diff --git a/config/datadog_example.ini b/config/datadog_example.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57329e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/datadog_example.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+[main]
+upstream = amqp://localhost:5672
+log_level = INFO
+idle_connection_timeout = 5
+
+[listen]
+address = localhost
+port = 5673
+
+[datadog]
+enabled = true
+service_name = amqproxy
+env = production
+agent_host = localhost
+agent_port = 8126
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/amqproxy/cli.cr b/src/amqproxy/cli.cr
index 24e5ce2..56b592f 100644
--- a/src/amqproxy/cli.cr
+++ b/src/amqproxy/cli.cr
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 require "./version"
 require "./server"
 require "./http_server"
+require "./tracer"
+require "./nil_tracer"
+require "./datadog_tracer"
 require "option_parser"
 require "uri"
 require "ini"
@@ -17,6 +20,11 @@ class AMQProxy::CLI
   @term_timeout = -1
   @term_client_close_timeout = 0
   @server : AMQProxy::Server? = nil
+  @datadog_enabled = false
+  @datadog_service_name = "amqproxy"
+  @datadog_env = "production"
+  @datadog_agent_host = "localhost"
+  @datadog_agent_port = 8126
 
   def parse_config(path) # ameba:disable Metrics/CyclomaticComplexity
     INI.parse(File.read(path)).each do |name, section|
@@ -32,6 +40,17 @@ class AMQProxy::CLI
           else                                  raise "Unsupported config #{name}/#{key}"
           end
         end
+      when "datadog"
+        section.each do |key, value|
+          case key
+          when "enabled"      then @datadog_enabled = value.downcase == "true"
+          when "service_name" then @datadog_service_name = value
+          when "env"          then @datadog_env = value
+          when "agent_host"   then @datadog_agent_host = value
+          when "agent_port"   then @datadog_agent_port = value.to_i
+          else                     raise "Unsupported config #{name}/#{key}"
+          end
+        end
       when "listen"
         section.each do |key, value|
           case key
@@ -48,7 +67,7 @@ class AMQProxy::CLI
     abort ex.message
   end
 
-  def apply_env_variables
+  def apply_env_variables # ameba:disable Metrics/CyclomaticComplexity
     @listen_address = ENV["LISTEN_ADDRESS"]? || @listen_address
     @listen_port = ENV["LISTEN_PORT"]?.try &.to_i || @listen_port
     @http_port = ENV["HTTP_PORT"]?.try &.to_i || @http_port
@@ -57,6 +76,11 @@ class AMQProxy::CLI
     @term_timeout = ENV["TERM_TIMEOUT"]?.try &.to_i || @term_timeout
     @term_client_close_timeout = ENV["TERM_CLIENT_CLOSE_TIMEOUT"]?.try &.to_i || @term_client_close_timeout
     @upstream = ENV["AMQP_URL"]? || @upstream
+    @datadog_enabled = ENV["DD_TRACE_ENABLED"]?.try { |v| v.downcase == "true" } || @datadog_enabled
+    @datadog_service_name = ENV["DD_SERVICE"]? || @datadog_service_name
+    @datadog_env = ENV["DD_ENV"]? || @datadog_env
+    @datadog_agent_host = ENV["DD_AGENT_HOST"]? || @datadog_agent_host
+    @datadog_agent_port = ENV["DD_TRACE_AGENT_PORT"]?.try &.to_i || @datadog_agent_port
   end
 
   def run(argv)
@@ -88,6 +112,11 @@ class AMQProxy::CLI
         @term_client_close_timeout = v.to_i
       end
       parser.on("-d", "--debug", "Verbose logging") { @log_level = ::Log::Severity::Debug }
+      parser.on("--datadog-enabled", "Enable Datadog APM tracing") { @datadog_enabled = true }
+      parser.on("--datadog-service=SERVICE", "Datadog service name (default: amqproxy)") { |v| @datadog_service_name = v }
+      parser.on("--datadog-env=ENV", "Datadog environment (default: production)") { |v| @datadog_env = v }
+      parser.on("--datadog-agent-host=HOST", "Datadog agent host (default: localhost)") { |v| @datadog_agent_host = v }
+      parser.on("--datadog-agent-port=PORT", "Datadog agent port (default: 8126)") { |v| @datadog_agent_port = v.to_i }
       parser.on("-h", "--help", "Show this help") { puts parser.to_s; exit 0 }
       parser.on("-v", "--version", "Display version") { puts AMQProxy::VERSION.to_s; exit 0 }
       parser.invalid_option { |arg| abort "Invalid argument: #{arg}" }
@@ -117,7 +146,12 @@ class AMQProxy::CLI
     Signal::INT.trap &->self.initiate_shutdown(Signal)
     Signal::TERM.trap &->self.initiate_shutdown(Signal)
 
