# arize-instrumentation-health

Audits Arize OpenInference and OpenTelemetry traces for instrumentation flaws. Helps when LLM evals, token dashboards, or cost metrics report zero.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 998 installs · ★ 66
- Author: arize
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/Arize-ai/arize-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/arize-instrumentation-health

## What it does

This skill runs an audit across exported Arize traces. It uses the companion `arize-trace` skill to pull a bounded sample of roughly 20 recent traces into `.arize-tmp-traces` via the `ax` CLI. Once fetched, spans are grouped by `trace_id` to evaluate parent and child relationships across the trace tree.

Ten deterministic checks scan the batch for typical telemetry defects: orphan spans, duplicate model calls, missing token counts, flat hierarchy, and blank input/output attributes. By default, the skill operates in read-only mode and avoids editing application code. Without a configured Arize profile and the `ax` CLI in place, the audit cannot fetch span batches.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Arize-ai/arize-skills --skill arize-instrumentation-health -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Arize-ai/arize-skills --skill arize-instrumentation-health -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Arize-ai/arize-skills --skill arize-instrumentation-health -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install Arize-ai/arize-skills arize-instrumentation-health
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Arize-ai/arize-skills --skill arize-instrumentation-health -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/Arize-ai/arize-skills --path skills/arize-instrumentation-health
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Arize-ai/arize-skills --skill arize-instrumentation-health -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/Arize-ai/arize-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/arize-instrumentation-health/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- diagnose flat or broken span hierarchies in Arize
- explain zero token counts or missing costs in monitoring dashboards
- detect duplicate LLM spans generated by conflicting instrumentors
- locate missing input and output payloads on semantic root spans

## Example prompts
- Check whether my Arize instrumentation is healthy
- Why are my token and cost dashboards showing zero in Arize?
- Find instrumentation issues and audit flat traces in this project

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 955612edde2cacde.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 955612edde2cacde
```text
---
name: arize-instrumentation-health
description: Audits instrumentation health of existing Arize traces. Runs deterministic checks over a bounded span sample (orphaned/uncategorized/duplicate spans, flat structure, blank root I/O, unset status, missing token counts or children) and returns a ranked report. Use when the user asks why traces look empty/flat/broken, wants to verify instrumentation is healthy, find instrumentation issues, or why evals or token/cost dashboards show n/a or zero. To debug app behavior or errors, use arize-trace.
metadata:
  author: arize
  version: "1.0"
compatibility: Requires the ax CLI and a configured Arize profile. Analyzes exported OpenInference/OTel spans; language-agnostic.
---

# Arize Instrumentation Health Skill

Use this skill for an **on-demand instrumentation health audit** over a project's existing traces — the aggregate counterpart to `arize-instrumentation` (which verifies a single new trace) and `arize-trace` (which exports and inspects spans). It answers questions like:

- "Why do my traces look empty or flat?"
- "Check whether my Arize instrumentation is healthy."
- "Find instrumentation issues in this project."
- "Why are my evals / token / cost dashboards showing n/a or zero?"

## Workflow

1. **Resolve scope** — get the project (and space, if needed). If ambiguous, ask; do not guess.
2. **Export a bounded span sample** using the **`arize-trace`** skill — do not hand-roll `ax` flags here. Follow its export guidance: start with a small sample scoped by `--start-time` to a recent window, into `--output-dir .arize-tmp-traces`. Pull ~20 traces' worth of spans for a full audit (see minimum-data rules below).
3. **Group spans by trace** (`context.trace_id`); within each trace identify the root (`parent_id`/`parent_span_id` is null).
4. **Run the deterministic checks** in [references/checks.md](references/checks.md) against the sample.
5. **Report findings** ranked by severity then confidence, using the **Output format** in [references/checks.md](references/checks.md).

This skill is **read-only by default**. Inspect exported spans and source files only when they help attribute the cause. Do not edit application code, tests, configuration, dependencies, or generated artifacts during a health audit unless the user explicitly asks this skill to make fixes in the same turn. When fixes are needed and the user has not asked for them in this turn, report the next action as a handoff to `arize-instrumentation` or the relevant framework-specific instrumentation path.

## Reading exported spans

Attribute and column semantics (span kind, `input.value`/`output.value`, `llm.token_count.*`, `status_code`, `parent_id`, `session.id`) are documented in the **`arize-trace`** skill's *Span Column Reference* — use it rather than re-deriving field names.
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 955612edde2cacde

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