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Step-by-step configuration

Multiplayer is a full stack session recorder that captures everything from front-end screens, user actions, backend traces, metrics, logs, to full request/response content and headers - all auto-correlated in a single session.

⏰ Multiplayer is versatile by design, so there are multiple options you can choose when configuring your client and backend setup.

In this choose-your-own-adventure approach, the expected configuration time is usually a few hours and you can get started the same day. If it’s taking longer than that or you encounter any blockers, contact us.

STEP 0 - Prerequisites​

There are no prerequisites to start using Multiplayer.

👀 If this is the first time you’ve heard about us, you may want to see full stack session recordings in action. You can do that in our free sandbox: sandbox.multiplayer.app

🙋 If at any point during this set up you’re blocked, contact us and we’ll walk you through the right configuration for your platform.

We especially recommend reaching out for step (2) if you’re running multiple collectors, custom pipelines, or enterprise-grade environments.

STEP 1 - Client setup​

Select your session recording capture method:

JavaScript client library​

The Multiplayer JavaScript client Library is ideal for in-app reporting of bugs and unexpected feature behaviours. End-users can use the (optional and customizable) widget to start/stop full-stack session recordings, adding their notes and feedback before saving the replay.

Using the JavaScript client Library gives you fine-grained enterprise privacy controls and lets you scale issue reporting seamlessly across your organization.

The in-app widget allows end-users to select between two recording modes:

  • On-demand recording - Start/stop a recording manually
  • Continuous recording - Record in the background while you work

Check live examples of the in-app widget:

Setup overview:

For a detailed step-by-step implementation guide, please refer to: How to configure the JavaScript client library.

  • Login into your Multiplayer account. If you don't already have one, create a free trial at go.multiplayer.app.
  • Follow the steps in onboarding wizard:
    • Generate a Multiplayer API Key
    • Follow the installation quick start
    • Use the in-app widget to start recording

Supported frameworks:

Chrome browser extension​

The Multiplayer browser extension requires zero code and it's ideal for developers, customer support or end-users who need to quickly capture a bug, unexpected behavior, or new feature idea.

The browser extension allows end-users to select between two recording modes:

  • On-demand recording - Start/stop a recording manually
  • Continuous recording - Record in the background while you work

Setup overview:

For a detailed step-by-step implementation guide, please refer to: How to use the browser extension.

React Native client library​

The React Native client library provides full support for React Native mobile applications, including both bare React Native and Expo applications.

The in-app widget works the same as the JavaScript client library, and it allows end-users to select between two recording modes:

  • On-demand recording - Start/stop a recording manually
  • Continuous recording - Record in the background while you work

Setup overview:

For a detailed step-by-step implementation guide, please refer to: How to configure the React Native client library

  • Login into your Multiplayer account. If you don't already have one, create a free trial at go.multiplayer.app.
  • Follow the steps in onboarding wizard:
    • Generate a Multiplayer API Key
    • Follow the installation quick start
    • Use the in-app widget to start recording

STEP 2 - Backend setup​

To fully unlock the potential of full stack session recording, you need to connect your backend to Multiplayer, sending your application’s telemetry data (traces, logs, request/response and header information) to our platform.

The most efficient way to do this is by leveraging OpenTelemetry, an industry standard for collecting telemetry data.

🙋 If at any point during this set up you’re blocked, contact us and we’ll walk you through the right configuration for your platform. We especially recommend reaching out if you’re running multiple collectors, custom pipelines, or enterprise-grade environments.

Route traces and logs to Multiplayer​

If your services don't already use OpenTelemetry, you'll first need to install the OpenTelemetry libraries.

Once your services are instrumented with OpenTelemetry follow the steps below.

You have 2 primary options for routing your backend data to Multiplayer:

  • Multiplayer exporter. This is a great choice for new applications or startups because it's simple to set up and doesn't require any additional infrastructure. You can configure our exporter to send all session recording data to Multiplayer while optionally sending a sampled subset of data to your existing observability platform.

  • OpenTelemetry Collector. We recommend this option for large, scaled platforms, because it provides more flexibility by having your services send all telemetry to the collector, which then routes specific session recording data to Multiplayer, while routing other data to your existing observability tools.

Setup overview:

  • Login into your Multiplayer account. If you don't already have one, create a free trial at go.multiplayer.app.
  • Follow the steps in onboarding wizard:
    • Complete STEP 1 - Client setup
    • [Optional] Generate a Multiplayer API Key
    • Select your preferred method to route traces and logs to Multiplayer and follow the individual guides.

Capturing request/response content and headers​

In addition to sending traces and logs, we recommend that you capture request/response and header content to enrich your full stack session recordings. We offer two solutions for this:

  • In-service code capture libraries. We support libraries in multiple languages to capture, serialize, and mask request/response and header content directly within your service code. This is an easy way to get started, especially for new projects, as it requires no extra components in your platform.

  • Multiplayer Proxy. This option allows you to handle capturing this data outside of your services and it’s ideal for large-scale applications. It supports all languages, including those like Java that don't allow for in-service request/response hooks. The proxy can be deployed in various ways, such as an Ingress Proxy, a Sidecar Proxy, or an Embedded Proxy, to best fit your architecture.

Setup overview:

  • Login into your Multiplayer account. If you don't already have one, create a free trial at go.multiplayer.app.
  • Follow the steps in onboarding wizard:
    • Complete STEP 1 - Client setup
    • Complete STEP 2 - Route traces and logs to Multiplayer
    • Select your preferred method to capture request/response content and headers and follow the individual guides.

STEP 3 - Set up your IDE connection with our MCP server​

With the Multiplayer MCP (Model Context Protocol), you can feed your copilots and AI IDEs the complete system context they need: user actions, traces, logs, requests, responses, header data, plus user annotations.

No missing data, no guesswork. Your AI tools can generate accurate fixes, tests, and features with minimal prompting.

Choose your preferred language and follow the setup guide:

ℹ️ For a detailed step-by-step overview guide, please refer to: Multiplayer MCP server

You can download and try our VS code extension from these marketplaces:

Advanced options and CLI Apps​

The CLI apps libraries are designed for teams who need to capture full stack session recordings from command-line applications and backend services (Node.js, Go, Python, etc.).

Use them when you want visibility into workflows that don’t have a browser UI, for example, debugging APIs, scripts, or infrastructure tools.

Full list of guides:

You did it! What’s next?​

You’ve successfully configured Multiplayer, congratulations! 🎉 Your session recordings are now capturing both frontend behavior and backend data.

👉 Want to go further? Check out:

📌 If you have any questions shoot us an email or join us on Discord! 💜