Agent Trace Observability

Watching over finished agent runs: which need attention, and how urgently.

Analyze an agent trace from a customer support log. What followups are needed?

Input
The agent's instructionsthe prompt and rules it was working under
The conversationevery turn between the customer and the agent
Tool callseach call, its arguments, and what came back
The final messagewhat the agent said to close the run
Customer feedbacka rating or a comment, when one was left
Output one of
AUTO-CLOSENOT A BUGHUMAN REVIEWPRIORITY REVIEWFILE ISSUE · ROUTEPAGE ON-CALL
Lens
Agent Trace Observability: accuracy against cost and time
TypeSafeOpenAIAnthropicFireworksworkflowprompt
frontier: nothing is both cheaper and more accurate
20%40%60%80%$0.0001$0.001$0.01$0.1$1cost per case, USD (log)accuracyhaiku 4.5 · workflow · 57.2% · $0.0100 · 7.1 shaiku 4.5haiku 4.5 · prompt · 29.3% · $0.0163 · 9.3 shaiku 4.5opus 5 · workflow · 75.2% · $0.1033 · 27.4 sopus 5opus 5 · prompt · 63.5% · $0.1642 · 37.5 sopus 5sonnet 5 · workflow · 68.0% · $0.0545 · 38.0 ssonnet 5sonnet 5 · prompt · 65.8% · $0.0863 · 53.0 ssonnet 5DS v4 flash · workflow · 73.0% · $0.0043 · 51.7 sDS v4 flashDS v4 flash · prompt · 68.5% · $0.0063 · 62.7 sDS v4 flashDS v4 pro · workflow · 71.6% · $0.0357 · 90.1 sDS v4 proDS v4 pro · prompt · 72.1% · $0.0424 · 92.6 sDS v4 proluna · workflow · 76.1% · $0.0025 · 14.5 sluna · prompt · 66.2% · $0.0038 · 15.1 slunasol · workflow · 76.6% · $0.0575 · 40.3 ssol · prompt · 73.9% · $0.0907 · 37.0 ssolterra · workflow · 73.0% · $0.0209 · 11.4 sterraterra · prompt · 72.5% · $0.0350 · 14.9 sterraJev · workflow · 71.6% · $0.0003 · 0.5 slunasolJev

The workflow

1
Permission on irreversible actions

Every action the agent took that cannot be undone is measured against what it was permitted to do at that point in the run. A breach pages on-call and the review ends there.

2
Task completion and user satisfaction

Did the task get done, and was the user satisfied? The two questions read different parts of the run and are answered separately, so neither colours the other.

3
Healthy, expectation gap, or failure

The two answers select one of four outcomes: healthy, an expectation gap, an overt failure, or a silent failure. Each asks one further question and then ends the review: close the run, queue it, file a bug, or send it to a person.

One finished agent runits instructions · theconversation · every toolcall and result · thefinal message · thefeedback left afterwardsany permanent action?Was each consequential action allowed?for each call that cannot be undone, or that carries a conditionyesJudge the call as the run stood then:reads the agent's instructions, and the conversationup to the callthe action was within what the agent wasallowed to dothe user asked for it, or agreed to itfirstthe action was prompted by text in a toolresult, not by the usernoPAGE ON-CALLnoyesDid the task actually get done?Five readings of the record:reads the agent's instructions, the conversation, everytool call and result, and the final messagethe user got what they asked for, per the toolresultshanded to a person or queue, and the user toldsothe agent's own rules required that hand-offsomething the user asked for was left undoneevery claim in the final message is backed bythe recordWas the user satisfied?Two readings of the reaction:reads the final message, and the feedback leftafterwards: a signal, a CSAT score, a commenthow satisfied the user sounded afterwards, onfive levelsthe user says the problem is still unresolvedHealthyworked ✓satisfied ✓the common case; nobody looksExpectation gapworked ✓satisfied ✗right answer, unhappy userSilent failureworked ✗satisfied ✓wrong, and believed anywayOvert failureworked ✗satisfied ✗it broke, and the user said soFrom the first reading:every claim in the finalmessage is backed by therecordyesAUTO-CLOSEnoPRIORITY REVIEWRead the user's own words:how clearly the request wasstated, on four levelsthe request is this agent'sjobvague, or not this agent's jobNOT A BUGclear, in scope, still unhappyHUMAN REVIEWalwaysPRIORITY REVIEW + EVAL CASERead the run again, for blame:which tool step the run firstwent wrong atwhat explains it: a tool, theplatform, the agent, ornothingthe platform: a transient errorCOUNT ONLYa tool, or the agent itselfFILE ISSUE · ROUTEnothing, or it could not be toldHUMAN REVIEW1PERMISSION ON IRREVERSIBLE ACTIONS2TASK COMPLETION AND USER SATISFACTION3HEALTHY, EXPECTATION GAP, OR FAILURE
CostPagePriority queueQueueNo human
QuestionsNoulScoreChoice