# Traces

![Traces workspace](/docs/assets/images/product/dashboard-traces.png)

The Traces workspace is a run-scoped debugger for execution trees. It shows
trace summaries on the left, a lazy-loading span tree in the center, and a span
inspector on the right.

## What the workspace shows

Each trace summary includes:

- Status.
- Root span name.
- Run name and span kinds.
- Span count.
- Duration.
- Last update time.

Select a trace to load its root spans. Expanding a node fetches direct child
spans with `GET /api/runs/:run_id/traces/:trace_id/spans`, so large traces do
not need to load all spans at once.

## Filters

Use the top filters to narrow the list:

| Filter | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Run | Show traces for one run. |
| Status | Find failed, running, interrupted, or completed traces. |
| Kind | Focus on rollout, model, tool, retrieval, reward, evaluator, or custom spans. |
| Search | Match root name, trace id prefix, rollout id, or thread id. Multiple words are split into up to eight terms, and every term must match one of those fields. |

Project-scoped browsing uses the API's recent default window. Selecting a
specific run, or opening a deep link with `run_id`, lists all traces for that
run unless a date window is supplied, so older imported or backfilled runs do
not disappear from the trace list.

The workspace deep-links with `run_id`, `trace_id`, and `span_id` query
parameters, so a copied URL reopens the same run, trace, and span selection.
The tree only ever selects the span named in the URL; it never substitutes a
different span. Expand a parent to load its child spans on demand.

## Span inspector

The inspector shows:

- Span id and trace id.
- Status, kind, duration, step, rank, and child count.
- Input, output, and error previews when preview capture was enabled.
- Attributes, metrics, and links.

Previews are bounded and redacted by the SDK before they reach the API. In the
example screenshot, the reward span keeps debugging context while masking the
authorization token, API key, and returned secret.

## Run Detail entry point

![Run Detail recent traces](/docs/assets/images/product/dashboard-run-detail-traces.png)

Run Detail has a local **Traces** section. It fetches only when opened, lists
the latest traces for the selected run without applying the project-level
lookback, and links each row into the full Traces workspace with the exact trace
and root span selected.

Above the list, a **trace activity timeline** correlates one run metric with
per-step trace activity on a shared step axis:

- A metric line plots the key chosen with the **Metric** selector.
- A lane below the axis shows one marker per step. Marker size scales with the
  number of traces at that step, and marker color separates normal, running,
  and errored steps; a danger band highlights runs of consecutive error steps.
- The panel head shows run-wide totals — total and errored traces plus the
  covered step range.
- Clicking a step pins the list below to that step and shows a clearable filter
  chip; the list then refetches with `min_step`/`max_step` set to the step.

The totals are always run-wide and include traces logged without a step, so they
can exceed the sum of the visible buckets, and the pinned list shows only the
selected step's traces. The lane covers the first 2,000 distinct steps of a run;
longer runs are truncated with a note. Runs with no stepped traces show the
recent list without the lane. The underlying aggregate is
`GET /api/runs/:run_id/traces/steps`.

Use the Run Detail section when you are already inspecting one run. Use the
global Traces workspace when you want to filter across runs or inspect a tree in
detail.

## Common workflow

1. Open a run from the Runs workspace.
2. Click **Traces** in Run Detail.
3. Open a recent trace.
4. Expand the tree until the model, tool, reward, or evaluator span you need is
   visible.
5. Use the inspector to compare inputs, outputs, attributes, metrics, and error
   previews.

## 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) (current page)
- [Compare Runs](/docs/dashboard/compare-runs.md)
- [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)