diff --git a/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/telemetry.py b/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/telemetry.py
index 75e8de95..d17a378b 100644
--- a/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/telemetry.py
+++ b/letta/server/rest_api/routers/v1/telemetry.py
@@ -1,18 +1,28 @@
+from typing import Optional
+
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, Header
 
 from letta.schemas.provider_trace import ProviderTrace
 from letta.server.rest_api.utils import get_letta_server
 from letta.server.server import SyncServer
+from letta.settings import settings
 
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/telemetry", tags=["telemetry"])
 
 
-@router.get("/{step_id}", response_model=ProviderTrace, operation_id="retrieve_provider_trace")
+@router.get("/{step_id}", response_model=Optional[ProviderTrace], operation_id="retrieve_provider_trace")
 async def retrieve_provider_trace_by_step_id(
     step_id: str,
     server: SyncServer = Depends(get_letta_server),
     actor_id: str | None = Header(None, alias="user_id"),  # Extract user_id from header, default to None if not present
 ):
-    return await server.telemetry_manager.get_provider_trace_by_step_id_async(
-        step_id=step_id, actor=await server.user_manager.get_actor_or_default_async(actor_id=actor_id)
-    )
+    provider_trace = None
+    if settings.track_provider_trace:
+        try:
+            provider_trace = await server.telemetry_manager.get_provider_trace_by_step_id_async(
+                step_id=step_id, actor=await server.user_manager.get_actor_or_default_async(actor_id=actor_id)
+            )
+        except:
+            pass
+
+    return provider_trace
diff --git a/letta/settings.py b/letta/settings.py
index f497e6fd..2e052a3d 100644
--- a/letta/settings.py
+++ b/letta/settings.py
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     track_errored_messages: bool = Field(default=True, description="Enable tracking for errored messages")
     track_stop_reason: bool = Field(default=True, description="Enable tracking stop reason on steps.")
     track_agent_run: bool = Field(default=True, description="Enable tracking agent run with cancellation support")
+    track_provider_trace: bool = Field(default=True, description="Enable tracking raw llm request and response at each step")
 
     # FastAPI Application Settings
     uvicorn_workers: int = 1