouter impl + hybrid mode routing).
 #[allow(dead_code)]
 #[async_trait]
@@ -18,6 +25,7 @@ pub trait LlmClient: Send + Sync {
     /// base64 images (ignored by providers without vision support).
     async fn generate(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         prompt: &str,
         system: Option<&str>,
         images: Option<Vec<String>>,
@@ -27,6 +35,7 @@ pub trait LlmClient: Send + Sync {
     /// (which may contain tool_calls) plus optional prompt/eval token counts.
     async fn chat_with_tools(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<(ChatMessage, Option<i32>, Option<i32>)>;
@@ -39,16 +48,17 @@ pub trait LlmClient: Send + Sync {
     /// as one `Done` event.
     async fn chat_with_tools_stream(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<BoxStream<'static, Result<LlmStreamEvent>>>;
 
     /// Batch embedding generation. Dimensionality is provider/model specific.
-    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>>;
+    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, cx: &Context, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>>;
 
     /// One-shot vision description of an image. Used to convert images into
     /// plain text for the hybrid-mode conversation flow.
-    async fn describe_image(&self, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String>;
+    async fn describe_image(&self, cx: &Context, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String>;
 
     /// Enumerate available models with their capabilities.
     async fn list_models(&self) -> Result<Vec<ModelCapabilities>>;

src/ai/local_llm.rs

@@ -47,12 +47,24 @@ impl LocalLlm {
     /// pick query vs document — retrieval models treat the two sides
     /// differently and an unmarked embed invites prefix-mismatch bugs.
     pub async fn embed_query(&self, text: &str) -> Result<Vec<f32>> {
-        super::embed_query(&self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), text).await
+        super::embed_query(
+            &opentelemetry::Context::new(),
+            &self.ollama,
+            self.llamacpp.as_deref(),
+            text,
+        )
+        .await
     }
 
     /// Embed corpus text (applies `EMBED_DOCUMENT_PREFIX`).
     pub async fn embed_document(&self, text: &str) -> Result<Vec<f32>> {
-        super::embed_document(&self.ollama, self.llamacpp.as_deref(), text).await
+        super::embed_document(
+            &opentelemetry::Context::new(),
+            &self.ollama,
+            self.llamacpp.as_deref(),
+            text,
+        )
+        .await
     }
 
     /// Single-shot local text generation via the `LLM_BACKEND`-selected
@@ -60,14 +72,23 @@ impl LocalLlm {
     pub async fn generate(&self, prompt: &str, system: Option<&str>) -> Result<String> {
         if super::local_backend_is_llamacpp() {
             if let Some(lc) = self.llamacpp.as_deref() {
-                return <LlamaCppClient as LlmClient>::generate(lc, prompt, system, None).await;
+                return <LlamaCppClient as LlmClient>::generate(
+                    lc,
+                    &opentelemetry::Context::new(),
+                    prompt,
+                    system,
+                    None,
+                )
+                .await;
             }
             anyhow::bail!(
                 "LLM_BACKEND=llamacpp but LlamaCppClient is unconfigured — \
                  set LLAMA_SWAP_URL or switch to LLM_BACKEND=ollama"
             );
         }
-        self.ollama.generate(prompt, system).await
+        self.ollama
+            .generate(&opentelemetry::Context::new(), prompt, system)
+            .await
     }
 
     /// Label identifying which backend + model produces embeddings right

src/ai/mod.rs

@@ -115,24 +115,26 @@ fn embed_prefix(key: &str) -> String {
 /// `Instruct: <task>\nQuery: `. Must pair with the document prefix the
 /// corpus was embedded with or similarity degrades.
 pub async fn embed_query(
+    cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ollama: &OllamaClient,
     llamacpp: Option<&LlamaCppClient>,
     text: &str,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<f32>> {
     let prefixed = format!("{}{}", embed_prefix("EMBED_QUERY_PREFIX"), text);
-    embed_one(ollama, llamacpp, &prefixed).await
+    embed_one(cx, ollama, llamacpp, &prefixed).await
 }
 
 /// Embed corpus text (the stored side of retrieval). Applies
 /// `EMBED_DOCUMENT_PREFIX` (default empty; nomic v1.5 wants
 /// `search_document: `, Qwen3-Embedding wants none).
 pub async fn embed_document(
+    cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ollama: &OllamaClient,
     llamacpp: Option<&LlamaCppClient>,
     text: &str,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<f32>> {
     let prefixed = format!("{}{}", embed_prefix("EMBED_DOCUMENT_PREFIX"), text);
-    embed_one(ollama, llamacpp, &prefixed).await
+    embed_one(cx, ollama, llamacpp, &prefixed).await
 }
 
 /// Embed a batch of strings via the configured local backend. Routes
@@ -140,30 +142,32 @@ pub async fn embed_document(
 /// configured), else Ollama. See [`local_backend_is_llamacpp`] for the
 /// rationale on consistency.
 pub async fn embed_many(
+    cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ollama: &OllamaClient,
     llamacpp: Option<&LlamaCppClient>,
     texts: &[&str],
 ) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
     if local_backend_is_llamacpp() {
         if let Some(lc) = llamacpp {
-            return <LlamaCppClient as LlmClient>::generate_embeddings(lc, texts).await;
+            return <LlamaCppClient as LlmClient>::generate_embeddings(lc, cx, texts).await;
         }
         anyhow::bail!(
             "LLM_BACKEND=llamacpp but LlamaCppClient is unconfigured — \
              set LLAMA_SWAP_URL or switch to LLM_BACKEND=ollama"
         );
     }
-    ollama.generate_embeddings(texts).await
+    ollama.generate_embeddings(cx, texts).await
 }
 
