Interpreting decision traces

Explains how decision traces are structured (moments, annotations, resolution) and how to summarize or reason about them. Use when the user asks about a specific trace, references a trace URL, asks to compare moments, or mentions decision history.

Overview

Visibility
public
Updated
17h ago
Built from
0 sessions

Install

An Agent Skill is a SKILL.md plus its files, zipped as .skill. Pick an agent — it activates when its description matches your request.

Download interpreting-decision-traces.skillinterpreting-decision-traces/SKILL.md

User-level (~/.claude/skills/)

unzip ~/Downloads/interpreting-decision-traces.skill -d ~/.claude/skills/

Project-level (.claude/skills/, run from repo root)

unzip ~/Downloads/interpreting-decision-traces.skill -d .claude/skills/
SKILL.md

Interpreting decision traces

A decision trace is a structured artifact extracted from one or more conversation sessions. Each trace has:

  • moments — ordered items found during discovery, each grounded in a specific message range of a specific session
  • annotations — connecting text the synthesis step inserts between moments
  • resolution — a 2-4 sentence direct answer to the trace's question

When the user asks about a trace

If the active artifact is a trace, the trace JSON is inlined in the system context — use that as the source of truth rather than fetching anything. Pay attention to:

  • The original question field — re-read it before answering, the user's framing matters
  • The chronological order of moments — synthesis already reordered them, don't reorder again
  • threadSlug and startOrdinal/endOrdinal on each moment — these are citation handles

Linking moments back to sessions

When citing a moment, link to the source session: [Title #m{start}-m{end}](/t/{slug}#m{start}-m{end}). The thread title comes from threadTitle on the moment; the slug from threadSlug. Always use the markdown link form, never raw slugs.

What a trace is NOT

  • Not a transcript — moments are excerpts, not full messages. If a fact looks load-bearing, verify against the source session via get_thread.
  • Not authoritative — synthesis can drop or reorder moments. The source sessions are the ground truth.
  • Not durable history — traces are generated artifacts. Regenerating may produce different moments.