diff --git a/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/templates/deployment.yaml
index 5b9565f..ef88402 100644
--- a/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -83,6 +83,15 @@ spec:
           - name: OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATIO
             value: {{ $otelTracesSampleRatio | quote }}
           {{- end }}
+          {{- $otelTracesSampler := .Values.app.otel.tracesSampler | toString | trim }}
+          {{- if ne $otelTracesSampler "" }}
+          - name: OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER
+            value: {{ $otelTracesSampler | quote }}
+          {{- if ne $otelTracesSampleRatio "" }}
+          - name: OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG
+            value: {{ $otelTracesSampleRatio | quote }}
+          {{- end }}
+          {{- end }}
           {{- $otelMetricsExporter := .Values.app.otel.metricsExporter | toString | trim }}
           {{- if ne $otelMetricsExporter "" }}
           - name: OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER
diff --git a/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/values.yaml b/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/values.yaml
index d494ad8..22cb28b 100644
--- a/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/values.yaml
+++ b/charts/lfx-v2-auth-service/values.yaml
@@ -191,6 +191,11 @@ app:
     # A value of 1.0 means all traces are sampled, 0.5 means 50% are sampled
     # (default: "1.0")
     tracesSampleRatio: "1.0"
+    # tracesSampler specifies the OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER type. Supported values:
+    # "always_on", "always_off", "traceidratio", "parentbased_always_on",
+    # "parentbased_always_off", "parentbased_traceidratio".
+    # When empty, the application defaults to parentbased_traceidratio.
+    tracesSampler: ""
     # metricsExporter specifies the metrics exporter: "otlp" or "none"
     # (default: "none")
     metricsExporter: "none"
diff --git a/pkg/utils/otel.go b/pkg/utils/otel.go
index e949dde..3ad28ec 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/otel.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/otel.go
@@ -303,6 +303,43 @@ func endpointURL(raw string, insecure bool) string {
 	return "https://" + raw
 }
 
+// newSampler creates a trace.Sampler from OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER and
+// OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG environment variables, falling back to
+// parentbased_traceidratio with cfg.TracesSampleRatio when unset.
+// This ensures parent span sampling decisions are always honored.
+func newSampler(cfg OTelConfig) trace.Sampler {
+	sampler := os.Getenv("OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER")
+	arg := os.Getenv("OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG")
+
+	parseRatio := func() float64 {
+		if arg != "" {
+			r, err := strconv.ParseFloat(arg, 64)
+			if err == nil && r >= 0.0 && r <= 1.0 {
+				return r
+			}
+			slog.Warn("invalid OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG, using TracesSampleRatio", "value", arg)
+		}
+		return cfg.TracesSampleRatio
+	}
+
+	switch sampler {
+	case "always_on":
+		return trace.AlwaysSample()
+	case "always_off":
+		return trace.NeverSample()
+	case "traceidratio":
+		return trace.TraceIDRatioBased(parseRatio())
+	case "parentbased_always_on":
+		return trace.ParentBased(trace.AlwaysSample())
+	case "parentbased_always_off":
+		return trace.ParentBased(trace.NeverSample())
+	case "parentbased_traceidratio":
+		return trace.ParentBased(trace.TraceIDRatioBased(parseRatio()))
+	default: // empty/unknown → parent-based with configured ratio
+		return trace.ParentBased(trace.TraceIDRatioBased(cfg.TracesSampleRatio))
+	}
+}
+
 // newTraceProvider creates a TracerProvider with an OTLP exporter configured based on the protocol setting.
 func newTraceProvider(ctx context.Context, cfg OTelConfig, res *resource.Resource) (*trace.TracerProvider, error) {
 	var exporter trace.SpanExporter
@@ -334,7 +371,7 @@ func newTraceProvider(ctx context.Context, cfg OTelConfig, res *resource.Resourc
 
 	traceProvider := trace.NewTracerProvider(
 		trace.WithResource(res),
-		trace.WithSampler(trace.TraceIDRatioBased(cfg.TracesSampleRatio)),
+		trace.WithSampler(newSampler(cfg)),
 		trace.WithBatcher(exporter,
 			trace.WithBatchTimeout(time.Second),
 		),
diff --git a/pkg/utils/otel_test.go b/pkg/utils/otel_test.go
index 6155ed1..4cfbf38 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/otel_test.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/otel_test.go
@@ -519,3 +519,49 @@ func TestSetupOTelSDKWithConfig_IPEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
 
 	_ = shutdown(ctx)
 }
+
+// TestNewSampler verifies that newSampler returns a non-nil sampler for all
+// supported OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER values, including the default (empty) case.
+func TestNewSampler(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := OTelConfig{TracesSampleRatio: 0.5}
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		sampler string
+		arg     string
+	}{
+		{"default (empty)", "", ""},
+		{"always_on", "always_on", ""},
+		{"always_off", "always_off", ""},
+		{"traceidratio", "traceidratio", "0.5"},
+		{"parentbased_always_on", "parentbased_always_on", ""},
+		{"parentbased_always_off", "parentbased_always_off", ""},
+		{"parentbased_traceidratio", "parentbased_traceidratio", "0.5"},
+		{"unknown", "unknown", ""},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Setenv("OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER", tt.sampler)
+			t.Setenv("OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG", tt.arg)
+
+			s := newSampler(cfg)
+			if s == nil {
+				t.Errorf("newSampler(%q) returned nil", tt.sampler)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// TestNewSampler_InvalidArg verifies that an invalid OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG
+// falls back to cfg.TracesSampleRatio without panicking.
+func TestNewSampler_InvalidArg(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := OTelConfig{TracesSampleRatio: 0.5}
+	t.Setenv("OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER", "parentbased_traceidratio")
+	t.Setenv("OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG", "invalid")
+
+	s := newSampler(cfg)
+	if s == nil {
+		t.Error("newSampler returned nil for invalid OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG")
+	}
+}