diff --git a/ddtrace/compat.py b/ddtrace/compat.py
index 1155d3cfc82..5771b4cfec8 100644
--- a/ddtrace/compat.py
+++ b/ddtrace/compat.py
@@ -11,3 +11,8 @@
         import simplejson as json
     except ImportError:
         import json
+
+try:
+    from cStringIO import StringIO
+except ImportError:
+    from StringIO import StringIO
diff --git a/ddtrace/contrib/flask/__init__.py b/ddtrace/contrib/flask/__init__.py
index eeb42288a8f..c4f0d41d575 100644
--- a/ddtrace/contrib/flask/__init__.py
+++ b/ddtrace/contrib/flask/__init__.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 import logging
 
 # project
-from ...ext import http
+from ...ext import http, errors
 
 # 3p
 from flask import g, request, signals
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ def _finish_span(self, response=None, exception=None):
             if not response and exception:
                 error = 1
                 code = 500
+                span.set_tag(errors.ERROR_TYPE, type(exception))
+                span.set_tag(errors.ERROR_MSG, exception)
 
             span.resource = str(request.endpoint or "").lower()
             span.set_tag(http.URL, str(request.base_url or ""))
diff --git a/ddtrace/contrib/flask/test_flask.py b/ddtrace/contrib/flask/test_flask.py
index 14f72dd285f..9f011239b1e 100644
--- a/ddtrace/contrib/flask/test_flask.py
+++ b/ddtrace/contrib/flask/test_flask.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from ... import Tracer
 from ...contrib.flask import TraceMiddleware
 from ...test_tracer import DummyWriter
-from ...ext import http
+from ...ext import http, errors
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -227,4 +227,7 @@ def test_fatal(self):
         assert s.start >= start
         assert s.duration <= end - start
         eq_(s.meta.get(http.STATUS_CODE), '500')
+        assert "ZeroDivisionError" in s.meta.get(errors.ERROR_TYPE)
+        msg = s.meta.get(errors.ERROR_MSG)
+        assert "integer division" in msg, msg
 
diff --git a/ddtrace/contrib/pylons/__init__.py b/ddtrace/contrib/pylons/__init__.py
index e73231a67ff..8ba9ec51a13 100644
--- a/ddtrace/contrib/pylons/__init__.py
+++ b/ddtrace/contrib/pylons/__init__.py
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ def _start_response(status, *args, **kwargs):
 
         try:
             return self.app(environ, _start_response)
-        except Exception as e:
+        except Exception:
             if span:
-                span.error = 1
+                span.set_traceback()
             raise
         finally:
             if not span:
diff --git a/ddtrace/contrib/sqlite3/test_sqlite3.py b/ddtrace/contrib/sqlite3/test_sqlite3.py
index 55c3a4e2820..6b4f65b30cc 100644
--- a/ddtrace/contrib/sqlite3/test_sqlite3.py
+++ b/ddtrace/contrib/sqlite3/test_sqlite3.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from ... import Tracer
 from ...contrib.sqlite3 import connection_factory
 from ...test_tracer import DummyWriter
+from ...ext import errors
 
 def test_foo():
     writer = DummyWriter()
@@ -57,3 +58,8 @@ def test_foo():
         eq_(span.meta["sql.query"], q)
         eq_(span.error, 1)
         eq_(span.span_type, "sql")
+        assert span.get_tag(errors.ERROR_STACK)
+        assert 'OperationalError' in span.get_tag(errors.ERROR_TYPE)
+        assert 'no such table' in span.get_tag(errors.ERROR_MSG)
+
+
diff --git a/ddtrace/ext/errors.py b/ddtrace/ext/errors.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4194d421a06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ddtrace/ext/errors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+"""
+tags for common error attributes
+"""
+
+import traceback
+
+
+ERROR_MSG = "error.msg"     # a string representing the error message
+ERROR_TYPE = "error.type"   # a string representing the type of the error
+ERROR_STACK = "error.stack" # a human readable version of the stack. beta.
+
+def get_traceback(tb=None, error=None):
+    t = None
+    if error:
+        t = type(error)
+    lines = traceback.format_exception(t, error, tb, limit=20)
+    return "\n".join(lines)
diff --git a/ddtrace/span.py b/ddtrace/span.py
index 24134e35d5e..9f88de460c7 100644
--- a/ddtrace/span.py
+++ b/ddtrace/span.py
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 
+from compat import StringIO
 import logging
 import random
+import sys
 import time
+import traceback
+
+from .ext import errors
 
