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Getting your application up and running with AppSignal shouldn’t take more than ten minutes. This guide walks through the whole process for Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, Python, and PHP, and links to the equivalent instructions for every other language.

Requirements

AppSignal has an installation wizard that guides you through each step, so sign in to your AppSignal account before you start. If you don’t have an account yet, create a user account and an organization first. Check the supported operating systems documentation to make sure your system is compatible with AppSignal.

Adding your application

To register a new application and open the installation wizard, select Add app on the applications overview page. If you’re already signed in, this link opens the wizard directly. The AppSignal applications overview page with the Add app button The wizard first asks which language your application is written in, then shows the installation steps for it. Those steps vary per language, and they include your Push API key, the key that tells AppSignal which organization the data belongs to. You can also find it in your organization’s API keys.

Quick install

Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, Python, and PHP follow the same five steps: get your Push API key, add the package, configure it, send test data, and deploy. Select your language in any code block below and the rest of this section follows your choice. For front-end JavaScript, Go, and Java, skip to installing other languages.
PHP needs the OpenTelemetry PHP extension before you start. Read the PHP requirements page first.

Step 1: Get your Push API key

Every step below needs your organization-wide Push API key. Open your organization’s API keys and copy the first key shown there. The installation wizard also shows it.

Step 2: Add the package

Add AppSignal to your project’s dependencies, then install them:
Ruby, Elixir, Node.js, and Python compile a native extension during installation. Check the supported operating systems page for the build tools your system needs. This is why pnpm needs --allow-build: it suppresses lifecycle scripts by default, so without the flag the extension is never built and AppSignal reports nothing.

Step 3: Configure

Step 2 installed the package. This step creates its configuration file. Ruby, Elixir, Python and PHP ship a command that writes that file for you: run it from your application’s root directory with the Push API key from the wizard, and it asks for anything else it needs. Node.js ships no such command, so you write its file by hand, check the Node.js installation page for the full walkthrough.
The minimal configuration file it creates is where you also change configuration later:
Don’t check the Push API key into version control. Read it from a system environment variable instead, or set APPSIGNAL_PUSH_API_KEY on the host and leave the key out of the config file altogether.
Some frameworks and libraries need a step the installer can’t do for you:
  • Ruby: Rails is wired up automatically. Sidekiq, Puma, Sinatra, and others are covered in the Ruby integrations documentation.
  • Elixir: continue with the Phoenix or Plug guide if you use either.
  • Python: AppSignal does not instrument libraries automatically. Add the packages for the libraries you use from the Python instrumentations documentation.
  • PHP: the installer adds framework auto-instrumentation for you. See the PHP integrations documentation for what it covers.
  • Node.js: load appsignal.cjs before every other library by adding --require ./appsignal.cjs to the command that starts the app, for example node --require ./appsignal.cjs index.js. Nothing is instrumented without it. For compiled TypeScript, add --enable-source-maps so backtraces point at your .ts source: node --enable-source-maps --require './appsignal.cjs' dist/src/main.js. See the Node.js integrations documentation.

Step 4: Send your first data

AppSignal registers a new application only once it receives data. The demo command sends an error and a performance trace so you can confirm the connection works:
The Ruby, Elixir, and PHP appsignal install commands run this for you at the end, so you may already have seen it. Node.js has no such command, so run the demo yourself. Run it again at any time, or start your application and make a few requests instead.

Step 5: Deploy

Commit the changes and deploy your application. Once the deployed application handles traffic, its errors, traces, and host metrics appear on AppSignal.com. For the full reference on your language, read its installation and configuration pages:

Installing other languages

These languages don’t use the installer flow above. Follow their own installation instructions instead: For these languages, start your application and make some requests, or trigger a script, to report the first data.

Completing your installation

Once installed, the wizard checks that AppSignal can receive data from your application. If the wizard can’t verify the installation, we’re here to help. A diagnose report from your application’s host helps us find the cause faster. Once AppSignal is installed successfully, commit and deploy your changes. AppSignal starts receiving data, and you’re good to go. Now it’s time to configure your application.