Agent artifacts as observability data
3 Jul 2026 · 6 min read
Plans, reviews, diffs, grades, and deployment checks are observability data, not just byproducts.
Artifacts explain the work. Without them, traces show activity but not quality, intent, or evidence.
AstraRunner treats this as an execution-platform concern: the run needs durable state, traceable decisions, cost visibility, and enough structure for teams to review what happened after the agent finishes.
Patterns that work
- Store plans, handoffs, reviews, validation reports, and cost reports.
- Attach artifacts to run steps.
- Index artifacts for later investigation.
- Use artifact quality as a grading signal.
Implementation checklist
- Define artifact schemas.
- Store author and role.
- Link artifacts to source files or external tickets.
- Retain artifacts according to policy.
Watch outs
- Free-form artifacts are hard to query.
- Artifacts can contain secrets.
- Missing artifacts turn incidents into archaeology.
Related reading
How this fits the Astra stack
AstraRunner owns the operational path for agent work: orchestration, scheduling, approval gates, traces, costs, and role-agent handoffs. AstraMemory owns durable context and retrieval. AstraGenie turns those capabilities into product workflows for teams that want automation without rebuilding the platform layer.