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

# Context Utilities

<Tabs items={['TypeScript', 'Python']}>
  <Tab title="TypeScript">
    <Heading level={2} id="ts-laminar-serialize-span-context">Laminar.serializeLaminarSpanContext(span?)</Heading>

    Serialize span context for cross-service propagation.

    ```typescript theme={null}
    await observe({ name: 'service_a' }, async () => {
      const context = Laminar.serializeLaminarSpanContext();
      
      await fetch('/api/service-b', {
        headers: { 'X-Laminar-Span-Context': context },
      });
    });
    ```

    **Parameters:**

    | Name   | Type   | Default     | Description   |
    | ------ | ------ | ----------- | ------------- |
    | `span` | `Span` | Active span | Optional span |

    **Returns:** `string | null` — JSON string containing `traceId`, `spanId`, `isRemote`, `spanPath`, `spanIdsPath`

    ***

    <Heading level={2} id="ts-laminar-get-span-context">Laminar.getLaminarSpanContext(span?)</Heading>

    Get span context as an object.

    ```typescript theme={null}
    const context = Laminar.getLaminarSpanContext();
    // { traceId, spanId, isRemote, spanPath, spanIdsPath }
    ```

    **Parameters:**

    | Name   | Type   | Default     | Description   |
    | ------ | ------ | ----------- | ------------- |
    | `span` | `Span` | Active span | Optional span |

    **Returns:** `LaminarSpanContext | null`

    ***

    <Heading level={2} id="ts-laminar-deserialize-span-context">deserializeLaminarSpanContext(data) (internal)</Heading>

    Not exported from `@lmnr-ai/lmnr`. You typically do not need to deserialize manually—pass the serialized context directly as `parentSpanContext` when starting a span.

    ```typescript theme={null}
    import { Laminar } from '@lmnr-ai/lmnr';

    const span = Laminar.startSpan({
      name: 'service_b_handler',
      parentSpanContext: contextString,
    });
    ```

    **Example: Validate untrusted input**

    ```typescript theme={null}
    const raw = req.headers['x-laminar-span-context'];
    const parentSpanContext = typeof raw === 'string' && raw.length > 0 ? raw : undefined;

    const span = Laminar.startSpan({ name: 'service_b_handler', parentSpanContext });
    span.end();
    ```

    **Parameters:**

    | Name   | Type                                  | Description                                           |
    | ------ | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
    | `data` | `string` \| `Record<string, unknown>` | Serialized context (accepts camelCase or snake\_case) |

    **Returns:** `LaminarSpanContext`
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Python">
    <Heading level={2} id="py-laminar-serialize-span-context">Laminar.serialize\_span\_context(span?)</Heading>

    Serialize span context for cross-service propagation.

    ```python theme={null}
    @observe()
        def service_a():
            context = Laminar.serialize_span_context()
            
            requests.post("http://service-b/api", 
                headers={"X-Laminar-Span-Context": context}
            )
    ```

    **Parameters:**

    | Name   | Type   | Default     | Description   |
    | ------ | ------ | ----------- | ------------- |
    | `span` | `Span` | Active span | Optional span |

    **Returns:** `str | None` — JSON string

    ***

    <Heading level={2} id="py-laminar-deserialize-span-context">Laminar.deserialize\_span\_context(span\_context)</Heading>

    Deserialize span context from string or dict.

    ```python theme={null}
    # In service B
    context_str = request.headers.get("X-Laminar-Context")
    parent = Laminar.deserialize_span_context(context_str)

    with Laminar.start_as_current_span(
        name="service_b_handler",
        parent_span_context=parent
    ):
        handle_request()
    ```

    **Parameters:**

    | Name           | Type            | Description        |
    | -------------- | --------------- | ------------------ |
    | `span_context` | `dict` \| `str` | Serialized context |

    **Returns:** `LaminarSpanContext`

    **Example: Safe deserialization**

    ```python theme={null}
    from lmnr import Laminar

    def safe_deserialize(context_str):
        try:
            return Laminar.deserialize_span_context(context_str) if context_str else None
        except Exception:
            return None
    ```

    ***

    <Heading level={2} id="py-laminar-get-span-context">Laminar.get\_laminar\_span\_context(span?)</Heading>

    Get span context as an object.

    ```python theme={null}
    context = Laminar.get_laminar_span_context()
    # LaminarSpanContext(trace_id, span_id, is_remote, span_path, span_ids_path)
    ```

    **Parameters:**

    | Name   | Type                   | Default     | Description   |
    | ------ | ---------------------- | ----------- | ------------- |
    | `span` | `trace.Span` \| `None` | Active span | Optional span |

    **Returns:** `LaminarSpanContext | None`

    ***

    <Heading level={2} id="py-laminar-get-span-context-dict">Laminar.get\_laminar\_span\_context\_dict(span?)</Heading>

    Get span context as a dictionary.

    **Parameters:**

    | Name   | Type                   | Default     | Description   |
    | ------ | ---------------------- | ----------- | ------------- |
    | `span` | `trace.Span` \| `None` | Active span | Optional span |

    **Returns:** `dict | None`

    ***

    <Heading level={2} id="py-laminar-span-context">LaminarSpanContext</Heading>

    Span context for distributed tracing.

    ```python theme={null}
    @dataclass
    class LaminarSpanContext:
        trace_id: UUID
        span_id: UUID
        is_remote: bool = False
        span_path: list[str]
        span_ids_path: list[str]
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>