 /// Embed one string via the configured local backend. Single-text
 /// convenience over [`embed_many`].
 pub async fn embed_one(
+    cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ollama: &OllamaClient,
     llamacpp: Option<&LlamaCppClient>,
     text: &str,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<f32>> {
-    let mut vecs = embed_many(ollama, llamacpp, &[text]).await?;
+    let mut vecs = embed_many(cx, ollama, llamacpp, &[text]).await?;
     vecs.pop()
         .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("embedding backend returned no embeddings"))
 }

src/ai/nl_query.rs

@@ -259,10 +259,13 @@ pub async fn translate_nl_query(
     nl: &str,
     tag_vocab: &[(i32, String)],
     today: chrono::NaiveDate,
+    cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
 ) -> Result<StructuredQuery> {
     let system = build_system_prompt(tag_vocab, today);
     let messages = vec![ChatMessage::system(system), ChatMessage::user(nl)];
-    let (msg, _, _) = client.chat_with_tools(messages, Vec::<Tool>::new()).await?;
+    let (msg, _, _) = client
+        .chat_with_tools(cx, messages, Vec::<Tool>::new())
+        .await?;
     parse_response(&msg.content, tag_vocab)
 }
 

src/ai/ollama.rs

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
-use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use anyhow::Context as _;
+use anyhow::Result;
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use chrono::NaiveDate;
+use opentelemetry::trace::{Span, Status, TraceContextExt};
+use opentelemetry::{Context, KeyValue};
 use reqwest::Client;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
@@ -9,6 +12,7 @@ use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 
 use crate::ai::llm_client::{LlmClient, LlmStreamEvent};
+use crate::otel::traceparent_headers;
 use futures::stream::{BoxStream, StreamExt};
 
 // Re-export shared types so existing `crate::ai::ollama::{...}` imports
@@ -365,6 +369,7 @@ impl OllamaClient {
 
     async fn try_generate(
         &self,
+        mut span: Option<&mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan>,
         url: &str,
         model: &str,
         prompt: &str,
@@ -382,15 +387,29 @@ impl OllamaClient {
             think,
         };
 
-        let response = self
+        let mut request_builder = self
             .client
             .post(format!("{}/api/generate", url))
-            .json(&request)
-            .send()
-            .await?;
+            .json(&request);
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            request_builder = self.inject_traceparent(request_builder, s);
+        }
+        let response = match request_builder.send().await {
+            Ok(r) => r,
+            Err(e) => {
+                if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                    s.set_status(Status::error("Ollama request failed"));
+                }
+                return Err(e.into());
+            }
+        };
 
         if !response.status().is_success() {
             let status = response.status();
+            if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+                s.set_status(Status::error(format!("Ollama request failed: {status}")));
+            }
             let error_body = response.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
                 "Ollama request failed: {} - {}",
@@ -398,8 +417,31 @@ impl OllamaClient {
                 error_body
             ));
         }
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+                "http.status_code",
+                response.status().as_u16() as i64,
+            ));
+        }
 
-        let result: OllamaResponse = response.json().await?;
+        let result: OllamaResponse = match response.json().await {
+            Ok(r) => r,
+            Err(e) => {
+                if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                    s.set_status(Status::error("parsing Ollama response failed"));
+                }
+                return Err(e.into());
+            }
+        };
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            if let Some(pt) = result.prompt_eval_count {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.input", pt as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(ct) = result.eval_count {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.output", ct as i64));
+            }
+            s.set_status(Status::Ok);
+        }
         log_chat_metrics(
             result.prompt_eval_count,
             result.prompt_eval_duration,
@@ -409,32 +451,71 @@ impl OllamaClient {
         Ok(result.response)
     }
 
-    pub async fn generate(&self, prompt: &str, system: Option<&str>) -> Result<String> {
-        self.generate_with_images(prompt, system, None).await
+    /// Attach the W3C traceparent header to an outgoing Ollama request so
+    /// a server that understands it can parent its own spans onto ours.
+    fn inject_traceparent(
+        &self,
+        builder: reqwest::RequestBuilder,
+        span: &opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan,
+    ) -> reqwest::RequestBuilder {
+        let mut builder = builder;
+        for (k, v) in traceparent_headers(
+            &Context::new().with_remote_span_context(span.span_context().clone()),
+        ) {
+            builder = builder.header(k, v);
+        }
+        builder
+    }
+
+    /// Start the `llm.request` span for an outgoing Ollama call.
+    fn start_request_span(
+        &self,
+        cx: &Context,
+        operation: &str,
+        model: &str,
+    ) -> opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan {
+        crate::otel::start_llm_request_span(cx, "ollama", operation, model)
+    }
+
+    pub async fn generate(
+        &self,
+        cx: &Context,
+        prompt: &str,
+        system: Option<&str>,
+    ) -> Result<String> {
+        self.generate_with_images(cx, prompt, system, None).await
     }
 
     #[allow(dead_code)]
-    pub async fn generate_no_think(&self, prompt: &str, system: Option<&str>) -> Result<String> {
-        self.generate_with_options(prompt, system, None, Some(false))
+    pub async fn generate_no_think(
+        &self,
+        cx: &Context,
+        prompt: &str,
+        system: Option<&str>,
+    ) -> Result<String> {
+        self.generate_with_options(cx, prompt, system, None, Some(false), "generate")
             .await
     }
 
     pub async fn generate_with_images(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         prompt: &str,
         system: Option<&str>,
         images: Option<Vec<String>>,
     ) -> Result<String> {
-        self.generate_with_options(prompt, system, images, None)
+        self.generate_with_options(cx, prompt, system, images, None, "generate")
             .await
     }
 
     async fn generate_with_options(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         prompt: &str,
         system: Option<&str>,
         images: Option<Vec<String>>,
         think: Option<bool>,
+        operation: &str,
     ) -> Result<String> {
         log::debug!("=== Ollama Request ===");
         log::debug!("Primary model: {}", self.primary_model);
@@ -447,6 +528,10 @@ impl OllamaClient {
         }
         log::debug!("=====================");
 
+        // Span for the whole generate attempt; the model attribute
+        // reflects whichever server actually answered.
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, operation, &self.primary_model);
+
         // Try primary server first with primary model
         log::info!(
             "Attempting to generate with primary server: {} (model: {})",
@@ -455,6 +540,7 @@ impl OllamaClient {
         );
         let primary_result = self
             .try_generate(
+                Some(&mut span),
                 &self.primary_url,
                 &self.primary_model,
                 prompt,
@@ -483,8 +569,10 @@ impl OllamaClient {
                         fallback_url,
                         fallback_model
                     );
+                    span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.model", fallback_model.to_string()));
                     match self
                         .try_generate(
+                            Some(&mut span),
                             fallback_url,
                             fallback_model,
                             prompt,
@@ -531,6 +619,7 @@ impl OllamaClient {
     /// Generate a title for a single photo based on its generated summary
     pub async fn generate_photo_title(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         summary: &str,
         custom_system: Option<&str>,
     ) -> Result<String> {
@@ -546,7 +635,7 @@ Capture the key moment or theme. Return ONLY the title, nothing else."#,
         let system = custom_system.unwrap_or("You are my long term memory assistant. Use only the information provided. Do not invent details.");
 
