diff --git a/src/glassflow/generation.py b/src/glassflow/generation.py
index e5843b6..3f4e9f8 100644
--- a/src/glassflow/generation.py
+++ b/src/glassflow/generation.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 from . import __version__
 from ._serde import serialize
 from .semconv import (
+    GEN_AI_FIRST_TOKEN_EVENT,
     GEN_AI_INPUT_MESSAGES,
     GEN_AI_OPERATION_NAME,
     GEN_AI_OUTPUT_MESSAGES,
@@ -119,6 +120,7 @@ class Generation:
 
     def __init__(self, span: Span) -> None:
         self._span = span
+        self._first_token_recorded = False
 
     def set_input(self, messages: Messages) -> None:
         """Record the request messages (``gen_ai.input.messages``).
@@ -164,6 +166,19 @@ def set_usage(
         if output_tokens is not None:
             self._span.set_attribute(GEN_AI_USAGE_OUTPUT_TOKENS, output_tokens)
 
+    def record_first_token(self) -> None:
+        """Mark the arrival of the first streamed token (``gen_ai.first_token`` event).
+
+        Call from a streaming loop when the first content chunk arrives; the
+        backend derives time-to-first-token as the event time minus the span
+        start. Idempotent — only the first call records; safe to call
+        unconditionally per chunk. A no-op after ``end()``.
+        """
+        if self._first_token_recorded or not self._span.is_recording():
+            return
+        self._span.add_event(GEN_AI_FIRST_TOKEN_EVENT)
+        self._first_token_recorded = True
+
     def set_finish_reasons(self, reasons: str | list[str]) -> None:
         """Record why generation stopped (``gen_ai.response.finish_reasons``).
 
diff --git a/src/glassflow/semconv.py b/src/glassflow/semconv.py
index e8e8b13..ab6f232 100644
--- a/src/glassflow/semconv.py
+++ b/src/glassflow/semconv.py
@@ -33,6 +33,13 @@
 GEN_AI_TOOL_NAME = "gen_ai.tool.name"
 GEN_AI_REQUEST_PREFIX = "gen_ai.request."
 
+# --- Span event names ---
+# First streamed token/chunk arrived — the TTFT anchor (event time minus span
+# start). No client-side semconv exists for this yet (OTel only standardizes
+# the server-side gen_ai.server.time_to_first_token metric); this follows the
+# gen_ai.* naming style, precedent Langfuse's completion_start_time.
+GEN_AI_FIRST_TOKEN_EVENT = "gen_ai.first_token"
+
 # Attribute keys carrying user content — masked/stripped at export (see masking.py).
 CONTENT_ATTRIBUTES = frozenset(
     {
diff --git a/tests/test_generation.py b/tests/test_generation.py
index 10a6e97..449bff0 100644
--- a/tests/test_generation.py
+++ b/tests/test_generation.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import json
 
+from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import Event, ReadableSpan
 from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export.in_memory_span_exporter import InMemorySpanExporter
 
 from glassflow import start_as_current_generation, start_generation
@@ -241,3 +242,45 @@ def test_manual_generation(exported_spans: InMemorySpanExporter) -> None:
     assert attrs["gen_ai.request.model"] == "gpt-4o"
     assert "hi" in attrs["gen_ai.output.messages"]
     assert attrs["gen_ai.usage.input_tokens"] == 1
+
+
+# --- record_first_token: the TTFT anchor for streaming (GLA2-175) ---
+
+
+def _first_token_events(span: ReadableSpan) -> list[Event]:
+    return [e for e in span.events if e.name == "gen_ai.first_token"]
+
+
+def test_record_first_token_adds_event_between_start_and_end(
+    exported_spans: InMemorySpanExporter,
+) -> None:
+    with start_as_current_generation("chat") as gen:
+        gen.record_first_token()
+    span = exported_spans.get_finished_spans()[0]
+    (event,) = _first_token_events(span)
+    assert span.start_time <= event.timestamp <= span.end_time
+
+
+def test_record_first_token_is_idempotent(exported_spans: InMemorySpanExporter) -> None:
+    with start_as_current_generation("chat") as gen:
+        gen.record_first_token()
+        gen.record_first_token()
+        gen.record_first_token()
+    span = exported_spans.get_finished_spans()[0]
+    assert len(_first_token_events(span)) == 1
+
+
+def test_record_first_token_after_end_is_noop(exported_spans: InMemorySpanExporter) -> None:
+    gen = start_generation("chat")
+    gen.end()
+    gen.record_first_token()  # must neither raise nor record
+    span = exported_spans.get_finished_spans()[0]
+    assert _first_token_events(span) == []
+
+
+def test_record_first_token_on_manual_generation(exported_spans: InMemorySpanExporter) -> None:
+    gen = start_generation("chat", model="gpt-4o")
+    gen.record_first_token()
+    gen.end()
+    span = exported_spans.get_finished_spans()[0]
+    assert len(_first_token_events(span)) == 1