Inspect a run

Use this guide when a result surprises you or a run fails. Before you run it again or change the function, look at what Auto recorded: which version of the function ran, what it was given, and what came back.

Before you start

You need an agent connected to Auto, and an idea of which run you mean, such as "the last review of the autumn brief". Your agent finds the run for you. Keep the input you used, or the result you expected, to compare against.

If you followed Build your first playbook, use one of its two runs.

1. Ask for the run

Ask your agent, describing the run in your own words:

In my "<playbook name>" playbook, find the run of "<function name>" that
<reviewed the autumn brief this morning>. Tell me its status, which version of
the function ran, what it was given, and the result or error.
Explain what the record tells us and what it does not.
Do not run it again or change the function.

Your agent finds the run, reads it and reports back.

To look at the same run in your browser, open Auto Studio from the link Auto shows when it starts. Studio shows each playbook's functions, workflows and runs. For a team's Auto on a server, enter its https address in Studio's settings; Open Studio on a runtime explains why a link only opens Auto on your own computer.

2. Compare it with what you expected

Check what ran before you judge the answer. A surprising result can come from an older version of the function or from incomplete input, not only from the model.

• Which version ran. When you change a function, Auto saves a new version. An older run keeps the version it ran with.
• What it was given. Ask your agent to show you the input the run started with. For a reasoning function, also ask for the prompt Auto sent to the model; very long prompts are cut short in the record.
• What came back. Compare it with each of your criteria. For the tutorial's brief review: did it find the missing evidence? Did it tell a missing fact from a claim it could check? Write down the specific difference.

For a workflow, ask your agent to walk you through the run's history step by step; Inspecting a run explains what it shows.

Ask your agent to say what the record does not contain, rather than guess at what happened.

3. Decide what to do next

What you find	What to do
The input lacked required information	Correct the input and decide whether to start another run.
The function's criteria are incomplete	Ask your agent to propose a change to the function, then test it on the same examples.
The run reports an error	Ask your agent what the error means, then check the connection, permissions or model setup before you try again.
The result is wrong although the input and criteria were right	Ask your agent for the run's id, and send it with a description of the difference to the method's owner.

Before you start another run, check whether the first one finished, especially when the method can change something outside Auto, such as posting a message. Ask your agent to start a new run rather than repeat the old one: a run that may already have called a tool is never repeated under its old id.

4. Report without sharing credentials

Send the method's owner the playbook and function names, the run's id (your agent can give it to you), what you expected and what differed. Include input data only if the recipient may see it, and never include tokens or keys.

Agree who reviews proposed changes before they are saved. Share a playbook covers access and ownership.

For developers

• Your agent reads a run with the MCP tool get_run, using its run_id. get_run does not return the input: the run's first history event, run_started, holds it. Your agent reads the history with get_run_history and one event whole with get_event; over MCP, a field larger than 64 KiB appears as its size. The MCP reference lists the tools.
• A run records the definition_version it used. A reasoning function's record holds the rendered prompt, cut to the record's size limits.
• Repeating a request with the same run_id never starts a second run; Retrying under a run id gives the rules.