         let title = self
-            .generate_with_images(&prompt, Some(system), None)
+            .generate_with_images(cx, &prompt, Some(system), None)
             .await?;
         // Models decorate despite "Return ONLY the title": quotes, bold
         // markers, sometimes a "Title:" label.
@@ -563,6 +652,7 @@ Capture the key moment or theme. Return ONLY the title, nothing else."#,
     /// Generate a summary for a single photo based on its context
     pub async fn generate_photo_summary(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         date: NaiveDate,
         location: Option<&str>,
         contact: Option<&str>,
@@ -645,21 +735,32 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
         let system = custom_system.unwrap_or("You are a memory refreshing assistant who is able to provide insights through analyzing past conversations. Use only the information provided. Do not invent details.");
 
         let images = image_base64.map(|img| vec![img]);
-        self.generate_with_images(&prompt, Some(system), images)
+        self.generate_with_images(cx, &prompt, Some(system), images)
             .await
     }
 
     /// Generate a brief visual description of a photo for use in RAG query enrichment.
     /// Returns 1-2 sentences describing people, location, and activity visible in the image.
     /// Only called when the model has vision capabilities.
-    pub async fn generate_photo_description(&self, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String> {
+    pub async fn generate_photo_description(
+        &self,
+        cx: &Context,
+        image_base64: &str,
+    ) -> Result<String> {
         let prompt = "Briefly describe what you see in this image in 1-2 sentences. \
                       Focus on the people, location, and activity.";
         let system = "You are a scene description assistant. Be concise and factual.";
         let images = vec![image_base64.to_string()];
 
         let description = self
-            .generate_with_images(prompt, Some(system), Some(images))
+            .generate_with_options(
+                cx,
+                prompt,
+                Some(system),
+                Some(images),
+                None,
+                "describe_image",
+            )
             .await?;
 
         Ok(description.trim().to_string())
@@ -672,9 +773,11 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
     /// iteration of the agent loop.
     pub async fn chat_with_tools(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<(ChatMessage, Option<i32>, Option<i32>)> {
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "chat", &self.primary_model);
         let order = self.attempt_order();
         let mut errors: Vec<String> = Vec::new();
 
@@ -685,8 +788,11 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
                 url,
                 model
             );
+            if *label == "fallback" {
+                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.model", model.to_string()));
+            }
             match self
-                .try_chat_with_tools(url, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .try_chat_with_tools(Some(&mut span), url, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await
             {
                 Ok(result) => {
@@ -728,18 +834,22 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
     /// any, live on the final message).
     pub async fn chat_with_tools_stream(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<BoxStream<'static, Result<LlmStreamEvent>>> {
         // Same preference logic as `chat_with_tools`. Only the initial
         // connection is retried across servers — once the stream begins,
-        // mid-stream errors propagate to the caller.
+        // mid-stream errors propagate to the caller. Each attempt gets its
+        // own `llm.request` span, created inside
+        // `try_chat_with_tools_stream` so the winning attempt's span moves
+        // into the stream and is finalized when the response drains.
         let order = self.attempt_order();
         let mut last_err: Option<anyhow::Error> = None;
 
         for (label, url, _model) in &order {
             match self
-                .try_chat_with_tools_stream(url, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
+                .try_chat_with_tools_stream(cx, url, messages.clone(), tools.clone())
                 .await
             {
                 Ok(s) => {
@@ -759,6 +869,7 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
 
     async fn try_chat_with_tools_stream(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         base_url: &str,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
@@ -773,6 +884,11 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
         };
         let options = self.build_options();
 
+        // The span outlives this method — the stream yields until the
+        // response fully drains, so the owned span moves into the
+        // generator and is finalized there.
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "chat_stream", model);
+
         let request_body = OllamaChatRequest {
             model,
             messages: &messages,
@@ -781,16 +897,25 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
             options,
         };
 
-        let response = self
-            .client
-            .post(&url)
-            .json(&request_body)
-            .send()
-            .await
-            .with_context(|| format!("Failed to connect to Ollama at {}", url))?;
+        let response = {
+            let mut rb = self.client.post(&url).json(&request_body);
+            rb = self.inject_traceparent(rb, &span);
+            match rb.send().await {
+                Ok(r) => r,
+                Err(e) => {
+                    span.set_status(Status::error("Ollama stream connect failed"));
+                    return Err(e)
+                        .with_context(|| format!("Failed to connect to Ollama at {}", url));
+                }
+            }
+        };
 
         if !response.status().is_success() {
             let status = response.status();
+            span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+            span.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                "Ollama stream request failed: {status}"
+            )));
             let body = response.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             anyhow::bail!(
                 "Ollama stream request failed with status {}: {}",
@@ -798,6 +923,10 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
                 body
             );
         }
+        span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+            "http.status_code",
+            response.status().as_u16() as i64,
+        ));
 
         // Ollama streams NDJSON: each line is a full `OllamaStreamChunk`.
         // We buffer partial lines across chunks from the byte stream.
@@ -879,6 +1008,13 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
                 eval_count,
                 eval_duration,
             );
+            if let Some(pt) = prompt_eval_count {
+                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.input", pt as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(ct) = eval_count {
+                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.output", ct as i64));
+            }
+            span.set_status(Status::Ok);
             let message = ChatMessage {
                 role,
                 content: accumulated,
@@ -897,6 +1033,7 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
 
     async fn try_chat_with_tools(
         &self,
+        mut span: Option<&mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan>,
         base_url: &str,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
@@ -924,16 +1061,31 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
             .unwrap_or_else(|e| format!("<serialization error: {}>", e));
         log::debug!("chat_with_tools request body: {}", request_json);
 
