> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tryheimdall.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> Open Source Observability Platform for MCP Servers and AI Applications

## What is Heimdall?

Heimdall is a comprehensive observability platform designed for monitoring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and AI/LLM applications. Built on OpenTelemetry standards, it provides real-time tracing, metrics, and insights into your AI infrastructure.

<img className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/heimdall-012ee199/rzTFGkOUSyfFi_Kb/images/hero-light.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=rzTFGkOUSyfFi_Kb&q=85&s=f57ed21d6aca1f379356fe1b587fbb8a" alt="Heimdall Dashboard" width="2064" height="1104" data-path="images/hero-light.png" />

<img className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/heimdall-012ee199/rzTFGkOUSyfFi_Kb/images/hero-dark.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=rzTFGkOUSyfFi_Kb&q=85&s=2752e4716c334fc649113754a6106de5" alt="Heimdall Dashboard" width="2064" height="1104" data-path="images/hero-dark.png" />

## Key Features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Real-time Tracing" icon="magnifying-glass">
    Track every tool call, resource access, and prompt execution in your MCP servers with detailed span information.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Dashboard Analytics" icon="chart-line">
    Visualize latency, error rates, and usage patterns with an intuitive dashboard interface.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Easy Integration" icon="plug">
    Simple SDK decorators for Python and JavaScript/TypeScript. Just wrap your functions and start tracing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Self-hosted" icon="server">
    Run entirely on your own infrastructure. Your data never leaves your servers.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## OpenTelemetry Native

Heimdall is built on industry-standard OpenTelemetry protocols. This means:

* **Compatibility**: Works with any OTLP-compatible tooling
* **Future-proof**: Based on CNCF-backed observability standards
* **Extensible**: Easy to integrate with existing observability stacks

## Architecture

Heimdall uses a simple but powerful architecture:

```
┌─────────────────┐     OTLP/HTTP      ┌─────────────────┐
│   MCP Server    │ ──────────────────▶│  Heimdall       │
│   + SDK         │    Port 4318       │  Backend        │
└─────────────────┘                    └────────┬────────┘
                                                │
                                                │ REST API
                                                │
                                       ┌────────▼────────┐
                                       │  Heimdall       │
                                       │  Frontend       │
                                       │  Port 5173      │
                                       └─────────────────┘
```

1. **Your MCP Server**: Instrumented with the Heimdall SDK (Python or JavaScript)
2. **Heimdall Backend**: Receives OTLP traces and stores them
3. **Heimdall Frontend**: Beautiful dashboard for viewing and analyzing traces

## SDKs

Heimdall provides official SDKs for instrumenting your MCP servers:

| SDK                   | Package                                      | Installation       |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| Python                | [`hmdl`](https://pypi.org/project/hmdl/)     | `pip install hmdl` |
| JavaScript/TypeScript | [`hmdl`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/hmdl) | `npm install hmdl` |

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Get up and running with Heimdall in 5 minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Python SDK" icon="python" href="/guides/tracing/python-sdk">
    Learn how to instrument your Python MCP servers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="JavaScript SDK" icon="js" href="/guides/tracing/javascript-sdk">
    Learn how to instrument your Node.js MCP servers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configuration" icon="gear" href="/guides/configuration/environment-variables">
    Configure Heimdall for your environment.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>