-    server = @server = AMQProxy::Server.new(u.hostname || "", port, tls, @idle_connection_timeout)
+    tracer : Tracer = if @datadog_enabled
+      DatadogTracer.new(@datadog_service_name, @datadog_env, AMQProxy::VERSION, @datadog_agent_host, @datadog_agent_port)
+    else
+      NilTracer.new
+    end
+    server = @server = AMQProxy::Server.new(u.hostname || "", port, tls, @idle_connection_timeout, tracer)
 
     HTTPServer.new(server, @listen_address, @http_port.to_i)
     server.listen(@listen_address, @listen_port.to_i)
diff --git a/src/amqproxy/client.cr b/src/amqproxy/client.cr
index ffdc8a6..4ecae08 100644
--- a/src/amqproxy/client.cr
+++ b/src/amqproxy/client.cr
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ require "amq-protocol"
 require "./version"
 require "./upstream"
 require "./records"
+require "./tracer"
+require "./nil_tracer"
 
 module AMQProxy
   class Client
@@ -14,8 +16,9 @@ module AMQProxy
     @channel_max : UInt16
     @heartbeat : UInt16
     @last_heartbeat = Time.monotonic
+    @tracer : Tracer
 
-    def initialize(@socket : TCPSocket)
+    def initialize(@socket : TCPSocket, @tracer = NilTracer)
       set_socket_options(@socket)
       tune_ok, @credentials = negotiate(@socket)
       @frame_max = tune_ok.frame_max
@@ -42,11 +45,17 @@ module AMQProxy
 
     private def finish_publish(channel)
       buffer = @publish_buffers[channel]
-      if upstream_channel = @channel_map[channel]
-        upstream_channel.write(buffer.publish)
-        upstream_channel.write(buffer.header)
-        buffer.bodies.each do |body|
-          upstream_channel.write(body)
+      @tracer.trace("amqp.publish", buffer.publish.exchange, {
+        amqp_exchange:    buffer.publish.exchange,
+        amqp_routing_key: buffer.publish.routing_key,
+        amqp_body_size:   buffer.header.body_size.to_s,
+      }) do
+        if upstream_channel = @channel_map[channel]
+          upstream_channel.write(buffer.publish)
+          upstream_channel.write(buffer.header)
+          buffer.bodies.each do |body|
+            upstream_channel.write(body)
+          end
         end
       end
     ensure
diff --git a/src/amqproxy/datadog_tracer.cr b/src/amqproxy/datadog_tracer.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aeb6b34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/amqproxy/datadog_tracer.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+require "http/client"
+require "json"
+require "log"
+require "./tracer"
+
+module AMQProxy
+  class DatadogTracer < Tracer
+    Log = ::Log.for(self)
+
+    @service_name : String
+    @env : String
+    @version : String
+    @agent_host : String
+    @agent_port : Int32
+    @http_client : HTTP::Client
+
+    def initialize(service_name = "amqproxy", env = "production", version = VERSION, agent_host = "localhost", agent_port = 8126)
+      @service_name = service_name
+      @env = env
+      @version = version
+      @agent_host = agent_host
+      @agent_port = agent_port
+      @http_client = HTTP::Client.new(agent_host, agent_port)
+      @http_client.connect_timeout = 1.second
+      @http_client.read_timeout = 1.second
+    end
+
+    def trace(operation_name : String, resource : String? = nil, tags = NamedTuple.new, &)
+      trace_id = Random.rand(UInt64::MAX)
+      span_id = Random.rand(UInt64::MAX)
+      start_time = Time.monotonic
+      start_time_ns = Time.utc.to_unix_ns.to_i64
+
+      begin
+        result = yield
+        duration = (Time.monotonic - start_time).total_nanoseconds.to_i64
+        send_span(trace_id, span_id, operation_name, resource, start_time_ns, duration, tags, error: false)
+        result
+      rescue ex
+        duration = (Time.monotonic - start_time).total_nanoseconds.to_i64
+        error_tags = tags.merge(error_type: ex.class.name, error_message: ex.message)
+        send_span(trace_id, span_id, operation_name, resource, start_time_ns, duration, error_tags, error: true)
+        raise ex
+      end
+    end
+
+    private def send_span(trace_id : UInt64, span_id : UInt64, operation_name : String, resource : String?, start_time : Int64, duration : Int64, tags, error : Bool)
+      meta_tags = tags.merge({
+        env:      @env,
+        version:  @version,
+        language: "crystal",
+      })
+
+      span = {
+        trace_id: trace_id,
+        span_id:  span_id,
+        name:     operation_name,
+        resource: resource || operation_name,
+        service:  @service_name,
+        type:     "custom",
+        start:    start_time,
+        duration: duration,
+        error:    error ? 1 : 0,
+        meta:     meta_tags,
+      }
+
+      payload = JSON.build do |json|
+        json.array do
+          json.array do
+            span.to_json(json)
+          end
+        end
+      end
+
+      spawn do
+        begin
+          response = @http_client.put("/v0.4/traces",
+            headers: HTTP::Headers{"Content-Type" => "application/json"},
+            body: payload
+          )
+
+          unless response.success?
+            Log.debug { "Failed to send trace to Datadog: #{response.status_code} #{response.body}" }
+          end
+        rescue ex
+          Log.debug { "Error sending trace to Datadog: #{ex.message}" }
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    def close
+      @http_client.close
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/amqproxy/nil_tracer.cr b/src/amqproxy/nil_tracer.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3715cc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/amqproxy/nil_tracer.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+require "./tracer"
+
+module AMQProxy
+  class NilTracer < Tracer
+    def trace(operation_name : String, resource : String? = nil, tags = NamedTuple.new, &)
+      yield
+    end
+
+    def close
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/amqproxy/server.cr b/src/amqproxy/server.cr
index 4af02f4..1030daf 100644
--- a/src/amqproxy/server.cr
+++ b/src/amqproxy/server.cr
@@ -5,23 +5,26 @@ require "uri"
 require "./channel_pool"
 require "./client"
 require "./upstream"
+require "./tracer"
+require "./nil_tracer"
 
