LOGGING, METRICS, AND DASHBOARDS

KEY TERMS REVIEW Structured logging: logs in a consistent machine-readable format. Metric: a number measured over time. Dashboard: a live screen of key metrics. Alert: an automatic message when a metric crosses a limit. Alert fatigue: ignoring alerts because there are too many. Drift: a slow change in behavior over time. CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING • Why is structured logging better than free text? ◦ Answer: Programs can sort, count, and search labeled fields. • Name three key agent metrics. ◦ Answer: Any three of success rate, latency, cost, token usage, and error rate. • What is alert fatigue? ◦ Answer: Ignoring alerts because too many false ones were sent. • What does drift monitoring catch? ◦ Answer: Slow behavior changes that are not yet outright failures. • Why can an average hide a problem that a percentile reveals? ◦ Answer: A few very slow runs can sit beside many fast ones, so the average describes none of them, while a high percentile shows the slow tail that users feel.