---
title: Enable Dynamic Instrumentation for Go
description: >-
  Set up Dynamic Instrumentation for Go applications to add probes and capture
  data without code changes.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > APM > Application Instrumentation > Dynamic Instrumentation > Enabling
  Dynamic Instrumentation > Enable Dynamic Instrumentation for Go
---

# Enable Dynamic Instrumentation for Go

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com, us2.ddog-gov.com

{% alert level="danger" %}
This product is not supported for your selected [Datadog site](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site.md). ().
{% /alert %}

{% /callout %}

{% callout %}
##### Limited Availability

Dynamic Instrumentation for Go is in Limited Availability and may not be available for your organization. Request access to join the waiting list.Note: Some limitations apply.

[Request Access](https://www.datadoghq.com/product-preview/live-debugger/)
{% /callout %}

Dynamic Instrumentation is a feature of the Datadog SDK that lets you add instrumentation to your application at runtime without code changes or redeployments. Follow these instructions to set up Dynamic Instrumentation for Go.

## Prerequisites{% #prerequisites %}

Before you begin, review the [Dynamic Instrumentation prerequisites](https://docs.datadoghq.com/dynamic_instrumentation.md#prerequisites). Go applications also require:

- [Datadog Agent](https://app.datadoghq.com/account/settings/agent/latest?platform=overview) version 7.73.0 or higher, running on the same host as your application.
- Go SDK version 1.74.6 or higher (major version 1), or version 2.2.3 or higher (major version 2). See the [installation instructions](https://docs.datadoghq.com/tracing/trace_collection/dd_libraries/go.md) for setup details.
- Linux kernel version 5.17 or higher.

## Installation{% #installation %}

To use Dynamic Instrumentation, you must enable it in both the Datadog Agent and your application.

### Datadog Agent{% #datadog-agent %}

Enable Dynamic Instrumentation in the Agent configuration using one of the following methods, depending on how you deploy the Agent:

{% tab title="Configuration YAML file" %}
Update `system-probe.yaml` (located alongside `datadog.yaml`) with the following. For more information, see [Agent configuration files](https://docs.datadoghq.com/agent/configuration/agent-configuration-files.md?tab=agentv6v7#agent-main-configuration-file).

```yaml
dynamic_instrumentation:
  enabled: true
```

{% /tab %}

{% tab title="Environment variable" %}
Add the following to your Datadog Agent manifest:

```
DD_DYNAMIC_INSTRUMENTATION_ENABLED=true
```

{% /tab %}

{% tab title="Helm" %}
Add the following to your Helm chart:

```yaml
datadog:
  dynamicInstrumentationGo:
    enabled: true
```

{% /tab %}

### Application (SDK){% #application-sdk %}

1. Run your service with Dynamic Instrumentation enabled by setting the following environment variable:

   ```
   DD_DYNAMIC_INSTRUMENTATION_ENABLED=true
   ```

1. Configure [Unified Service Tags](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/tagging/unified_service_tagging.md?tab=kubernetes) so that you can filter and group your instrumentations and target active clients across these dimensions:

   - `DD_SERVICE`
   - `DD_ENV`
   - `DD_VERSION`

1. Restart your service.

1. After the service starts, you can add and manage instrumentations from the [**APM** > **Live Debugger**](https://app.datadoghq.com/debugging) page.

## What to do next{% #what-to-do-next %}

See the [Live Debugger documentation](https://docs.datadoghq.com/tracing/live_debugger.md) for information about adding instrumentations, capturing application state, and browsing and indexing the collected data.

## Supported features{% #supported-features %}

- Adding probes for method calls, returns, and specific code lines
- Symbol search for probe location selection
- Capturing variables and return values available at the selected probe location
- [Sensitive data redaction](https://docs.datadoghq.com/dynamic_instrumentation/sensitive-data-scrubbing.md#redact-based-on-variable-values-with-sensitive-data-scanner)
- [Source code integration](https://docs.datadoghq.com/integrations/guide/source-code-integration.md?tab=go#embed-git-information-in-your-build-artifacts)

## Unsupported features{% #unsupported-features %}

- Dynamic Instrumentation for logs, metrics, spans, and span tag probes
- Log templates and condition expressions
- PII redaction based on specific classes or types
- Propagation of additional `DD_TAGS` set on the service to probe result tags
- Environments where eBPF is unavailable, including many serverless platforms such as AWS Lambda and AWS Fargate

## Further reading{% #further-reading %}

- [Getting Started with Datadog Agent](https://docs.datadoghq.com/agent.md)