-        let response = self
-            .client
-            .post(&url)
-            .json(&request_body)
-            .send()
-            .await
-            .with_context(|| format!("Failed to connect to Ollama at {}", url))?;
+        let response = {
+            let mut rb = self.client.post(&url).json(&request_body);
+            if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                rb = self.inject_traceparent(rb, s);
+            }
+            match rb.send().await {
+                Ok(r) => r,
+                Err(e) => {
+                    if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                        s.set_status(Status::error("Ollama chat connect failed"));
+                    }
+                    return Err(e)
+                        .with_context(|| format!("Failed to connect to Ollama at {}", url));
+                }
+            }
+        };
 
         if !response.status().is_success() {
             let status = response.status();
+            if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+                s.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                    "Ollama chat request failed: {status}"
+                )));
+            }
             let body = response.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             // warn, not error — the outer `chat_with_tools` may recover via
             // the fallback server. When both fail, the outer layer emits the
@@ -950,11 +1102,31 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
                 body
             );
         }
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+                "http.status_code",
+                response.status().as_u16() as i64,
+            ));
+        }
 
-        let chat_response: OllamaChatResponse = response
-            .json()
-            .await
-            .with_context(|| "Failed to parse Ollama chat response")?;
+        let chat_response: OllamaChatResponse = match response.json().await {
+            Ok(r) => r,
+            Err(e) => {
+                if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                    s.set_status(Status::error("parsing Ollama chat response failed"));
+                }
+                return Err(e).with_context(|| "Failed to parse Ollama chat response");
+            }
+        };
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            if let Some(pt) = chat_response.prompt_eval_count {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.input", pt as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(ct) = chat_response.eval_count {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.output", ct as i64));
+            }
+            s.set_status(Status::Ok);
+        }
 
         // Log performance counters returned by Ollama. Durations are
         // reported in nanoseconds; we render ms + tokens/sec for skim-ability
@@ -976,8 +1148,8 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
 
     /// Generate an embedding vector for text using nomic-embed-text:v1.5
     /// Returns a 768-dimensional vector as Vec<f32>
-    pub async fn generate_embedding(&self, text: &str) -> Result<Vec<f32>> {
-        let embeddings = self.generate_embeddings(&[text]).await?;
+    pub async fn generate_embedding(&self, cx: &Context, text: &str) -> Result<Vec<f32>> {
+        let embeddings = self.generate_embeddings(cx, &[text]).await?;
         embeddings
             .into_iter()
             .next()
@@ -987,9 +1159,11 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
     /// Generate embeddings for multiple texts in a single API call (batch mode)
     /// Returns a vector of 768-dimensional vectors
     /// This is much more efficient than calling generate_embedding multiple times
-    pub async fn generate_embeddings(&self, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
+    pub async fn generate_embeddings(&self, cx: &Context, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
         let embedding_model = EMBEDDING_MODEL;
 
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "embeddings", embedding_model);
+
         log::debug!("=== Ollama Batch Embedding Request ===");
         log::debug!("Model: {}", embedding_model);
         log::debug!("Batch size: {} texts", texts.len());
@@ -1003,7 +1177,7 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
             embedding_model
         );
         let primary_result = self
-            .try_generate_embeddings(&self.primary_url, embedding_model, texts)
+            .try_generate_embeddings(Some(&mut span), &self.primary_url, embedding_model, texts)
             .await;
 
         let embeddings = match primary_result {
@@ -1026,7 +1200,12 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
                         embedding_model
                     );
                     match self
-                        .try_generate_embeddings(fallback_url, embedding_model, texts)
+                        .try_generate_embeddings(
+                            Some(&mut span),
+                            fallback_url,
+                            embedding_model,
+                            texts,
+                        )
                         .await
                     {
                         Ok(embeddings) => {
@@ -1073,6 +1252,7 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
     /// Internal helper to try generating embeddings for multiple texts from a specific server
     async fn try_generate_embeddings(
         &self,
+        mut span: Option<&mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan>,
         url: &str,
         model: &str,
         texts: &[&str],
@@ -1082,15 +1262,33 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
             input: texts.iter().map(|s| s.to_string()).collect(),
         };
 
-        let response = self
+        let response = {
+            let mut rb = self
                 .client
                 .post(format!("{}/api/embed", url))
-            .json(&request)
-            .send()
-            .await?;
+                .json(&request);
+            if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                rb = self.inject_traceparent(rb, s);
+            }
+            match rb.send().await {
+                Ok(r) => r,
+                Err(e) => {
+                    if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                        s.set_status(Status::error("Ollama embedding request failed"));
+                    }
+                    return Err(e.into());
+                }
+            }
+        };
 
         if !response.status().is_success() {
             let status = response.status();
+            if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+                s.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                    "Ollama batch embedding request failed: {status}"
+                )));
+            }
             let error_body = response.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
                 "Ollama batch embedding request failed: {} - {}",
@@ -1098,8 +1296,25 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
                 error_body
             ));
         }
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+                "http.status_code",
+                response.status().as_u16() as i64,
+            ));
+        }
 
-        let result: OllamaEmbedResponse = response.json().await?;
+        let result: OllamaEmbedResponse = match response.json().await {
+            Ok(r) => r,
+            Err(e) => {
+                if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                    s.set_status(Status::error("parsing Ollama embed response failed"));
+                }
+                return Err(e.into());
+            }
+        };
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            s.set_status(Status::Ok);
+        }
         Ok(result.embeddings)
     }
 }
@@ -1108,35 +1323,38 @@ Analyze the image and use specific details from both the visual content and the
 impl LlmClient for OllamaClient {
     async fn generate(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         prompt: &str,
         system: Option<&str>,
         images: Option<Vec<String>>,
     ) -> Result<String> {
-        self.generate_with_images(prompt, system, images).await
+        self.generate_with_images(cx, prompt, system, images).await
     }
 
     async fn chat_with_tools(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<(ChatMessage, Option<i32>, Option<i32>)> {
-        OllamaClient::chat_with_tools(self, messages, tools).await
+        OllamaClient::chat_with_tools(self, cx, messages, tools).await
     }
 
     async fn chat_with_tools_stream(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<BoxStream<'static, Result<LlmStreamEvent>>> {
-        OllamaClient::chat_with_tools_stream(self, messages, tools).await
+        OllamaClient::chat_with_tools_stream(self, cx, messages, tools).await
     }
 
-    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
-        OllamaClient::generate_embeddings(self, texts).await
+    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, cx: &Context, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
+        OllamaClient::generate_embeddings(self, cx, texts).await
     }
 
-    async fn describe_image(&self, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String> {
-        self.generate_photo_description(image_base64).await
+    async fn describe_image(&self, cx: &Context, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String> {
+        self.generate_photo_description(cx, image_base64).await
     }
 
     async fn list_models(&self) -> Result<Vec<ModelCapabilities>> {

src/ai/openrouter.rs

@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
 // the translation helpers directly.
 #![allow(dead_code)]
 
