phoenix-cli

name	phoenix-cli
description	Debug LLM applications using the Phoenix CLI. Fetch traces, analyze errors, review experiments, inspect datasets, and query the GraphQL API. Use when debugging AI/LLM applications, analyzing trace data, working with Phoenix observability, or investigating LLM performance issues.
license	Apache-2.0
compatibility	Requires Node.js (for npx) or global install of @arizeai/phoenix-cli. Optionally requires jq for JSON processing.
metadata	{"author":"arize-ai","version":"2.0.0"}

Phoenix CLI

Invocation

px <resource> <action>                          # if installed globally
npx @arizeai/phoenix-cli <resource> <action>    # no install required

The CLI uses singular resource commands with subcommands like list and get:

px trace list
px trace get <trace-id>
px span list
px dataset list
px dataset get <name>

Setup

export PHOENIX_HOST=http://localhost:6006
export PHOENIX_PROJECT=my-project
export PHOENIX_API_KEY=your-api-key  # if auth is enabled

Always use --format raw --no-progress when piping to jq.

Traces

px trace list --limit 20 --format raw --no-progress | jq .
px trace list --last-n-minutes 60 --limit 20 --format raw --no-progress | jq '.[] | select(.status == "ERROR")'
px trace list --format raw --no-progress | jq 'sort_by(-.duration) | .[0:5]'
px trace get <trace-id> --format raw | jq .
px trace get <trace-id> --format raw | jq '.spans[] | select(.status_code != "OK")'

Spans

px span list --limit 20                                    # recent spans (table view)
px span list --last-n-minutes 60 --limit 50                # spans from last hour
px span list --span-kind LLM --limit 10                    # only LLM spans
px span list --status-code ERROR --limit 20                # only errored spans
px span list --name chat_completion --limit 10             # filter by span name
px span list --trace-id <id> --format raw --no-progress | jq .   # all spans for a trace
px span list --include-annotations --limit 10              # include annotation scores
px span list output.json --limit 100                       # save to JSON file
px span list --format raw --no-progress | jq '.[] | select(.status_code == "ERROR")'

Span JSON shape

Span
  name, span_kind ("LLM"|"CHAIN"|"TOOL"|"RETRIEVER"|"EMBEDDING"|"AGENT"|"RERANKER"|"GUARDRAIL"|"EVALUATOR"|"UNKNOWN")
  status_code ("OK"|"ERROR"|"UNSET"), status_message
  context.span_id, context.trace_id, parent_id
  start_time, end_time
  attributes (same as trace span attributes above)
  annotations[] (with --include-annotations)
    name, result { score, label, explanation }

Trace JSON shape

Trace
  traceId, status ("OK"|"ERROR"), duration (ms), startTime, endTime
  rootSpan  — top-level span (parent_id: null)
  spans[]
    name, span_kind ("LLM"|"CHAIN"|"TOOL"|"RETRIEVER"|"EMBEDDING"|"AGENT")
    status_code ("OK"|"ERROR"), parent_id, context.span_id
    attributes
      input.value, output.value          — raw input/output
      llm.model_name, llm.provider
      llm.token_count.prompt/completion/total
      llm.token_count.prompt_details.cache_read
      llm.token_count.completion_details.reasoning
      llm.input_messages.{N}.message.role/content
      llm.output_messages.{N}.message.role/content
      llm.invocation_parameters          — JSON string (temperature, etc.)
      exception.message                  — set if span errored

Sessions

px session list --limit 10 --format raw --no-progress | jq .
px session list --order asc --format raw --no-progress | jq '.[].session_id'
px session get <session-id> --format raw | jq .
px session get <session-id> --include-annotations --format raw | jq '.annotations'

Session JSON shape

SessionData
  id, session_id, project_id
  start_time, end_time
  traces[]
    id, trace_id, start_time, end_time

SessionAnnotation (with --include-annotations)
  id, name, annotator_kind ("LLM"|"CODE"|"HUMAN"), session_id
  result { label, score, explanation }
  metadata, identifier, source, created_at, updated_at

Datasets / Experiments / Prompts

px dataset list --format raw --no-progress | jq '.[].name'
px dataset get <name> --format raw | jq '.examples[] | {input, output: .expected_output}'
px experiment list --dataset <name> --format raw --no-progress | jq '.[] | {id, name, failed_run_count}'
px experiment get <id> --format raw --no-progress | jq '.[] | select(.error != null) | {input, error}'
px prompt list --format raw --no-progress | jq '.[].name'
px prompt get <name> --format text --no-progress   # plain text, ideal for piping to AI

GraphQL

For ad-hoc queries not covered by the commands above. Output is {"data": {...}}.

px api graphql '{ projectCount datasetCount promptCount evaluatorCount }'
px api graphql '{ projects { edges { node { name traceCount tokenCountTotal } } } }' | jq '.data.projects.edges[].node'
px api graphql '{ datasets { edges { node { name exampleCount experimentCount } } } }' | jq '.data.datasets.edges[].node'
px api graphql '{ evaluators { edges { node { name kind } } } }' | jq '.data.evaluators.edges[].node'

# Introspect any type
px api graphql '{ __type(name: "Project") { fields { name type { name } } } }' | jq '.data.__type.fields[]'

Key root fields: projects, datasets, prompts, evaluators, projectCount, datasetCount, promptCount, evaluatorCount, viewer.

Docs

Download Phoenix documentation markdown for local use by coding agents.

px docs fetch                                # fetch default workflow docs to .px/docs
px docs fetch --workflow tracing             # fetch only tracing docs
px docs fetch --workflow tracing --workflow evaluation
px docs fetch --dry-run                      # preview what would be downloaded
px docs fetch --refresh                      # clear .px/docs and re-download
px docs fetch --output-dir ./my-docs         # custom output directory

Key options: --workflow (repeatable, values: tracing, evaluation, datasets, prompts, integrations, sdk, self-hosting, all), --dry-run, --refresh, --output-dir (default .px/docs), --workers (default 10).