Use tool-use visibility for inspectable AI tool calls, inputs, outputs, permissions, redaction, and side effects; agent progress trace for run-level step progress; source grounding display for whole-answer evidence coverage; citation display for claim-level sources; activity log for retained event evidence; and human approval gate for a paused authorization decision.
Use tool-use visibility for inspectable AI tool calls, inputs, outputs, permissions, redaction, and side effects; agent progress trace for run-level step progress; source grounding display for whole-answer evidence coverage; citation display for claim-level sources; activity log for retained event evidence; and human approval gate for a paused authorization decision.
Practice the judgment: Imagine this situation: Tool calls are hidden behind a spinner or Thinking label. Write the person's goal, choose one of these patterns, and show the state that helps the person continue. Use the decision rules and source trail below to explain your choice.
Review the underlying principle →| Dimension | Tool-use visibility | Agent progress trace | Source grounding display | Citation display | Activity log | Human approval gate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UI or UX | UI + UX - Inspectable disclosure of AI agent tool calls, inputs, outputs, permissions, and side effects | UI + UX - Live execution trace for an AI agent or automation run after work has started | UI + UX - Whole-answer source coverage and grounding evidence display | UI + UX - Inline claim-to-source evidence display for generated or summarized content | UI + UX - Searchable and exportable record of system, user, or administrative events | UI + UX - Runtime checkpoint that pauses AI or automation until an eligible human authorizes the next step |
| UI guidance | Render tool-use visibility as an inspectable tool-call surface with tool name, purpose, input summary, output summary, permission scope, data source, side-effect risk, status, timestamps, and redaction state. | Render an agent progress trace as a live, ordered run timeline with run ID, plan version, current step, queued steps, active tool or task, elapsed time, last event time, step status, blocked gates, retry state, and final outcome. | Render source grounding as an answer-wide evidence panel that separates source scope, searched sources, retrieved sources, used sources, supported claims, partially supported claims, unsupported claims, and unresolved source states. | Render citation markers beside the claims they support, and connect each marker to a selected source preview with title, source type, excerpt, date or version, permission state, and open source action. | Render activity logs as evidence-oriented records with event time, actor, action, object, source system, scope, result, and technical context such as IP address or location when available. | Render a human approval gate as a paused automation checkpoint with the proposed action, tool or workflow step, triggering rule, risk level, payload snapshot, requester or agent, approver eligibility, timeout, and explicit approve, reject, edit, cancel, or bypass controls. |
| UX guidance | Use tool-use visibility when users need to understand, verify, approve, debug, or audit how an AI agent used tools, data, or integrations during a run. | Use agent progress trace when an AI agent or automation has started multi-step work and users need to monitor progress, intervene on stalls or gates, understand partial completion, and know whether the reviewed plan is still being followed. | Let users inspect coverage gaps, source scope, retrieval status, and unsupported claims before they copy, publish, apply, or rely on the answer. | Keep the claim-to-source mapping durable through streaming, regeneration, copying, mobile layout changes, and permission checks so users can tell what evidence applies to which claim. | Use activity log when users need to investigate, audit, verify, or troubleshoot actions across accounts, objects, systems, settings, or security boundaries. | Use human approval gate when automation is ready to act but policy, risk, confidence, cost, access, publication, deployment, customer impact, or legal consequence requires a human decision before execution continues. |
| Good UI | A research agent shows Knowledge search, Web search, and CRM lookup tool cards with purpose, input summary, source scope, output summary, status, and redacted raw request details. | An account research agent trace shows Run A-204, reviewed plan P-18, completed CRM lookup, active policy search, queued draft email, approval gate pending before send, elapsed time, and a View tool details control. | A policy answer includes a Grounding panel showing 4 sources searched, 3 retrieved, 2 used, 5 supported claims, 1 partially supported claim, and 1 unsupported claim with a Review action. | A policy assistant places numbered citation chips after each sourced claim; selecting a chip opens a source preview with the document title, section, quoted excerpt, updated date, and Open source action. | An organization audit log table shows timestamp, actor, action, target object, app, IP address, result, and a Details drawer with before and after fields. | An AI support agent pauses before issuing a refund, shows the proposed amount, customer, policy match, confidence, source grounding, approver role, timeout, Approve refund, Edit amount, Reject, and Stop run controls. |