-use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow, bail};
+use anyhow::Context as _;
+use anyhow::{Result, anyhow, bail};
 use async_trait::async_trait;
+use opentelemetry::trace::{Span, Status, TraceContextExt};
+use opentelemetry::{Context, KeyValue};
 use reqwest::Client;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use serde_json::{Value, json};
@@ -14,6 +17,7 @@ use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 use crate::ai::llm_client::{
     ChatMessage, LlmClient, LlmStreamEvent, ModelCapabilities, Tool, ToolCall, ToolCallFunction,
 };
+
 use futures::stream::{BoxStream, StreamExt};
 
 const DEFAULT_BASE_URL: &str = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1";
@@ -144,6 +148,19 @@ impl OpenRouterClient {
         b
     }
 
+    /// Start the `llm.request` span for an outgoing call. `operation` is
+    /// `chat`, `embeddings`, or `describe` — the call shape, not the entry
+    /// point (a `describe_image` funneled through `chat_with_tools` is
+    /// still a `describe`).
+    fn start_request_span(
+        &self,
+        cx: &Context,
+        operation: &str,
+        model: &str,
+    ) -> opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan {
+        crate::otel::start_llm_request_span(cx, "openrouter", operation, model)
+    }
+
     /// Translate canonical messages to the OpenAI-compatible wire shape.
     ///
     /// Walks in order so it can attach `tool_call_id` to `role=tool` messages
@@ -312,6 +329,7 @@ impl OpenRouterClient {
 impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
     async fn generate(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         prompt: &str,
         system: Option<&str>,
         images: Option<Vec<String>>,
@@ -324,90 +342,34 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
         user.images = images;
         messages.push(user);
 
-        let (reply, _, _) = self.chat_with_tools(messages, Vec::new()).await?;
+        // Delegates to chat_with_tools, which starts the llm.request span
+        // (operation=chat) — one span per HTTP request.
+        let (reply, _, _) = self.chat_with_tools(cx, messages, Vec::new()).await?;
         Ok(reply.content)
     }
 
     async fn chat_with_tools(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<(ChatMessage, Option<i32>, Option<i32>)> {
-        let url = format!("{}/chat/completions", self.base_url);
-        let mut body = serde_json::Map::new();
-        body.insert("model".into(), Value::String(self.primary_model.clone()));
-        body.insert(
-            "messages".into(),
-            Value::Array(Self::messages_to_openai(&messages)),
-        );
-        body.insert("stream".into(), Value::Bool(false));
-        if !tools.is_empty() {
-            body.insert(
-                "tools".into(),
-                serde_json::to_value(&tools).context("serializing tools")?,
-            );
-        }
-        for (k, v) in self.build_options() {
-            body.insert(k.into(), v);
-        }
-
-        log::info!(
-            "OpenRouter chat_with_tools: model={} messages={} tools={}",
-            self.primary_model,
-            messages.len(),
-            tools.len()
-        );
-
-        let resp = self
-            .authed(self.client.post(&url))
-            .json(&Value::Object(body))
-            .send()
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "chat", &self.primary_model);
+        self.chat_with_tools_impl(Some(&mut span), messages, tools)
             .await
-            .with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url))?;
-
-        if !resp.status().is_success() {
-            let status = resp.status();
-            let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
-            bail!("OpenRouter chat request failed: {} — {}", status, body);
-        }
-
-        let parsed: Value = resp.json().await.context("parsing chat response")?;
-        let choice = parsed
-            .get("choices")
-            .and_then(|v| v.as_array())
-            .and_then(|a| a.first())
-            .ok_or_else(|| {
-                anyhow!(
-                    "response missing choices[0]: {}",
-                    extract_openrouter_error_detail(&parsed)
-                )
-            })?;
-        let msg = choice.get("message").ok_or_else(|| {
-            anyhow!(
-                "choices[0] missing message: {}",
-                extract_openrouter_error_detail(&parsed)
-            )
-        })?;
-        let chat_msg = Self::openai_message_to_chat(msg)?;
-
-        let usage = parsed.get("usage");
-        let prompt_tokens = usage
-            .and_then(|u| u.get("prompt_tokens"))
-            .and_then(|v| v.as_i64())
-            .map(|n| n as i32);
-        let completion_tokens = usage
-            .and_then(|u| u.get("completion_tokens"))
-            .and_then(|v| v.as_i64())
-            .map(|n| n as i32);
-
-        Ok((chat_msg, prompt_tokens, completion_tokens))
     }
 
     async fn chat_with_tools_stream(
         &self,
+        cx: &Context,
         messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
         tools: Vec<Tool>,
     ) -> Result<BoxStream<'static, Result<LlmStreamEvent>>> {
+        // The span outlives this method — the stream yields until the
+        // response fully drains, so the owned span moves into the
+        // generator and is finalized there.
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "chat_stream", &self.primary_model);
+
         let url = format!("{}/chat/completions", self.base_url);
         let mut body = serde_json::Map::new();
         body.insert("model".into(), Value::String(self.primary_model.clone()));
@@ -432,18 +394,32 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
             body.insert(k.into(), v);
         }
 
-        let resp = self
+        let mut request = self
             .authed(self.client.post(&url))
-            .json(&Value::Object(body))
+            .json(&Value::Object(body));
+        for (k, v) in crate::otel::traceparent_headers(
+            &Context::new().with_remote_span_context(span.span_context().clone()),
+        ) {
+            request = request.header(k, v);
+        }
+        let resp = request
             .send()
             .await
             .with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url))?;
 
         if !resp.status().is_success() {
             let status = resp.status();
+            span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+            span.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                "OpenRouter stream request failed: {status}"
+            )));
             let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             bail!("OpenRouter stream request failed: {} — {}", status, body);
         }
+        span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+            "http.status_code",
+            resp.status().as_u16() as i64,
+        ));
 
