Choosing the right Claude Code Integration

Last updated: June 9, 2026

Claude Code Integrations

Span supports three integration methods for Claude Code, each designed for different account types and organizational setups. All three integrations provide per-person metrics and sync on the same schedule—the key differences lie in which account types they support and how reliable the data collection is.

Choosing the Right Integration

OTel

API (Admin)

Enterprise API

Individual / personal accounts

✅

❌

❌

Organizations on Team plan

✅

❌

❌

Organizations on API plan

❌

✅

❌

Organizations on Enterprise plan

❌

❌

✅

Setup location

Developer machines

Span settings

Span settings

Data reliability

⚠ Fragile

✅ Stable

✅ Stable

Can I use more than one? Yes. If you run both OTel and an API-based integration simultaneously, Span deduplicates the data automatically. For each person/date combination, API data takes precedence over OTel data, so OTel fills in any gaps the API misses.

1. OTel (OpenTelemetry) Integration

The OTel integration works by configuring Claude Code on each developer's machine to export telemetry metrics directly to Span.

Best for:

  • Individuals using personal Claude Code accounts (not part of a company account)

  • Organizations on a Team subscription

Setup: Configuration is done at the individual developer machine level via Claude Code's managed-settings.json file. This is typically distributed across your team using an MDM (Mobile Device Management) tool.

  1. Navigate to Settings → Integrations in Span and enable the Claude Code OTel integration

  2. Generate your OTel token from the integration dashboard

  3. Create or update managed-settings.json on developer machines with the following:

    {
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_TELEMETRY": "1",
    "OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER": "otlp",
    "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL": "http/protobuf",
    "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT": "https://otel.span.app:443",
    "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS": "X-Span-Token=<YOUR_TOKEN>",
    "OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES": "work_email=<USER_EMAIL>"
  }
}

  4. Restart Claude Code for the settings to take effect

Important limitations:

  • This integration is inherently fragile. Network issues, Claude session problems, and authentication errors on the developer's machine can silently prevent metrics from being sent to Span—and these issues are very difficult to debug remotely.

  • Data may be incomplete or missing for users who experience connectivity or session issues.

  • There is no historical backfill; data collection begins from the time the integration is configured.

2. API (Admin) Integration

The API integration uses an Anthropic Admin API key to pull Claude Code usage reports directly from Anthropic's systems.

Best for:

  • Organizations on Anthropic's API plan — the most minimal team plan, with no per-seat license cost

Not supported for:

  • Individual/personal accounts

  • Users on any subscription-based plan (Team, Enterprise); those users will not appear in the data

Setup:

  1. Generate an Admin API key from your Anthropic account settings

  2. Navigate to Settings → Integrations in Span

  3. Find Claude Code and click Connect

  4. Enter your Admin API key and save

Key characteristics:

  • More reliable than OTel since data is pulled server-side from Anthropic

  • Supports historical backfill up to 1 year

  • Only covers users billed under the API plan—subscription users are excluded by design

3. Enterprise API Integration

The Enterprise API integration uses an Anthropic Analytics API key available exclusively to Claude Code Enterprise accounts.

Best for:

  • Organizations on a Claude Code Enterprise plan

Setup:

  1. Obtain your Analytics API key from your Anthropic enterprise admin console

  2. Navigate to Settings → Integrations in Span

  3. Find Claude Code Enterprise and click Connect

  4. Enter your Analytics API key and save

Key characteristics:

  • Most comprehensive coverage—no known limitations on which users appear in the data

  • Stable, server-side data pull (not dependent on developer machine configuration)

  • Supports historical backfill

Monitoring Your Integration

After setup, go to Settings → Integrations in Span. Each enabled integration displays a health indicator:

  • 🟢 Green — data is flowing in successfully

  • Hover over the indicator to see the timestamp of the last data received

If you're running OTel, we recommend monitoring this indicator closely, as silent failures are possible.

Questions?

If you're unsure which integration is right for your Claude Code setup, contact your Span rep and we'll help you determine the best configuration for your account type.