# Compare runs Select runs in the Runs **Table** view to read a side-by-side comparison with a reference run and goal-aware deltas. > **Note:** Comparison is not a separate tab. It renders at the top of the Runs Table, so the runs you select in the table below drive the comparison directly: pick a set, see it compared. ![Compare view embedded in the Runs Table](/docs/assets/images/product/dashboard-compare.png) ## Open the comparison surface 1. Go to **Runs**. 2. In the Runs command bar, switch the **Panels ⇄ Table** toggle to **Table**. 3. Select two or more runs with the checkboxes in the table. With fewer than two runs selected, the panel shows a quiet prompt instead of an empty table. Select a second run and the comparison renders above the table. The comparison reads the first 50 selected runs. When more are selected, the header notes how many runs are beyond the cap so the table stays responsive. ## Read the comparison The header reads "Comparing *N* runs" with the active metric and its goal direction. Each run is a row; metric, config, and artifact values are columns: - **Reference run** — choose the baseline from the Reference selector. Deltas in every other row are measured against it. - **Goal-aware deltas** — each metric cell shows the change versus the reference, colored by whether the metric improved (lower is better for loss-like keys, higher otherwise). - **Metric columns** — start from the primary metric, then **Add metric** columns (up to 12 total), **Add all**, remove individual columns, or **Reset** to the primary metric. - **Sortable columns** — click a column header to sort runs by run name, that metric, config, duration, or artifact count. - **Artifacts jump** — click a run's artifact count to open that run's Artifacts. ## Export or clear the selection - **Export CSV** downloads the selected runs and their bounded metric, attribute, and artifact data. Synchronous export is capped at 100 selected runs; the button explains when a selection is empty or above the cap. - **Clear** drops the current selection so you can start a new comparison set. Export follows the same org, project, role, and API-key rules as the API, since it calls `GET /api/export?format=csv&run_ids=...`. ## Narrow first, then compare Use the Runs workspace to narrow candidates before comparing: - Search names, tags, notes, configs, and other indexed summary text. - Use exact or grouped filters such as `tag:baseline status:finished`, `name:"long context" -tag:debug`, and `(tag:baseline OR tag:candidate) notes:ablated`. - Sort by **Newest**, **Latest metric**, **Best metric**, **Name**, **Status**, or **Duration**. Then switch to **Table**, select the survivors, and read the side-by-side comparison. For a single run's full context — config, source metadata, logs, artifacts, and lineage — open [Run Detail](/docs/dashboard/run-detail.md). The Run Detail header also has a **Compare** button that selects the open run and jumps straight to the Table view. The comparison uses bounded summary data. Full metric series are fetched separately when a line panel needs them, so comparison scanning never pulls every metric history at once. ## Next steps - [Runs workspace](/docs/dashboard/runs-workspace.md) - [Run Detail](/docs/dashboard/run-detail.md) - [Metrics and charts](/docs/dashboard/metrics-charts.md) - [Export, usage, and limits](/docs/guides/export-usage-limits.md) ## Agent navigation - [Docs index](/llms.txt) - [Full docs bundle](/llms-full.txt) ### Get Started - [Overview](/docs/index.md) - [Quickstart](/docs/quickstart.md) - [Core Concepts](/docs/concepts/core-concepts.md) - [Pricing](/docs/pricing.md) - [Benchmarks](/docs/benchmarks.md) - [Examples](/docs/guides/examples.md) - [Troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting.md) ### SDK - [Installation Auth](/docs/sdk/installation-auth.md) - [Logging](/docs/sdk/logging.md) - [Tracing](/docs/sdk/tracing.md) - [Metrics Steps](/docs/sdk/metrics-steps.md) - [Config Tags Notes](/docs/sdk/config-tags-notes.md) - [Artifacts Checkpoints](/docs/sdk/artifacts-checkpoints.md) - [Rich Objects](/docs/sdk/rich-objects.md) - [Distributed Training](/docs/sdk/distributed-training.md) - [Console System Integrations](/docs/sdk/console-system-integrations.md) - [Reliability](/docs/sdk/reliability.md) - [Cli Login](/docs/sdk/cli-login.md) - [Querying Data](/docs/sdk/querying-data.md) - [Agent Mcp](/docs/sdk/agent-mcp.md) - [Examples Patterns](/docs/sdk/examples-patterns.md) ### Integrations - [Overview](/docs/integrations/overview.md) - [Pytorch Lightning](/docs/integrations/pytorch-lightning.md) - [Huggingface Transformers](/docs/integrations/huggingface-transformers.md) - [Keras](/docs/integrations/keras.md) - [Wandb](/docs/integrations/wandb.md) ### Dashboard - [Tour](/docs/dashboard/tour.md) - [Organizations Workspaces](/docs/dashboard/organizations-workspaces.md) - [Runs Workspace](/docs/dashboard/runs-workspace.md) - [Metrics Charts](/docs/dashboard/metrics-charts.md) - [Run Detail](/docs/dashboard/run-detail.md) - [Traces](/docs/dashboard/traces.md) - [Compare Runs](/docs/dashboard/compare-runs.md) (current page) - [Research Dashboards](/docs/dashboard/research-dashboards.md) - [Artifacts Files](/docs/dashboard/artifacts-files.md) - [Run Health](/docs/dashboard/alerts.md) - [Datasets](/docs/dashboard/datasets.md) - [Checkpoints](/docs/dashboard/checkpoints.md) - [Reports](/docs/dashboard/reports.md) - [Settings Api Keys](/docs/dashboard/settings-api-keys.md) - [Api Tab](/docs/dashboard/api-tab.md) - [Onboarding Team Billing](/docs/dashboard/onboarding-team-billing.md) ### Data - [Imports](/docs/guides/imports.md) - [W&B alternative](/docs/guides/wandb-alternative.md) - [InstantML vs MLflow](/docs/guides/instantml-vs-mlflow.md) - [W&B import guide](/docs/guides/wandb-import-guide.md) - [W&B and Neptune imports](/docs/guides/wandb-neptune-imports.md) - [Export Usage Limits](/docs/guides/export-usage-limits.md) - [Pricing Limits Billing](/docs/guides/pricing-limits-billing.md) - [Auth Billing Storage](/docs/guides/auth-billing-storage.md) - [Customer Owned Clickhouse](/docs/guides/customer-owned-clickhouse.md) - [Observability](/docs/guides/observability.md) ### API **Practical API guides** - [Authentication](/docs/api/authentication.md) - [Errors And Limits](/docs/api/errors-and-limits.md) - [Health Observability](/docs/api/health-observability.md) - [Projects Runs](/docs/api/projects-runs.md) - [Metrics Series](/docs/api/metrics-series.md) - [Attributes Objects](/docs/api/attributes-objects.md) - [Artifacts](/docs/api/artifacts.md) - [Reports](/docs/api/reports.md) - [Iframe Embeds](/docs/api/iframe-embeds.md) - [Import Export Usage](/docs/api/import-export-usage.md) - [Dashboard Control State](/docs/api/dashboard-control-state.md) **Architecture** - [System Overview](/docs/architecture/system-overview.md) - [Service Planes](/docs/architecture/service-planes.md) - [Storage Model](/docs/architecture/storage-model.md) - [Google Clickhouse](/docs/architecture/google-clickhouse.md) - [Auth Tenancy](/docs/architecture/auth-tenancy.md) - [Schema Reference](/docs/architecture/schema-reference.md) ### API Reference - [API Reference](/docs/api-reference.md)