[jeffdupont]

Fixes AIC-3596.

Why

A plain npm install @launchdarkly/ai-server leaves telemetry off, because the 7 OpenTelemetry SDK packages are optional peers. When they're missing, initClient() logs a warning, but the warning told users to install all 7 packages by hand, and so did the client README. We already ship @launchdarkly/ai-otel for this: it brings all 7 in one install, and the root README and the ai-node README already recommend it. This PR makes the warning and the remaining docs say the same thing.

The peers stay optional on purpose, and ai-node still does not depend on ai-otel. Edge runtimes such as Vercel and Cloudflare can't load @opentelemetry/sdk-trace-node, so they rely on these packages being absent and on the warn-and-continue path. TESTING.md ("OpenTelemetry SDK packages not installed — graceful degradation") only requires that the warning include the install command, and it still does, so the spec doesn't change.

Fix

• packages/client/src/lifecycle.ts: the missing-OTel console.warn now recommends npm install @launchdarkly/ai-otel, and still gives the 7-package command for anyone who wants to install them one by one.
• packages/client/README.md: the "With telemetry" install block now uses npm install @launchdarkly/ai-server @launchdarkly/ai-otel.
• README.md (Telemetry → Optional peer dependencies): now mentions ai-otel and the command the warning prints.
• Every package's agents.md already recommended ai-otel, so none of them changed.

Testing

• packages/client/src/__tests__/lifecycle.test.ts: the missing-peer test now checks for npm install @launchdarkly/ai-otel instead of just npm install. Before the fix it failed (Received had no @launchdarkly/ai-otel). After the fix it passes.
• yarn build, yarn typecheck, yarn code:check, and yarn test all pass: 2330 tests across the workspace runs.

Related: launchdarkly/python-ai-sdk#186

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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Note

Overview
Aligns missing-OpenTelemetry guidance with the existing @launchdarkly/ai-otel meta-package instead of listing seven OTel peers by default.

When optional OTel SDK packages are absent, initClient() still warns once and continues with no-op spans; the console.warn now leads with npm install @launchdarkly/ai-otel and keeps the individual-package install line as a fallback. Root README.md and packages/client/README.md use the same one-step install for the “with telemetry” path. lifecycle.test.ts asserts the updated warning text.

No change to telemetry behavior, peer dependency model, or graceful degradation when OTel is not installed.

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