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -112,6 +117,39 @@ def set_tags(self, tags):
     set_meta = set_tag
     set_metas = set_tags
 
+    def set_traceback(self):
+        """ If the current stack has a traceback, tag the span with the
+            relevant error info.
+
+            >>> span.set_traceback()
+
+            is equivalent to:
+
+            >>> exc = sys.exc_info()
+            >>> span.set_exc_info(*exc)
+        """
+        (exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb) = sys.exc_info()
+        self.set_exc_info(exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb)
+
+    def set_exc_info(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
+        """ Tag the span with an error tuple as from `sys.exc_info()`. """
+        if not (exc_type and exc_val and exc_tb):
+            return # nothing to do
+
+        self.error = 1
+
+        # get the traceback
+        buff = StringIO()
+        traceback.print_exception(exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb, file=buff, limit=20)
+        tb = buff.getvalue()
+
+        # readable version of type (e.g. exceptions.ZeroDivisionError)
+        exc_type_str = "%s.%s" % (exc_type.__module__, exc_type.__name__)
+
+        self.set_tag(errors.ERROR_MSG, exc_val)
+        self.set_tag(errors.ERROR_TYPE, exc_type_str)
+        self.set_tag(errors.ERROR_STACK, tb)
+
     def pprint(self):
         """ Return a human readable version of the span. """
         lines = [
@@ -133,10 +171,12 @@ def __enter__(self):
         return self
 
     def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
-        if exc_type:
-            self.error = 1
-            # FIXME[matt] store traceback info
-        self.finish()
+        try:
+            if exc_type:
+                self.set_exc_info(exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb)
+            self.finish()
+        except Exception:
+            log.exception("error closing trace")
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return "<Span(id=%s,trace_id=%s,parent_id=%s,name=%s)>" % (
diff --git a/ddtrace/test_span.py b/ddtrace/test_span.py
index b12d12e9150..d5bde66df40 100644
--- a/ddtrace/test_span.py
+++ b/ddtrace/test_span.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from nose.tools import eq_
 
 from .span import Span
+from .ext import errors
 
 
 def test_ids():
@@ -56,6 +57,28 @@ def test_finish():
     s2 = Span(tracer=None, name="foo")
     s2.finish()
 
+def test_traceback_with_error():
+    s = Span(None, "foo")
+    try:
+        1/0
+    except ZeroDivisionError:
+        s.set_traceback()
+    else:
+        assert 0, "should have failed"
+
+    assert s.error
+    assert 'by zero' in s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_MSG)
+    eq_("exceptions.ZeroDivisionError", s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_TYPE))
+    assert s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_STACK)
+
+def test_traceback_without_error():
+    s = Span(None, "foo")
+    s.set_traceback()
+    assert not s.error
+    assert not s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_MSG)
+    assert not s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_TYPE)
+    assert not s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_STACK)
+
 def test_ctx_mgr():
     dt = DummyTracer()
     s = Span(dt, "bar")
@@ -71,6 +94,10 @@ def test_ctx_mgr():
         eq_(out, e)
         assert s.duration > 0, s.duration
         assert s.error
+        eq_(s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_MSG), "boo")
+        assert "Exception" in s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_TYPE)
+        assert s.get_tag(errors.ERROR_STACK)
+
     else:
         assert 0, "should have failed"