---
title: Aiohttp Server support
description: Getting Elastic APM set up for your Aiohttp Server project is easy, and there are various ways you can tweak it to fit to your needs. Install the Elastic...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/aiohttp-server-support
products:
  - APM Agent
  - APM Python Agent
applies_to:
  - Serverless Observability projects: Generally available
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
  - Application Performance Monitoring Agent for Python: Generally available
---

# Aiohttp Server support
Getting Elastic APM set up for your Aiohttp Server project is easy, and there are various ways you can tweak it to fit to your needs.

## Installation

Install the Elastic APM agent using pip:
```bash
$ pip install elastic-apm
```

or add `elastic-apm` to your project’s `requirements.txt` file.

## Setup

To set up the agent, you need to initialize it with appropriate settings.
The settings are configured either via environment variables, the application’s settings, or as initialization arguments.
You can find a list of all available settings in the [Configuration](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/configuration) page.
To initialize the agent for your application using environment variables:
```python
from aiohttp import web

from elasticapm.contrib.aiohttp import ElasticAPM

app = web.Application()

apm = ElasticAPM(app)
```

To configure the agent using `ELASTIC_APM` in your application’s settings:
```python
from aiohttp import web

from elasticapm.contrib.aiohttp import ElasticAPM

app = web.Application()

app['ELASTIC_APM'] = {
    'SERVICE_NAME': '<SERVICE-NAME>',
    'SECRET_TOKEN': '<SECRET-TOKEN>',
}
apm = ElasticAPM(app)
```


## Usage

Once you have configured the agent, it will automatically track transactions and capture uncaught exceptions within aiohttp.
Capture an arbitrary exception by calling [`capture_exception`](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/api-reference#client-api-capture-exception):
```python
try:
    1 / 0
except ZeroDivisionError:
    apm.client.capture_exception()
```

Log a generic message with [`capture_message`](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/api-reference#client-api-capture-message):
```python
apm.client.capture_message('hello, world!')
```


## Performance metrics

If you’ve followed the instructions above, the agent has already installed our middleware. This will measure response times, as well as detailed performance data for all supported technologies.
<note>
  due to the fact that `asyncio` drivers are usually separate from their synchronous counterparts, specific instrumentation is needed for all drivers. The support for asynchronous drivers is currently quite limited.
</note>


### Ignoring specific routes

You can use the [`TRANSACTIONS_IGNORE_PATTERNS`](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/configuration#config-transactions-ignore-patterns) configuration option to ignore specific routes. The list given should be a list of regular expressions which are matched against the transaction name:
```python
app['ELASTIC_APM'] = {
    # ...
    'TRANSACTIONS_IGNORE_PATTERNS': ['^OPTIONS ', '/api/']
    # ...
}
```

This would ignore any requests using the `OPTIONS` method and any requests containing `/api/`.

## Supported aiohttp and Python versions

A list of supported [aiohttp](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/supported-technologies#supported-aiohttp) and [Python](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/supported-technologies#supported-python) versions can be found on our [Supported Technologies](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/apm/agents/python/supported-technologies) page.
<note>
  Elastic APM only supports `asyncio` when using Python 3.7+
</note>