Paybond middleware trace shows the tool boundary lifecycle — not model reasoning. Use it to see policy authorization, handler execution, evidence, and sandbox settlement in one vertical timeline.
Developer reference: /docs/kit/middleware-trace. Interactive replay: /demo/agent-trace.
Try it
Terminal 1:
terminal
paybond dev loop --offlineTerminal 2 (same project directory):
terminal
paybond dev traceOpen http://127.0.0.1:9477 — select a run from the sidebar or follow the trace_url printed by smoke/loop.
What you see
| Phase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tool | Side-effecting tool resolved (tool_selected) |
| Authorize | Harbor approved, denied, or held the spend |
| Evidence | Auto-evidence submitted after a successful handler |
| Result | Handler timing, spend finalized, settlement status |
Typical flow: tool call → Paybond approved $X → tool executed → evidence submitted → settlement released.
Not model observability
Paybond does not see LLM chain-of-thought. Timeline steps label tool calls, not agent reasoning.
Surfaces
| Surface | When to use |
|---|---|
paybond dev trace (:9477) | Local iteration after smoke or loop |
paybond agent run trace --run-id <id> | Headless / CI after bind + execute |
/demo/agent-trace | Share a visual replay without running the local server |
trace_sink / Gateway reporter on bind | Custom telemetry or console agent-run timeline |
| Console intent dossier | Production operator audit (authenticated) |
Events persist to .paybond/dev-trace.jsonl so smoke and trace can run in separate terminals. Multi-step runs also write .paybond/runs/<run_id>.trace.json.
Dev, sandbox, and production
Local dashboard ≠ production telemetry
paybond dev trace runs only on your machine — never in a production deploy. Sandbox is a Paybond environment; the trace dashboard is a local dev tool.
| Local dashboard | Trace events | |
|---|---|---|
| Default in production app | Off | Off — pass traceSink or Gateway reporter to opt in |
Default after paybond dev loop | On (.paybond/dev-trace.jsonl) | On via dev collector |
| Console operator view | N/A | Intent dossier always; agent-run timeline when Gateway reporting is wired |
Full matrix, CLI, and SDK production examples: /docs/kit/middleware-trace#production-examples.
Deep links from smoke
Table-format smoke prints:
✓ Trace → http://127.0.0.1:9477/runs/<run-id>
✓ Replay → https://paybond.ai/demo/agent-trace?intent=<intent-id>
JSON smoke includes trace_url, agent_trace_url, and console_url when a Harbor intent id is present.
Related
- Agent quickstart — sandbox login and
paybond dev loop - Agent middleware —
traceSinkAPI - Paybond CLI —
dev smoke,dev loop,dev trace - Demo hub — middleware trace replay and settlement walkthrough
- Product surfaces overview — where trace fits in the platform