Reading a retrieval trace

A retrieval trace records one question: every chunk the retriever considered, what it scored, and whether the answer used it. It is where a thin or missing answer gets explained.

What you'll need

• The Knowledge Base module visible in your left-hand navigation.
• This permission: Knowledge Base · Kb — VIEW.
• Questions already asked against this knowledge base — one trace is recorded per query.

If Knowledge Base isn't in your navigation, your role doesn't have visibility for it — ask a workspace administrator, or see Permissions and module visibility.

Steps

1. Open the knowledge base and select Retrieval trace. Rows give the Query, its Result (Answered or Abstained), Groundedness and the Retrieved · Used counts. Result (All) filters on the server; Load more pulls the next 50 rows.

2. Select the Query. The card repeats the question with its Answered or Abstained pill, a count of candidates retrieved, used and access-filtered, and a Q&A shortcut pill when a curated pair matched.

3. Under Chunk · Rerank · Result, each candidate shows Used or why it was dropped: Below threshold, Trimmed at rerank, Deduplicated, Filtered · access or Blocked · injection guard. A red callout flags access drops — the asker’s entitlements, not a weak match.

4. Select a candidate row for its full chunk text, its Source, Candidate scores (RRF and Rerank) and an Outcome block carrying the Abstain reason.

What success looks like

• The counts account for every candidate — retrieved, used and access-filtered.
• Each candidate shows Used or a named drop reason.
• An Abstained trace names its Abstain reason under Outcome.

What a trace does not show

The answer text is not part of the trace — read it in chat. Only RRF and Rerank scores are displayed. The Q&A shortcut block belongs to the trace rather than the candidate, so it repeats on every row you expand. Filenames resolve for the first 200 documents; past that a candidate is labelled with a raw document id.

If something goes wrong

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
The pane is replaced by Access Forbidden.	The tab is visible to everyone; its data is not.	Select Go Back, then ask an administrator — see Access.
No chunk text captured on every candidate.	An older trace, from before chunk text was kept.	Ask the question again in chat, then open the newer trace.
Typing in the bar above the summary does nothing.	It is read-only, and Run trace only returns you to the list.	Ask in chat — traces are recorded, never composed here.
A search matches nothing you expect.	Search and sort run over loaded rows only.	Filter with Result (All) first, then Load more.

Next

• Analytics — Content gaps rows open a trace directly.
• Feedback — a rated answer offers View retrieval trace.
• Settings — the strictness behind Below threshold and abstention.