Agent observability needs action-level traces
Knowing an agent ran is useless. Knowing what it decided, called and received is what lets you investigate.
Most deployments log the request and the response, which is the equivalent of recording that a conversation happened. The intermediate steps, what was retrieved, which tool was invoked with what arguments, what came back, are where both the failure and the manipulation are visible.
More on AI agents
- Tool descriptions are part of the control surfaceThe label is the lever
- Agent memory can preserve poisoned contextIt stays in the water
- Agent identity should be separate from user identityTwo necks, one badge
- Delegated agents create authority chainsThe thread stays attached
- Agent loops need budgets and stopping conditionsSomething has to say enough
- High-impact tools need stronger confirmationMatch the catch to the consequence