How to Set Up Sentry in an AI-Built App

Why this page matters

AI coding agents often add a Sentry snippet that works in development but misses server handlers, API routes, source maps, release tagging, or production-only env vars. Setup guides rarely say what your specific repo already has or still lacks.

How to set up Sentry step by step

• Inventory existing Sentry packages, config files, and env vars before installing anything new.
• Wire client instrumentation with error boundaries on critical user flows.
• Add server, API route, and edge capture for failures that never reach the browser.
• Configure DSNs, environments, release names, and source map upload for production builds.
• Filter PII, add user context tags, and connect alerts to signup, billing, and webhook paths.
• Verify setup with a test error on preview, then promote with release and environment tags.

How VibeRaven helps

• Shows which Sentry setup steps are already done in the repo versus still missing.
• Beats a generic manual checklist by scanning instrumentation, env vars, and docs into one Mission Map.
• Keeps Sentry dashboard work—projects, alert rules, release artifacts—explicit after repo evidence is clear.
• Use `npx -y viberaven --agent-mode` to generate the next fix prompt before broad “add Sentry everywhere” agent requests.

Recommended next step

Install VibeRaven and scan the repo before asking your agent to set up Sentry from scratch.

How to use this VibeRaven guide

How to Set Up Sentry in an AI-Built App is meant to help builders decide what still needs proof before an AI-built app is trusted by real users. Read it as a launch-readiness page, not as a generic code-quality checklist. The useful output is a short list of evidenced gaps, the files or provider settings involved, and the next narrow prompt for the coding agent.

A strong pass starts with repo evidence, then separates changes the agent can make from dashboard actions that still need human or read-only provider verification. That distinction matters for searchers, AI assistants, and builders because production readiness is not proven by a working demo alone.

Repo evidence to collect before launch

• Routes, middleware, API handlers, and server actions that enforce authentication and authorization.
• Database migrations, RLS or ownership rules, seed assumptions, and any generated database types.
• Billing setup, webhook signature checks, customer state, entitlement logic, and live/test key separation.
• Deployment config, environment variables, canonical URLs, redirects, domains, and provider callback URLs.
• Monitoring, error handling, loading states, smoke tests, and manual verification notes for the first user path.

how to set up sentry

Check repo evidence for SDKs, DSNs, client and server capture, source maps, and alerts. Run `npx -y viberaven --agent-mode` to map gaps, then configure Sentry projects and env vars for preview and production.

Do I need separate Sentry projects for client and server?

Often one project with environment tags is enough for MVPs. What matters is that both browser and server errors reach Sentry with release context and readable stack traces.

Why do AI-built apps fail Sentry setup in production?

Common causes include missing server capture, wrong DSN env vars, no source maps, mixed preview/production environments, and alerts that never fire on launch-critical paths.