OpenParable
Skip to content
← Back to skills

Output Workflow Trace File

Documents
output-workflow-trace-file

Output Workflow Trace File is an Agent Skill for documents published in the growthxai/output repository on GitHub: a SKILL.md instruction file an AI agent can load to do this task.

Read and render the output of a local Output SDK workflow trace file as clean readable markdown. Use when the user wants to view what a recent workflow produced, see the result from a local trace file, or render trace output as a document.

View on GitHub ↗
QUICK START

How to use this skill

Bring this guide into your coding agent with a prompt tailored to the tool you use.

  1. Open your project in Codex.
  2. Copy and paste the prompt below.
  3. Review files and risks before approving any action.
Prompt to paste
Inspect the Agent Skill at https://github.com/growthxai/output/blob/HEAD/coding_assistants/claude/plugins/outputai/skills/output-workflow-trace-file/SKILL.md and all supporting files. Report provenance, permissions, scripts, dependencies, and security risks. Propose an exact installation into .agents/skills/output-workflow-trace-file, but wait for my approval before writing files or running scripts.

Copying this prompt does not install or run the skill. Review third-party files before use.

Show just the final output of an Output.ai workflow trace — the actual result, rendered as readable markdown.

The argument the user provided is either a workflow name (e.g. context_competitors) or a workflow run ID. If no argument is provided, use the most recent trace across all workflows.

Instructions

  1. Find the trace JSON file:

    • Trace files live in logs/runs/<workflow_name>/ as JSON files
    • Filenames follow the pattern: <timestamp>_<workflow_id>.json
    • If a workflow name is given, find the latest .json file in logs/runs/<workflow_name>/
    • If a run ID is given, search across all logs/runs/*/ folders for a file containing that ID in its filename
    • If no argument, find the most recently modified .json file across all logs/runs/*/ folders

  2. Extract the output from the trace file. You only need output.output from the JSON root — skip children and input.

    Strategy for large files (trace files can be 10k+ lines):

    • First, try jq '.output.output' <file> to extract directly — this is the fastest path
    • If jq is not available: read the last 500 lines of the file (the output field is at the root level, near the end of the JSON). Work backwards in chunks if needed
    • Do NOT read the entire file from the top — the children array with step details can be thousands of lines and you don't need any of it

  3. Save a markdown file to tmp/trace_result_<workflow_name>_<id>.md (create the tmp/ directory if it doesn't exist) with:

    Header (brief)

    • One line: workflow name, ID, duration

    Result

    Render output.output as clean, readable markdown:

    • String fields that contain markdown → render directly
    • Arrays of objects → render each as a sub-section with key fields
    • Arrays of strings → numbered lists
    • Nested objects → sub-sections with key-value pairs
    • URLs → render as links
    • Long text excerpts → render as blockquotes

    The goal is a document you'd want to READ, not debug. Make it look good.

  4. Tell the user the saved file path.

Important

  • This is a RESULT view — render for readability, not debugging
  • Do NOT include step details, inputs/outputs, or timing per step
  • Do NOT wrap things in JSON code blocks — this should read like a document
  • Include the full output without truncation