         // OpenAI-compat SSE stream. Each event is `data: <json>\n\n`, with
         // `data: [DONE]` signalling completion. Tool calls arrive as
@@ -467,6 +443,7 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
                 let chunk = match chunk {
                     Ok(b) => b,
                     Err(e) => {
+                        span.set_status(Status::error(format!("stream read failed: {e}")));
                         yield Err(anyhow!("stream read failed: {}", e));
                         return;
                     }
@@ -517,6 +494,9 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
                                 .get("completion_tokens")
                                 .and_then(|n| n.as_i64())
                                 .map(|n| n as i32);
+                            if let Some(cost) = usage.get("cost").and_then(|c| c.as_f64()) {
+                                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.cost_usd", cost));
+                            }
                         }
 
                         let Some(choices) = v.get("choices").and_then(|c| c.as_array())
@@ -606,6 +586,13 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
                 tool_calls,
                 images: None,
             };
+            if let Some(pt) = prompt_tokens {
+                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.input", pt as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(ct) = completion_tokens {
+                span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.output", ct as i64));
+            }
+            span.set_status(Status::Ok);
             yield Ok(LlmStreamEvent::Done {
                 message,
                 prompt_eval_count: prompt_tokens,
@@ -616,25 +603,41 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
         Ok(Box::pin(stream))
     }
 
-    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
+    async fn generate_embeddings(&self, cx: &Context, texts: &[&str]) -> Result<Vec<Vec<f32>>> {
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "embeddings", &self.embedding_model);
         let url = format!("{}/embeddings", self.base_url);
         let body = json!({
             "model": self.embedding_model,
             "input": texts,
         });
 
-        let resp = self
-            .authed(self.client.post(&url))
-            .json(&body)
+        let mut request = self.authed(self.client.post(&url)).json(&body);
+        for (k, v) in crate::otel::traceparent_headers(
+            &Context::new().with_remote_span_context(span.span_context().clone()),
+        ) {
+            request = request.header(k, v);
+        }
+        let resp = request
             .send()
             .await
-            .with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url))?;
+            .with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url))
+            .inspect_err(|_| {
+                span.set_status(Status::error("OpenRouter embedding request failed"));
+            })?;
 
         if !resp.status().is_success() {
             let status = resp.status();
+            span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+            span.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                "OpenRouter embedding request failed: {status}"
+            )));
             let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
             bail!("OpenRouter embedding request failed: {} — {}", status, body);
         }
+        span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+            "http.status_code",
+            resp.status().as_u16() as i64,
+        ));
 
         #[derive(Deserialize)]
         struct EmbedResponse {
@@ -646,18 +649,28 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
         }
 
         let parsed: EmbedResponse = resp.json().await.context("parsing embed response")?;
+        span.set_status(Status::Ok);
         Ok(parsed.data.into_iter().map(|i| i.embedding).collect())
     }
 
-    async fn describe_image(&self, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String> {
+    async fn describe_image(&self, cx: &Context, image_base64: &str) -> Result<String> {
+        // Own span with operation=describe_image — the funnel into
+        // chat_with_tools_impl keeps the request on a single span.
+        let mut span = self.start_request_span(cx, "describe_image", &self.primary_model);
         let prompt = "Briefly describe what you see in this image in 1-2 sentences. \
                       Focus on the people, location, and activity.";
-        self.generate(
-            prompt,
-            Some("You are a scene description assistant. Be concise and factual."),
-            Some(vec![image_base64.to_string()]),
-        )
-        .await
+        let mut messages: Vec<ChatMessage> = Vec::new();
+        messages.push(ChatMessage::system(
+            "You are a scene description assistant. Be concise and factual.",
+        ));
+        let mut user = ChatMessage::user(prompt);
+        user.images = Some(vec![image_base64.to_string()]);
+        messages.push(user);
+
+        let (reply, _, _) = self
+            .chat_with_tools_impl(Some(&mut span), messages, Vec::new())
+            .await?;
+        Ok(reply.content)
     }
 
     async fn list_models(&self) -> Result<Vec<ModelCapabilities>> {
@@ -711,6 +724,134 @@ impl LlmClient for OpenRouterClient {
     }
 }
 
+impl OpenRouterClient {
+    /// HTTP core of `chat_with_tools`. `span` is the `llm.request` span
+    /// started by the caller (or a funnelling entry point like
+    /// `describe_image`) so attributes from the response land on the right
+    /// operation label.
+    async fn chat_with_tools_impl(
+        &self,
+        mut span: Option<&mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan>,
+        messages: Vec<ChatMessage>,
+        tools: Vec<Tool>,
+    ) -> Result<(ChatMessage, Option<i32>, Option<i32>)> {
+        let url = format!("{}/chat/completions", self.base_url);
+        let mut body = serde_json::Map::new();
+        body.insert("model".into(), Value::String(self.primary_model.clone()));
+        body.insert(
+            "messages".into(),
+            Value::Array(Self::messages_to_openai(&messages)),
+        );
+        body.insert("stream".into(), Value::Bool(false));
+        if !tools.is_empty() {
+            body.insert(
+                "tools".into(),
+                serde_json::to_value(&tools).context("serializing tools")?,
+            );
+        }
+        for (k, v) in self.build_options() {
+            body.insert(k.into(), v);
+        }
+
+        log::info!(
+            "OpenRouter chat_with_tools: model={} messages={} tools={}",
+            self.primary_model,
+            messages.len(),
+            tools.len()
+        );
+
+        let mut request = self
+            .authed(self.client.post(&url))
+            .json(&Value::Object(body));
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            for (k, v) in crate::otel::traceparent_headers(
+                &Context::new().with_remote_span_context(s.span_context().clone()),
+            ) {
+                request = request.header(k, v);
+            }
+        }
+        let resp = match request.send().await {
+            Ok(r) => r,
+            Err(e) => {
+                if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                    s.set_status(Status::error("OpenRouter request failed"));
+                }
+                return Err(e).with_context(|| format!("POST {} failed", url));
+            }
+        };
+
+        if !resp.status().is_success() {
+            let status = resp.status();
+            if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("http.status_code", status.as_u16() as i64));
+                s.set_status(Status::error(format!(
+                    "OpenRouter chat request failed: {status}"
+                )));
+            }
+            let body = resp.text().await.unwrap_or_default();
+            bail!("OpenRouter chat request failed: {} — {}", status, body);
+        }
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new(
+                "http.status_code",
+                resp.status().as_u16() as i64,
+            ));
+        }
+
+        let parsed: Value = match resp.json().await {
+            Ok(v) => v,
+            Err(e) => {
+                if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+                    s.set_status(Status::error("parsing chat response failed"));
+                }
+                return Err(e).context("parsing chat response");
+            }
+        };
+        let choice = parsed
+            .get("choices")
+            .and_then(|v| v.as_array())
+            .and_then(|a| a.first())
+            .ok_or_else(|| {
+                anyhow!(
+                    "response missing choices[0]: {}",
+                    extract_openrouter_error_detail(&parsed)
+                )
+            })?;
+        let msg = choice.get("message").ok_or_else(|| {
+            anyhow!(
+                "choices[0] missing message: {}",
+                extract_openrouter_error_detail(&parsed)
+            )
+        })?;
+        let chat_msg = Self::openai_message_to_chat(msg)?;
+
+        let usage = parsed.get("usage");
+        let prompt_tokens = usage
+            .and_then(|u| u.get("prompt_tokens"))
+            .and_then(|v| v.as_i64())
+            .map(|n| n as i32);
+        let completion_tokens = usage
+            .and_then(|u| u.get("completion_tokens"))
+            .and_then(|v| v.as_i64())
+            .map(|n| n as i32);
+        // OpenRouter reports per-request USD cost in `usage.cost`.
+        if let Some(s) = span.as_mut() {
+            if let Some(pt) = prompt_tokens {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.input", pt as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(ct) = completion_tokens {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.tokens.output", ct as i64));
+            }
+            if let Some(cost) = usage.and_then(|u| u.get("cost")).and_then(|c| c.as_f64()) {
+                s.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.cost_usd", cost));
+            }
+            s.set_status(Status::Ok);
+        }
+
+        Ok((chat_msg, prompt_tokens, completion_tokens))
+    }
+}
+
 /// Extract a diagnostic fragment from an OpenRouter response body that
 /// doesn't match the expected `{choices: [...]}` shape. OpenRouter will
 /// sometimes return 200 OK with `{"error": {"message": "...", "code": ...}}`

