# Phoenix Tracing: Production Guide (Python)
**CRITICAL: Configure batching, data masking, and span filtering for production deployment.**
## Metadata
| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Priority | Critical - production readiness |
| Impact | Security, Performance |
| Setup Time | 5-15 min |
## Batch Processing
**Enable batch processing for production efficiency.** Batching reduces network overhead by sending spans in groups rather than individually.
## Data Masking (PII Protection)
**Environment variables:**
```bash
export OPENINFERENCE_HIDE_INPUTS=true # Hide input.value
export OPENINFERENCE_HIDE_OUTPUTS=true # Hide output.value
export OPENINFERENCE_HIDE_INPUT_MESSAGES=true # Hide LLM input messages
export OPENINFERENCE_HIDE_OUTPUT_MESSAGES=true # Hide LLM output messages
export OPENINFERENCE_HIDE_INPUT_IMAGES=true # Hide image content
export OPENINFERENCE_HIDE_INPUT_TEXT=true # Hide embedding text
export OPENINFERENCE_BASE64_IMAGE_MAX_LENGTH=10000 # Limit image size
```
**Python TraceConfig:**
```python
from phoenix.otel import register
from openinference.instrumentation import TraceConfig
config = TraceConfig(
hide_inputs=True,
hide_outputs=True,
hide_input_messages=True
)
register(trace_config=config)
```
**Precedence:** Code > Environment variables > Defaults
---
## Span Filtering
**Suppress specific code blocks:**
```python
from phoenix.otel import suppress_tracing
with suppress_tracing():
internal_logging() # No spans generated
```
