diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/inline/agents/meta_reference/agent_instance.py b/llama_stack/providers/inline/agents/meta_reference/agent_instance.py
index 7d56098c8..b403b9203 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/inline/agents/meta_reference/agent_instance.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/inline/agents/meta_reference/agent_instance.py
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ class ChatAgent(ShieldRunnerMixin):
     async def create_and_execute_turn(
         self, request: AgentTurnCreateRequest
     ) -> AsyncGenerator:
-        with tracing.SpanContextManager("create_and_execute_turn") as span:
+        with tracing.span("create_and_execute_turn") as span:
             span.set_attribute("session_id", request.session_id)
             span.set_attribute("agent_id", self.agent_id)
             span.set_attribute("request", request.model_dump_json())
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ class ChatAgent(ShieldRunnerMixin):
         shields: List[str],
         touchpoint: str,
     ) -> AsyncGenerator:
-        with tracing.SpanContextManager("run_shields") as span:
+        with tracing.span("run_shields") as span:
             span.set_attribute("input", [m.model_dump_json() for m in messages])
             if len(shields) == 0:
                 span.set_attribute("output", "no shields")
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ class ChatAgent(ShieldRunnerMixin):
 
             # TODO: find older context from the session and either replace it
             # or append with a sliding window. this is really a very simplistic implementation
-            with tracing.SpanContextManager("retrieve_rag_context") as span:
+            with tracing.span("retrieve_rag_context") as span:
                 rag_context, bank_ids = await self._retrieve_context(
                     session_id, input_messages, attachments
                 )
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ class ChatAgent(ShieldRunnerMixin):
             content = ""
             stop_reason = None
 
-            with tracing.SpanContextManager("inference") as span:
+            with tracing.span("inference") as span:
                 async for chunk in await self.inference_api.chat_completion(
                     self.agent_config.model,
                     input_messages,
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ class ChatAgent(ShieldRunnerMixin):
                         )
                     )
 
-                    with tracing.SpanContextManager(
+                    with tracing.span(
                         "tool_execution",
                         {
                             "tool_name": tool_call.tool_name,
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ class ChatAgent(ShieldRunnerMixin):
                 )
                 for a in attachments
             ]
-            with tracing.SpanContextManager("insert_documents"):
+            with tracing.span("insert_documents"):
                 await self.memory_api.insert_documents(bank_id, documents)
         else:
             session_info = await self.storage.get_session_info(session_id)
diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/trace_protocol.py b/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/trace_protocol.py
index 57f58d50f..938d333fa 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/trace_protocol.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/trace_protocol.py
@@ -81,9 +81,7 @@ def trace_protocol(cls: Type[T]) -> Type[T]:
                 self, *args, **kwargs
             )
 
-            with tracing.SpanContextManager(
-                f"{class_name}.{method_name}", span_attributes
-            ) as span:
+            with tracing.span(f"{class_name}.{method_name}", span_attributes) as span:
                 try:
                     count = 0
                     async for item in method(self, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -98,9 +96,7 @@ def trace_protocol(cls: Type[T]) -> Type[T]:
                 self, *args, **kwargs
             )
 
-            with tracing.SpanContextManager(
-                f"{class_name}.{method_name}", span_attributes
-            ) as span:
+            with tracing.span(f"{class_name}.{method_name}", span_attributes) as span:
                 try:
                     result = await method(self, *args, **kwargs)
                     span.set_attribute("output", serialize_value(result))
@@ -115,9 +111,7 @@ def trace_protocol(cls: Type[T]) -> Type[T]:
                 self, *args, **kwargs
             )
 
-            with tracing.SpanContextManager(
-                f"{class_name}.{method_name}", span_attributes
-            ) as span:
+            with tracing.span(f"{class_name}.{method_name}", span_attributes) as span:
                 try:
                     result = method(self, *args, **kwargs)
                     span.set_attribute("output", serialize_value(result))
diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/tracing.py b/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/tracing.py
index 326a7c023..54558afdc 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/tracing.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/utils/telemetry/tracing.py
@@ -259,6 +259,10 @@ class SpanContextManager:
         return wrapper
 
 
+def span(name: str, attributes: Dict[str, Any] = None):
+    return SpanContextManager(name, attributes)
+
+
 def get_current_span() -> Optional[Span]:
     global CURRENT_TRACE_CONTEXT
     context = CURRENT_TRACE_CONTEXT