src/ai/persona_chat.rs

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ use actix_web::{HttpRequest, HttpResponse, Responder, delete, get, post, web};
 use anyhow::{Context, Result, anyhow, bail};
 use chrono::Utc;
 use opentelemetry::KeyValue;
-use opentelemetry::trace::{Span, Status, Tracer};
+use opentelemetry::trace::{Span, Status, TraceContextExt, Tracer};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex as StdMutex};
@@ -685,6 +685,7 @@ impl PersonaChatSession {
                     entry_clone.clone(),
                     user_id,
                     library_id,
+                    &mut span,
                 )
                 .await;
             match result {
@@ -721,6 +722,7 @@ impl PersonaChatSession {
         entry: Arc<TurnEntry>,
         user_id: i32,
         _library_id: i32,
+        turn_span: &mut opentelemetry::global::BoxedSpan,
     ) -> Result<()> {
         // Per-conversation mutex — serializes this turn against a
         // concurrent rewind or branch switch on the same transcript.
@@ -808,6 +810,12 @@ impl PersonaChatSession {
             .resolve_backend(backend_kind, &overrides)
             .await?;
         let model_used = backend.model().to_string();
+        // llm.* attributes on the turn-level span (issue #130), plus the
+        // parent context for the child llm.request spans.
+        turn_span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.backend", backend.kind.as_str()));
+        turn_span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.model", model_used.clone()));
+        let turn_cx = opentelemetry::Context::new()
+            .with_remote_span_context(turn_span.span_context().clone());
 
         // Build a no-photo tool catalog. `current_gate_opts_for_persona`
         // already probes each tool's backing table for presence and
@@ -874,6 +882,7 @@ impl PersonaChatSession {
             &persona.persona_id,
             max_iterations,
             &entry,
+            &turn_cx,
         )
         .await
         .map_err(|e| anyhow!("persona chat loop failed: {e:?}"))?;
@@ -942,7 +951,7 @@ impl PersonaChatSession {
         // list falls back to the persona name while the title is empty.
         if needs_title {
             let title = self
-                .generate_title(&backend, &messages)
+                .generate_title(&backend, &messages, &turn_cx)
                 .await
                 .unwrap_or_else(|| fallback_title(&messages));
             if !title.is_empty() {
@@ -1047,6 +1056,7 @@ impl PersonaChatSession {
         &self,
         backend: &crate::ai::backend::ResolvedBackend,
         messages: &[ChatMessage],
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> Option<String> {
         let user_message = messages.iter().find(|m| m.role == "user")?;
         // The last assistant message with actual prose — earlier ones may be
@@ -1057,7 +1067,7 @@ impl PersonaChatSession {
             .find(|m| m.role == "assistant" && !m.content.trim().is_empty())?;
 
         let prompt = title_prompt(&user_message.content, &reply.content);
-        match backend.chat().generate(&prompt, None, None).await {
+        match backend.chat().generate(cx, &prompt, None, None).await {
             Ok(raw) => {
                 let title = sanitize_title(&crate::ai::llm_client::strip_think_blocks(&raw));
                 if title.is_empty() { None } else { Some(title) }

src/ai/sms_client.rs

@@ -324,6 +324,7 @@ impl SmsApiClient {
         &self,
         messages: &[SmsMessage],
         ollama: &OllamaClient,
+        cx: &opentelemetry::Context,
     ) -> Result<String> {
         if messages.is_empty() {
             return Ok(String::from("No messages on this day"));
@@ -356,6 +357,7 @@ Summary:"#,
 
         ollama
             .generate(
+                cx,
                 &prompt,
                 // Some("You are a summarizer for the purposes of jogging my memory and highlighting events and situations."),
                 Some("You are the keeper of memories, ingest the context and give me a casual summary of the moment."),

src/bin/test_daily_summary.rs

@@ -220,7 +220,9 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
 
         println!("Generating summary...");
 