 module AMQProxy
   class Server
     Log = ::Log.for(self)
     @clients_lock = Mutex.new
     @clients = Array(Client).new
+    @tracer : Tracer
 
-    def self.new(url : URI)
+    def self.new(url : URI, tracer = NilTracer.new)
       tls = url.scheme == "amqps"
       host = url.host || "127.0.0.1"
       port = url.port || 5762
       port = 5671 if tls && url.port.nil?
       idle_connection_timeout = url.query_params.fetch("idle_connection_timeout", 5).to_i
-      new(host, port, tls, idle_connection_timeout)
+      new(host, port, tls, idle_connection_timeout, tracer)
     end
 
-    def initialize(upstream_host, upstream_port, upstream_tls, idle_connection_timeout = 5)
+    def initialize(upstream_host, upstream_port, upstream_tls, idle_connection_timeout = 5, @tracer = NilTracer.new)
       tls_ctx = OpenSSL::SSL::Context::Client.new if upstream_tls
       @channel_pools = Hash(Credentials, ChannelPool).new do |hash, credentials|
         hash[credentials] = ChannelPool.new(upstream_host, upstream_port, tls_ctx, credentials, idle_connection_timeout)
@@ -45,12 +48,10 @@ module AMQProxy
       Log.info { "Proxy listening on #{server.local_address}" }
       loop do
         socket = server.accept? || break
-        begin
-          addr = socket.remote_address
-          spawn handle_connection(socket, addr), name: "Client#read_loop #{addr}"
-        rescue IO::Error
-          next
-        end
+        addr = socket.remote_address
+        spawn handle_connection(socket, addr), name: "Client#read_loop #{addr}"
+      rescue IO::Error
+        next
       end
       Log.info { "Proxy stopping accepting connections" }
     end
@@ -74,7 +75,9 @@ module AMQProxy
     end
 
     private def handle_connection(socket, remote_address)
-      c = Client.new(socket)
+      c = @tracer.trace("client.connection", remote_address.to_s) do
+        Client.new(socket, @tracer)
+      end
       active_client(c) do
         channel_pool = @channel_pools[c.credentials]
         c.read_loop(channel_pool)
diff --git a/src/amqproxy/tracer.cr b/src/amqproxy/tracer.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5085f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/amqproxy/tracer.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+module AMQProxy
+  abstract class Tracer
+    abstract def trace(operation_name : String, resource : String? = nil, tags = NamedTuple.new, &)
+    abstract def close
+  end
+end