diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ec47257..673cc58 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,30 +60,40 @@ Use static methods anywhere in your codebase without passing the span around:
 // Set attribute on current span
 Span::add('db.query_count', 5);
 
-// Capture an exception
-Span::error($exception);
+// Add warning details as attributes
+Span::add('warning', 'retry scheduled');
 ```
 
 ### Error Handling
 
-The `setError()` method captures the exception for exporters to process:
+Pass the exception to `finish()` when the span ends because of an error:
 
 ```php
+$span = Span::init('api.request');
+
 try {
     // ...
 } catch (Throwable $e) {
-    $span->setError($e);
+    $span->finish(error: $e);
     throw $e;
 }
 ```
 
 Exporters access the exception via `$span->getError()` and extract what they need (message, trace, etc.).
 
-The `level` attribute is automatically set to `error` when an error is captured. You can override it:
+Use `setError()` when you need to record the error before the span ends, such as before cleanup work that should still be included in the same span.
+
+The `level` attribute is set when the span finishes. It defaults to `error` when an error is captured and `info` otherwise. Pass a level to `finish()` to override it:
+
+```php
+$span->finish(level: 'warning', error: $e);
+```
+
+Use attributes for warning details that do not end the span:
 
 ```php
-$span->setError($e);
-$span->set('level', 'warning'); // override auto-detected level
+Span::add('warning', 'retry scheduled');
+Span::add('warning.message', $message);
 ```
 
 ### Distributed Tracing
@@ -226,7 +236,6 @@ $this->assertEquals('http.request', $spans[0]->get('action'));
 | `init(string $action, ?string $traceparent): Span`   | Create and store a new span           |
 | `current(): ?Span`                                   | Get the current span                  |
 | `add(string $key, scalar $value)`                    | Set attribute on current span         |
-| `error(Throwable $e)`                                | Capture exception on current span     |
 | `traceparent(): ?string`                             | Get traceparent header from current span |
 
 ### Span (instance)
@@ -240,7 +249,7 @@ $this->assertEquals('http.request', $spans[0]->get('action'));
 | `setError(Throwable $e): self`          | Capture exception                  |
 | `getError(): ?Throwable`                | Get captured exception             |
 | `getTraceparent(): string`              | Get W3C traceparent header value   |
-| `finish(): void`                        | End span and export                |
+| `finish(?string $level = null, ?Throwable $error = null): void` | End span and export |
 
 ### Attribute Conventions
 
diff --git a/src/Span/Exporter/Exporter.php b/src/Span/Exporter/Exporter.php
index 0d7d00c..7f387ef 100644
--- a/src/Span/Exporter/Exporter.php
+++ b/src/Span/Exporter/Exporter.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Exporter;
 
 use Utopia\Span\Span;
diff --git a/src/Span/Exporter/None.php b/src/Span/Exporter/None.php
index d9aaa56..c849288 100644
--- a/src/Span/Exporter/None.php
+++ b/src/Span/Exporter/None.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Exporter;
 
 use Utopia\Span\Span;
diff --git a/src/Span/Exporter/SentryField.php b/src/Span/Exporter/SentryField.php
index 1901778..1008415 100644
--- a/src/Span/Exporter/SentryField.php
+++ b/src/Span/Exporter/SentryField.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Exporter;
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/Span/Exporter/Stdout.php b/src/Span/Exporter/Stdout.php
index a851807..f01c6f3 100644
--- a/src/Span/Exporter/Stdout.php
+++ b/src/Span/Exporter/Stdout.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Exporter;
 
 use Utopia\Span\Span;
diff --git a/src/Span/Span.php b/src/Span/Span.php
index b519b64..6ad7f0b 100644
--- a/src/Span/Span.php
+++ b/src/Span/Span.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span;
 
 use Closure;
@@ -143,19 +145,6 @@ public static function add(string $key, string|int|float|bool|null $value): void
         self::current()?->set($key, $value);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Capture an exception on the current span.
-     *
-     * Convenience method to record errors without holding a span reference.
-     * Does nothing if no span is active.
-     *
-     * @param Throwable $error The exception to capture
-     */
-    public static function error(Throwable $error): void
-    {
-        self::current()?->setError($error);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Get the traceparent header value from the current span.
      *
@@ -256,9 +245,16 @@ public function getAttributes(): array
      *
      * Sets span.finished_at and span.duration, then sends to all exporters
      * that pass their sampler (if any). Clears the current span from storage.
+     *
+     * @param string|null $level Level to export for this span
+     * @param Throwable|null $error Exception that caused the span to fail
      */
-    public function finish(): void
+    public function finish(?string $level = null, ?Throwable $error = null): void