| Bad UI | The UI dumps raw JSON containing secrets and internal system prompts as the only explanation of tool use. | A trace displays raw tool JSON and private tokens as the only progress feedback. | The answer shows a green Grounded badge even though only one citation supports one paragraph. | A citation appears verified while retrieval is still pending. | An export button downloads a different date range and timezone than the on-screen filtered log. | A reviewer can approve an automation run after the action already executed, making the gate only decorative audit text. |
| Good UX | A user opens the active CRM lookup, sees it is read-only, verifies the account ID, and continues watching the run. | A user watches the active step move from searching policies to drafting the email, opens the blocked permission item, grants access, and sees the run continue from the same step. | The person reaches the intended result with clear feedback. | A user checks a claim, opens its source preview, compares the quoted excerpt with the answer text, and copies the citation with the source title included. | An admin filters to failed SSO events, expands one entry, copies the event ID, exports the filtered range, and sees that records older than 180 days require a different archive. | A billing lead opens the paused refund gate, sees that the amount is under policy but source grounding is partial, edits the refund to the verified amount, approves, and the agent resumes only that step. |
| Bad UX | A tool card says Success even though the returned data was partially redacted or stale. | A trace restarts from the top after a retry and makes users think earlier completed steps ran twice. | Grounded status is shown before retrieval finishes. | A user trusts a generated compliance claim because it has a number beside it, but the number points to an unrelated source. | A user marks a notification read and the corresponding activity evidence disappears from the only log. | A human approves a stale agent action from email and the agent applies it to a different customer state. |
| Best fit | An AI agent or automation calls tools, functions, APIs, retrieval systems, commands, or integrations. | An agent or automation run has started and spans multiple steps, tools, gates, or side effects. | Users need answer-wide evidence coverage before trusting generated content. | Users need to verify generated claims, summaries, recommendations, or extracted facts against source material. | Users need to inspect recorded user, admin, system, security, or integration events. | An AI agent, workflow, deployment, or automation is ready to perform a high-impact step and must pause for human authorization. |
| Avoid when | Users only need the high-level run sequence, which belongs to agent progress trace. | The task is a single generated answer stream. | The only task is opening one claim's source preview, which belongs to citation display. | Links are simply optional onward reading rather than evidence for the answer. | The goal is only to show a readable milestone history for one case or process. | The action has already happened and users only need an audit log. |
| Required state | Pending tool call state with tool name, purpose, requested permission, and side-effect risk. | Run started state tied to run ID, plan version, objective, and user who started the run. | Default grounded state with source scope, searched sources, retrieved sources, used sources, and supported-claim count. | Default answer with cited claims and inline citation markers. | Default log state with event records, result count, visible timezone, retention window, and permission scope. | Paused gate state with proposed action, payload snapshot, reason for gate, and run context. |
| Accessibility burden | Expose tool name, status, permission, risk, input summary, output summary, and redaction reason as text. | Expose trace status, run ID, current step, elapsed time, blocked state, final outcome, and details availability as text. | Expose grounding summary, source scope, status counts, unsupported claims, and source groups as text. | Give citation markers accessible names that include their selected state and source status, such as Citation 2, verified source, or Citation pending. | Use table or structured list semantics so actor, action, object, timestamp, result, and scope are perceivable together. | Expose gate status, proposed action, target, payload summary, risk, approver rule, timeout, and current run state as text. |
| Common misuse | Dumping raw JSON, stack traces, tokens, secrets, or hidden prompts as the user-facing tool view. | Using one spinner or vague Thinking label for a multi-step agent run. | Showing a global Grounded badge when only some claims have evidence. | Displaying a link dump below the answer instead of mapping sources to specific claims. | Using vague activity labels that omit actor, action, object, timestamp, or result. | Using a post-action audit record as if it were a pre-action human gate. |