| # Tracing | |
| <span data-heading-keywords="trace,tracing"></span> | |
| A trace is essentially a series of steps that your application takes to go from input to output. | |
| Traces contain individual steps called `runs`. These can be individual calls from a model, retriever, | |
| tool, or sub-chains. | |
| Tracing gives you observability inside your chains and agents, and is vital in diagnosing issues. | |
| For a deeper dive, check out [this LangSmith conceptual guide](https://docs.smith.langchain.com/concepts/tracing). | |