trace_decision_history
Reconstruct how a decision evolved over time in a channel by building an ordered timeline of superseded choices, revealing the 'why we changed' trail.
Instructions
Reconstruct how a decision EVOLVED over time in a channel.
Call this to answer "how did the team arrive at the current approach
for X?" or "what earlier choices were overridden?" It walks
SUPERSEDES edges in the knowledge graph to build an ordered
timeline of superseded → current decisions. Distinct from
find_decisions (which lists current decision facts with no
history) and search_channel_facts (current state only, no
chronology); use this tool specifically when you need the
chronological "why we changed" trail.
Prerequisite: a channel_id from list_channels. Best results
on mature channels where decisions have been revised; new channels
often have no supersession chain yet (empty result, not an error).
Returns (instant, read-only, no side effects):
{"decisions": [...]} ordered oldest → newest. Each item has
entity (the decision that was made), superseded_by (the
decision that replaced it, or empty for the current one),
relationship (edge label, typically 'SUPERSEDES'),
confidence (0–1 extraction confidence), context (snippet
explaining the change), and position (0-based index in the
timeline). An empty list means no recorded supersession chain.
Error modes: {"error": "authentication_missing"} if
unauthenticated; {"error": "channel_access_denied", "channel_id": ...} if the channel is not readable; {"error": "invalid_parameter", ...} for a malformed channel_id. Other
backend failures degrade to {"decisions": []}.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| channel_id | Yes | Required. The channel id to trace within, obtained from list_channels (e.g. 'ch-eng'). Not a human channel name. | |
| topic | Yes | Required. The decision area to trace, e.g. 'database choice', 'API versioning', 'auth provider'. Matched against decision entities in the knowledge graph; use the subject of the decision, not a yes/no question. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
No arguments | |||