diff --git a/packages/traceloop-sdk/tests/test_sdk_initialization.py b/packages/traceloop-sdk/tests/test_sdk_initialization.py
index 18ef5d7d0f..9f41bb0e01 100644
--- a/packages/traceloop-sdk/tests/test_sdk_initialization.py
+++ b/packages/traceloop-sdk/tests/test_sdk_initialization.py
@@ -358,3 +358,51 @@ def probe():
             del TracerWrapper.instance
         if saved_instance is not None:
             TracerWrapper.instance = saved_instance
+
+
+def test_trace_content_default_true(isolated_tracer_wrapper):
+    """trace_content defaults to True when not passed, equivalent to the
+    default env var behaviour."""
+    Traceloop.init(exporter=InMemorySpanExporter(), disable_batch=True)
+
+    assert TracerWrapper.enable_content_tracing is True
+
+
+def test_trace_content_false_disables_content(isolated_tracer_wrapper):
+    """Explicit trace_content=False must disable content tracing."""
+    Traceloop.init(
+        exporter=InMemorySpanExporter(),
+        disable_batch=True,
+        trace_content=False,
+    )
+
+    assert TracerWrapper.enable_content_tracing is False
+
+
+def test_trace_content_env_var_still_works(isolated_tracer_wrapper):
+    """When trace_content is not passed, the TRACELOOP_TRACE_CONTENT env var
+    must still be honoured."""
+    import os
+
+    os.environ["TRACELOOP_TRACE_CONTENT"] = "false"
+    try:
+        Traceloop.init(exporter=InMemorySpanExporter(), disable_batch=True)
+        assert TracerWrapper.enable_content_tracing is False
+    finally:
+        os.environ.pop("TRACELOOP_TRACE_CONTENT", None)
+
+
+def test_trace_content_overrides_env_var(isolated_tracer_wrapper):
+    """Explicit trace_content=False must override TRACELOOP_TRACE_CONTENT=true."""
+    import os
+
+    os.environ["TRACELOOP_TRACE_CONTENT"] = "true"
+    try:
+        Traceloop.init(
+            exporter=InMemorySpanExporter(),
+            disable_batch=True,
+            trace_content=False,
+        )
+        assert TracerWrapper.enable_content_tracing is False
+    finally:
+        os.environ.pop("TRACELOOP_TRACE_CONTENT", None)
diff --git a/packages/traceloop-sdk/traceloop/sdk/__init__.py b/packages/traceloop-sdk/traceloop/sdk/__init__.py
index 6663429d99..c93041ecb1 100644
--- a/packages/traceloop-sdk/traceloop/sdk/__init__.py
+++ b/packages/traceloop-sdk/traceloop/sdk/__init__.py
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ def init(
         endpoint_is_traceloop: Optional[bool] = False,
         use_attributes: Optional[bool] = None,
         use_legacy_attributes: Optional[bool] = None,
+        trace_content: Optional[bool] = None,
     ) -> Optional[Client]:
         """Initialize Traceloop tracing, metrics, and instrumentation.
 
@@ -88,6 +89,12 @@ def init(
                 events have nowhere to go and no prompt/completion data will be recorded.
             use_legacy_attributes: Deprecated alias for ``use_attributes``. Will be
                 removed in a future release.
+            trace_content: Controls whether prompts, completions, and other
+                sensitive content are sent to Traceloop. When ``False``, only
+                metadata (token counts, latency, model name, etc.) is traced
+                and the actual content is omitted. Defaults to ``True``.
+                Falls back to the ``TRACELOOP_TRACE_CONTENT`` environment
+                variable if not provided.
         """
         if use_attributes is not None and use_legacy_attributes is not None:
             raise TypeError(
@@ -125,7 +132,10 @@ def init(
             print(Fore.YELLOW + "Tracing is disabled" + Fore.RESET)
             return
 
-        enable_content_tracing = is_content_tracing_enabled()
+        if trace_content is not None:
+            enable_content_tracing = trace_content
+        else:
+            enable_content_tracing = is_content_tracing_enabled()
 
         if exporter and processor:
             warnings.warn(