-        let summary = ollama.generate(&prompt, Some(system_prompt)).await?;
+        let summary = ollama
+            .generate(&opentelemetry::Context::new(), &prompt, Some(system_prompt))
+            .await?;
 
         println!("\n📝 GENERATED SUMMARY:");
         println!("─────────────────────────────────────────");
@@ -236,7 +238,9 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
             );
 
             println!("\nGenerating embedding...");
-            let embedding = ollama.generate_embedding(&stripped).await?;
+            let embedding = ollama
+                .generate_embedding(&opentelemetry::Context::new(), &stripped)
+                .await?;
             println!("✓ Embedding generated ({} dimensions)", embedding.len());
 
             println!("Saving to database...");

src/knowledge.rs

@@ -859,7 +859,8 @@ async fn synthesize_merge<D: KnowledgeDao + 'static>(
 
     let ollama = app_state.ollama.clone();
     let model_used = ollama.primary_model.clone();
-    let proposed = match ollama.generate(&prompt, Some(system)).await {
+    let cx = opentelemetry::Context::current();
+    let proposed = match ollama.generate(&cx, &prompt, Some(system)).await {
         Ok(out) => {
             // Strip the framing models reach for even with explicit
             // "no preamble" guidance: leading "Merged description:"

src/otel.rs

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ use actix_web::HttpRequest;
 use actix_web::http::header::HeaderMap;
 use opentelemetry::global::{BoxedSpan, BoxedTracer};
 use opentelemetry::propagation::TextMapPropagator;
-use opentelemetry::trace::{Span, Status, Tracer};
+use opentelemetry::trace::{Span, SpanBuilder, SpanKind, Status, TraceContextExt, Tracer};
 use opentelemetry::{Context, KeyValue, global};
 use opentelemetry_appender_log::OpenTelemetryLogBridge;
 use opentelemetry_otlp::WithExportConfig;
@@ -77,11 +77,46 @@ impl<'a> opentelemetry::propagation::Extractor for HeaderExtractor<'a> {
         self.0.keys().map(|k| k.as_str()).collect()
     }
 }
+/// Start a client span for a single LLM call. Every provider funnels its
+/// LlmClient methods through this so the span shape (name, `SpanKind::Client`,
+/// provider / operation / model attributes) is identical across
+/// openrouter / llamacpp / ollama. `operation` is one of `chat`,
+/// `chat_stream`, `embeddings`, `describe_image`, `generate`.
+pub fn start_llm_request_span(
+    cx: &Context,
+    provider: &str,
+    operation: &str,
+    model: &str,
+) -> BoxedSpan {
+    let builder = SpanBuilder::from_name("llm.request").with_kind(SpanKind::Client);
+    let mut span = global_tracer().build_with_context(builder, cx);
+    span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.provider", provider.to_string()));
+    span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.operation", operation.to_string()));
+    span.set_attribute(KeyValue::new("llm.model", model.to_string()));
+    span
+}
+
 pub fn extract_context_from_request(req: &HttpRequest) -> Context {
     let propagator = TraceContextPropagator::new();
     propagator.extract(&HeaderExtractor(req.headers()))
 }
 
+/// Build the W3C trace-context headers to attach to an outgoing HTTP
+/// request so a downstream service (llama-swap, Ollama) can parent its own
+/// spans onto this trace. Returns an empty vec when the context carries no
+/// valid span — e.g. debug builds, where the global tracer is a no-op and
+/// injecting an all-zero traceparent would produce garbage parent spans.
+pub fn traceparent_headers(context: &Context) -> Vec<(String, String)> {
+    if !context.span().span_context().is_valid() {
+        return Vec::new();
+    }
+    let mut headers: std::collections::HashMap<String, String> = std::collections::HashMap::new();
+    TraceContextPropagator::new().inject_context(context, &mut headers);
+    // The propagator writes an empty tracestate header when there is no
+    // state — drop empty-valued headers rather than sending noise.
+    headers.into_iter().filter(|(_, v)| !v.is_empty()).collect()
+}
+
 pub fn trace_db_call<F, O>(
     context: &Context,
     query_type: &str,
@@ -110,3 +145,59 @@ where
 
     result
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod traceparent_tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use opentelemetry::trace::{
+        SpanContext, SpanId, TraceContextExt, TraceFlags, TraceId, TraceState,
+    };
+
+    /// A context carrying a span context with known ids — no global
+    /// provider needed, so tests can't pollute process state.
+    fn context_with_flags(flags: TraceFlags) -> Context {
+        let trace_id = TraceId::from_bytes([
+            0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07, 0x08, 0x09, 0x0a, 0x0b, 0x0c, 0x0d, 0x0e,
+            0x0f, 0x10,
+        ]);
+        let span_id = SpanId::from_bytes([0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07, 0x08]);
+        let span_context = SpanContext::new(trace_id, span_id, flags, false, TraceState::default());
+        Context::new().with_remote_span_context(span_context)
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn traceparent_headers_sampled_context() {
+        let cx = context_with_flags(TraceFlags::SAMPLED);
+        let headers = traceparent_headers(&cx);
+        assert_eq!(
+            headers,
+            vec![(
+                "traceparent".to_string(),
+                "00-0102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f10-0102030405060708-01".to_string(),
+            )]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn traceparent_headers_not_sampled_context() {
+        // A valid-but-unsampled context still propagates; the flags byte
+        // carries the state.
+        let cx = context_with_flags(TraceFlags::NOT_SAMPLED);
+        let headers = traceparent_headers(&cx);
+        assert_eq!(
+            headers,
+            vec![(
+                "traceparent".to_string(),
+                "00-0102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f10-0102030405060708-00".to_string(),
+            )]
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn traceparent_headers_invalid_context_is_empty() {
+        // No span (debug-build no-op tracer) → no header, never an
+        // all-zero traceparent.
+        let cx = Context::new();
+        assert!(traceparent_headers(&cx).is_empty());
+    }
+}

src/reels/script.rs

@@ -281,8 +281,9 @@ pub async fn generate_script(
     beats: &[PlannedBeat],
 ) -> Result<ReelScript> {
     let (system, user) = build_script_messages(meta, beats);
+    let cx = opentelemetry::Context::current();
     let raw = client
-        .generate(&user, Some(&system), None)
+        .generate(&cx, &user, Some(&system), None)
         .await
         .context("LLM script generation failed")?;
     Ok(parse_script_response(&raw, beats.len()))

src/unified_search.rs

@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ pub async fn unified_search<TagD: TagDao>(
     log::info!("unified_search: translating with model={}", backend.model());
 
     let today = chrono::Utc::now().date_naive();
-    let sq = match translate_nl_query(backend.chat(), &nl, &tag_vocab, today).await {
+    let sq = match translate_nl_query(backend.chat(), &nl, &tag_vocab, today, &ctx).await {
         Ok(sq) => sq,
         Err(e) => {
             log::warn!("unified_search: translate_nl_query failed: {e:?}");