reticle_observe

reticle_observe is the wide-angle lens. Where reticle_network and reticle_console answer one question each, observe returns everything that happened in a window, in order.

Example

{ "window_ms": 4000, "max_events": 4 }

Real response:

{
  "window_ms": 4000,
  "events": [
    {
      "t": 925870,
      "type": "page.health",
      "seq": 586,
      "data": {
        "hidden": true,
        "focused": false,
        "runtime": "web",
        "engine": "blink",
        "brand": "chrome",
        "reason": "heartbeat"
      }
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "total": 1,
    "network": 0,
    "domAdded": 0,
    "domRemoved": 0,
    "domChanged": 0,
    "routeChanges": 0,
    "consoleErrors": 0,
    "animations": 0,
    "signals": 0
  },
  "cost": { "events": 1, "bytes": 374 }
}

A quiet window, honestly reported as quiet.

Read the summary first

The summary block is the cheap answer. consoleErrors: 0 and network: 0 tells you most of what you need without reading a single event. Pull the timeline only when the summary says something interesting happened.

Arguments

Argument	What it does
`window_ms`	How far back to look
`since` / `until`	Cursors from a prior act. The precise way to scope
`actionId`	Only events attributed to one action: “what did that click cause?”
`filters`	Event-type allowlist. The cheapest way to shrink a big timeline
`max_events`	Cap the timeline to the most recent N

Scope by cursor, not by clock

Every reticle_act response includes a since cursor. Passing it to observe scopes the timeline to exactly what followed that action, with no guessing about how many milliseconds to look back:

{ "since": 28123 }

This is more precise than window_ms and it does not drift when the machine is slow. Which matters, because a timing-based window that works on your laptop and fails in CI is a flaky test waiting to happen.

When to use it

Use observe when you do not yet know what went wrong. Use the narrow tools when you do.

Good use

“Something broke after that click, show me everything that happened.”

Wasteful use

“Did a POST fire?” reticle_network answers that far more cheaply.

observe reads. It does not produce a verdict. It is for diagnosis, not proof.

Tools

Beyond the loop

CLI

Libraries

Grammar

Long form

reticle_observe

Example

Read the summary first

Arguments

Scope by cursor, not by clock

When to use it

Good use

Wasteful use

​Example

​Read the summary first

​Arguments

​Scope by cursor, not by clock

​When to use it

Good use

Wasteful use

Example

Read the summary first

Arguments

Scope by cursor, not by clock

When to use it