diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 56894c0..3c45593 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   - All metrics include `module` and `topic` labels
   - Health check endpoints (`/health`, `/healthz`) for Kubernetes probes
   - Metrics: read/write counts, backlog, pending seconds, rates
+- **buswatch-sdk**: Tracing integration for structured logging (`tracing` feature)
+  - TRACE level logs for record_read/record_write operations
+  - DEBUG level logs for module registration and snapshot collection
+  - INFO/WARN level logs for background emission lifecycle and errors
+  - Zero overhead when feature is disabled
 
 ## [0.1.0] - 2025-12-21
 
diff --git a/buswatch-sdk/Cargo.toml b/buswatch-sdk/Cargo.toml
index 8ec0d8f..ff63e54 100644
--- a/buswatch-sdk/Cargo.toml
+++ b/buswatch-sdk/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ default = ["tokio"]
 tokio = ["dep:tokio"]
 otel = ["dep:opentelemetry", "dep:opentelemetry_sdk", "dep:opentelemetry-otlp", "tokio"]
 prometheus = ["tokio", "dep:hyper", "dep:hyper-util", "dep:http-body-util"]
+tracing = ["dep:tracing"]
 
 [dependencies]
 buswatch-types = { path = "../buswatch-types", features = ["serde"] }
@@ -36,5 +37,8 @@ hyper = { version = "1", features = ["server", "http1"], optional = true }
 hyper-util = { version = "0.1", features = ["tokio"], optional = true }
 http-body-util = { version = "0.1", optional = true }
 
+# Tracing (optional, for structured logging)
+tracing = { version = "0.1", optional = true }
+
 [dev-dependencies]
 tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full", "test-util"] }
diff --git a/buswatch-sdk/README.md b/buswatch-sdk/README.md
index 1853c1b..63cdfe3 100644
--- a/buswatch-sdk/README.md
+++ b/buswatch-sdk/README.md
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ let instrumentor = Instrumentor::builder()
 | `tokio` | Async runtime support (enabled by default) |
 | `otel` | OpenTelemetry OTLP export |
 | `prometheus` | Prometheus metrics endpoint |
+| `tracing` | Structured logging via tracing crate |
 
 ### OpenTelemetry Integration
 
@@ -218,6 +219,40 @@ instrumentor.start();
 // Metrics now available at http://localhost:9090/metrics
 ```
 
+### Tracing Integration
+
+Enable the `tracing` feature for structured logging:
+
+```toml
+[dependencies]
+buswatch-sdk = { version = "0.1", features = ["tracing"] }
+```
+
+```rust
+use tracing_subscriber;
+
+fn main() {
+    // Initialize a tracing subscriber
+    tracing_subscriber::fmt::init();
+
+    // Now buswatch operations emit structured logs
+    let instrumentor = buswatch_sdk::Instrumentor::new();
+    let handle = instrumentor.register("my-service"); // DEBUG log
+    handle.record_read("events", 10); // TRACE log
+}
+```
+
+**Log levels:**
+- `TRACE`: Individual `record_read`/`record_write` calls (high volume)
+- `DEBUG`: Module registration, snapshot collection
+- `INFO`: Background emission start/stop
+- `WARN`: Emission failures
+
+Control verbosity with the `RUST_LOG` environment variable:
+```bash
+RUST_LOG=buswatch_sdk=debug cargo run
+```
+
 ## Thread Safety
 
 The SDK is designed for concurrent use:
diff --git a/buswatch-sdk/src/handle.rs b/buswatch-sdk/src/handle.rs
index b279dfd..98af668 100644
--- a/buswatch-sdk/src/handle.rs
+++ b/buswatch-sdk/src/handle.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ impl ModuleHandle {
     /// * `topic` - The topic name
     /// * `count` - Number of messages read
     pub fn record_read(&self, topic: &str, count: u64) {
+        #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+        tracing::trace!(module = %self.name, topic = topic, count = count, "record_read");
+
         let read_state = self.state.get_or_create_read(topic);
         read_state.count.fetch_add(count, Ordering::Relaxed);
     }
@@ -56,6 +59,9 @@ impl ModuleHandle {
     /// * `topic` - The topic name
     /// * `count` - Number of messages written
     pub fn record_write(&self, topic: &str, count: u64) {
+        #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+        tracing::trace!(module = %self.name, topic = topic, count = count, "record_write");
+
         let write_state = self.state.get_or_create_write(topic);
         write_state.count.fetch_add(count, Ordering::Relaxed);
 
diff --git a/buswatch-sdk/src/instrumentor.rs b/buswatch-sdk/src/instrumentor.rs
index c9ebc34..82bf242 100644
--- a/buswatch-sdk/src/instrumentor.rs
+++ b/buswatch-sdk/src/instrumentor.rs
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ impl Instrumentor {
     ///
     /// * `name` - The module name (e.g., "order-processor", "notification-sender")
     pub fn register(&self, name: &str) -> ModuleHandle {
+        #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+        tracing::debug!(module = name, "Registering module");
+
         let module_state = self.state.register_module(name);
         ModuleHandle {
             state: module_state,
@@ -84,6 +87,9 @@ impl Instrumentor {
     /// This is useful if you want to emit snapshots manually rather than
     /// using the background emission.
     pub fn collect(&self) -> buswatch_types::Snapshot {
+        #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+        let _span = tracing::debug_span!("collect_snapshot").entered();
+
         self.state.collect()
     }
 
@@ -113,6 +119,9 @@ impl Instrumentor {
         }
 
         tokio::spawn(async move {
+            #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+            tracing::info!("Background emission started");
+
             let mut interval_timer = tokio::time::interval(interval);
             let mut stop_rx = stop_rx;
 
@@ -120,12 +129,22 @@ impl Instrumentor {
                 tokio::select! {
                     _ = interval_timer.tick() => {
                         let snapshot = state.collect();
+
+                        #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+                        tracing::debug!(modules = snapshot.modules.len(), "Emitting snapshot");
+
                         for output in outputs.iter() {
-                            let _ = output.emit(&snapshot).await;
+                            if let Err(e) = output.emit(&snapshot).await {
+                                #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+                                tracing::warn!(error = %e, "Failed to emit snapshot");
+                                let _ = e; // suppress unused warning when tracing disabled
+                            }
                         }
                     }
                     _ = stop_rx.changed() => {
                         if *stop_rx.borrow() {
+                            #[cfg(feature = "tracing")]
+                            tracing::info!("Background emission stopped");
                             break;
                         }
                     }