Traces
Traces in the OuterBox AI Observability platform provide detailed records of individual conversations between users and your P3 AI Web Assistant. They allow you to examine exactly what happened during each interaction, making them invaluable for troubleshooting, quality assurance, and understanding user behavior.
What Are Traces?
A trace represents a single conversation or interaction between a user and your AI assistant. Each trace contains:
- The user's original question or request
- The assistant's response
- Processing time and completion details
- Any additional context or metadata about the interaction
Think of traces as the detailed transcripts of every conversation your assistant has with users.
How to Use Traces Effectively
Accessing Traces
- Navigate to the "Traces" section in the left sidebar of the OuterBox AI Observability platform
- You'll see a list of recent traces, with the most recent at the top
- Use filters to narrow down traces by date, user, or content
Analyzing Individual Traces
When you click on a specific trace, you'll see:
- The complete conversation flow
- Timing information for each step of the process
- The specific knowledge or data sources used to generate responses
- Any errors or issues that occurred during processing
Common Use Cases for Traces
- Troubleshooting Issues: When a user reports a problem, you can find their trace to see exactly what happened
- Quality Assurance: Randomly sample traces to evaluate the quality of your assistant's responses
- Training Improvement: Identify patterns in questions that your assistant struggles with
- User Behavior Analysis: Understand how users phrase their questions and what information they're seeking
Best Practices for Working with Traces
- Regular Review: Set aside time to review a sample of traces regularly to maintain quality
- Look for Patterns: Pay attention to common questions or issues that appear across multiple traces
- Follow User Journeys: Use trace data to understand the complete customer experience
- Privacy Awareness: Remember that traces contain actual user conversations, so handle them with appropriate privacy considerations
Filtering and Searching Traces
The OuterBox AI Observability platform provides powerful filtering capabilities:
- Text Search: Find traces containing specific keywords or phrases
- Date Filters: Focus on traces from a particular time period
- User Filters: View traces from specific users or user segments
- Status Filters: Identify traces with errors or other specific statuses
Exporting Trace Data
For deeper analysis or reporting:
- Select the traces you want to export
- Click the "Export" button
- Choose your preferred format (CSV, JSON, etc.)
- Use the exported data for custom reporting or analysis
Traces provide the most detailed view of your assistant's performance and are essential for maintaining and improving the quality of responses over time.