     {
+        if ($error instanceof \Throwable) {
+            $this->setError($error);
+        }
+
         $finishedAt = microtime(true);
         /** @var float $startedAt */
         $startedAt = $this->attributes['span.started_at'];
@@ -266,9 +262,7 @@ public function finish(): void
         $this->attributes['span.finished_at'] = $finishedAt;
         $this->attributes['span.duration'] = $finishedAt - $startedAt;
 
-        if (!isset($this->attributes['level'])) {
-            $this->attributes['level'] = $this->error instanceof \Throwable ? 'error' : 'info';
-        }
+        $this->attributes['level'] = $level ?? ($this->error instanceof \Throwable ? 'error' : 'info');
 
         foreach (self::$exporters as $config) {
             try {
diff --git a/src/Span/Storage/Coroutine.php b/src/Span/Storage/Coroutine.php
index 7d67877..0899a4d 100644
--- a/src/Span/Storage/Coroutine.php
+++ b/src/Span/Storage/Coroutine.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Storage;
 
 use Utopia\Span\Span;
diff --git a/src/Span/Storage/Memory.php b/src/Span/Storage/Memory.php
index d866cbb..730e5da 100644
--- a/src/Span/Storage/Memory.php
+++ b/src/Span/Storage/Memory.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Storage;
 
 use Utopia\Span\Span;
diff --git a/src/Span/Storage/Storage.php b/src/Span/Storage/Storage.php
index f009dcd..9b17422 100644
--- a/src/Span/Storage/Storage.php
+++ b/src/Span/Storage/Storage.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Storage;
 
 use Utopia\Span\Span;
diff --git a/tests/Exporter/PrettyTest.php b/tests/Exporter/PrettyTest.php
index 5159d22..c26d5ae 100644
--- a/tests/Exporter/PrettyTest.php
+++ b/tests/Exporter/PrettyTest.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Tests\Exporter;
 
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
diff --git a/tests/Exporter/SentryTest.php b/tests/Exporter/SentryTest.php
index 41a4d6f..4ee1c3c 100644
--- a/tests/Exporter/SentryTest.php
+++ b/tests/Exporter/SentryTest.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Tests\Exporter;
 
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
diff --git a/tests/Exporter/StdoutTest.php b/tests/Exporter/StdoutTest.php
index a7f90fb..b1947b2 100644
--- a/tests/Exporter/StdoutTest.php
+++ b/tests/Exporter/StdoutTest.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Tests\Exporter;
 
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
diff --git a/tests/SpanTest.php b/tests/SpanTest.php
index bdee001..43baba2 100644
--- a/tests/SpanTest.php
+++ b/tests/SpanTest.php
@@ -215,22 +215,38 @@ public function testAddDoesNothingWhenNoCurrentSpan(): void
         $this->assertNull(Span::current());
     }
 
-    public function testErrorSetsErrorOnCurrentSpan(): void
+    public function testFinishAcceptsError(): void
     {
-        $span = Span::init('test');
+        $span = new Span();
         $error = new RuntimeException('Test');
 
-        Span::error($error);
+        $span->finish(error: $error);
 
         $this->assertSame($error, $span->getError());
     }
 
-    public function testErrorDoesNothingWhenNoCurrentSpan(): void
+    public function testFinishWithErrorSetsLevelError(): void
     {
-        // Should not throw
-        Span::error(new RuntimeException('Test'));
+        $span = new Span();
 
-        $this->assertNull(Span::current());
+        $span->finish(error: new RuntimeException('Test'));
+
+        $this->assertSame('error', $span->get('level'));
+    }
+
+    public function testFinishWithErrorExportsErrorSpan(): void
+    {
+        $exported = [];
+        $exporter = $this->createExporter($exported);
+        $error = new RuntimeException('Test');
+
+        Span::addExporter($exporter);
+
+        $span = Span::init('test');
+        $span->finish(error: $error);
+
+        $this->assertCount(1, $exported);
+        $this->assertSame($error, $exported[0]->getError());
     }
 
     public function testSamplerFiltersExport(): void
@@ -575,14 +591,21 @@ public function testFinishSetsLevelErrorWhenErrorSet(): void
         $this->assertSame('error', $span->get('level'));
     }
 
-    public function testFinishDoesNotOverrideExplicitLevel(): void
+    public function testFinishAcceptsLevelOverride(): void
+    {
+        $span = new Span();
+        $span->finish(level: 'warning', error: new RuntimeException('Test'));
+
+        $this->assertSame('warning', $span->get('level'));
+    }
+
+    public function testFinishOwnsLevelAttribute(): void
     {
         $span = new Span();
         $span->set('level', 'warning');
-        $span->setError(new RuntimeException('Test'));
         $span->finish();
 
-        $this->assertSame('warning', $span->get('level'));
+        $this->assertSame('info', $span->get('level'));
     }
 
     public function testLevelNotSetBeforeFinish(): void
diff --git a/tests/Storage/AutoTest.php b/tests/Storage/AutoTest.php
index 4001af2..97093fe 100644
--- a/tests/Storage/AutoTest.php
+++ b/tests/Storage/AutoTest.php
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
 namespace Utopia\Span\Tests\Storage;
 
 use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;