# Activity Log

Auto-recorded per-test history: lifecycle events, edits, restores, scheduled starts/ends, and stop-condition trips. Live-updates and shows who did what.

Every meaningful state change on a test is recorded in its activity log — who did what, when, and (where it matters) why. The log is your built-in audit trail for collaboration and post-test reviews.

Otter writes to the activity log automatically as the test moves through its lifecycle. You never have to remember to log anything — the dashboard captures transitions, edits, and automated decisions as they happen. The result is a per-test timeline you can scroll through to answer questions like "when did this go live?", "who paused it?", or "did this end because of a stop condition, or because someone hit Complete?".

The log lives on the test detail page in a collapsible Activity section. Open it from the page itself, or use the timeline button in the test header to jump to it. The most recent 20 events are shown newest-first.

## What gets logged

### Lifecycle

| Action | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `created` | The test was created as a draft. |
| `updated` | The draft was saved with changes (linked to the version snapshot). |
| `started` | Someone clicked Start. Test went from draft to running. |
| `paused` | Someone paused the running test. |
| `resumed` | Someone resumed a paused or completed test. |
| `completed` | Someone clicked Complete. Test is finished. |
| `archived` | A completed test was archived from the main list. |
| `unarchived` | An archived test was brought back to completed. |
| `restored` | A draft was rolled back to an earlier version. |

### Automated

| Action | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `scheduled_start` | A scheduled start time arrived and the test auto-launched. No actor. |
| `scheduled_end` | A scheduled end time arrived and the test auto-completed. No actor. |
| `auto_stopped` | A stop condition (visitor cap, conversion cap, or decision threshold) tripped. Metadata captures the reason. |
| `decision_threshold_reached` | The results crossed the configured decision threshold for the primary goal. |

## How to read an entry

- **Actor.** For user-driven events (lifecycle, edits, restores) this is the teammate's name. For automated events (scheduled starts/ends, auto-stops, decision-threshold) there's no actor and the dashboard shows the event as *System*.
- **Action.** One of the keys listed above. The dashboard renders these as friendly labels, but the raw key is what's stored.
- **Timestamp.** When the event happened, shown in your project's reporting timezone.
- **Context.** Some events carry extra info — the reason an auto-stop tripped, the scheduled time that fired, the version number that was restored, the summary of an edit. The dashboard surfaces the most useful pieces inline.

> **Using the activity log effectively**
>
> **Use it during reviews.** When you re-read a test's results, scroll through the activity log first. It reframes "the variant lost" into "the variant lost after someone paused it for two days mid-run."
>
> **Pair it with Version History.** Every "updated" entry links to the snapshot that captured what changed. If you're trying to figure out what a specific edit did, jump from the activity log into Version History to see the diff.
>
> **The log is the source of truth for "why did this end?"** Manual Complete and auto-stop and scheduled-end all leave the test in the completed state — but the activity log makes clear which one actually fired.

## Frequently asked questions

### What gets recorded in the activity log?

Every meaningful state change on the test: the test being created or edited (with a link to the version that captured the change), Start/Pause/Resume/Complete/Archive transitions, scheduled starts and scheduled ends, stop-condition auto-stops, decision-threshold milestones, and version restores. If it changes the test in a way someone else might want to know about, it shows up here.

### Where do I find it?

On the test detail page. Scroll down to the Activity section (or use the timeline button in the header to jump to it). The most recent 20 events are listed newest-first, with the actor's name, the action, and the timestamp.

### Who is the actor on each event?

For user-driven actions (Start, Pause, edits, etc.) it's the teammate who performed the action. For automated transitions — scheduled starts, scheduled ends, stop-condition auto-stops, decision-threshold events — there's no actor; the dashboard shows these as System events. This makes it easy to tell whether a transition was time-driven, rule-driven, or hand-driven.

### How many events are kept?

All of them — nothing is pruned. The collapsible widget on the test page shows the most recent 20 for quick scanning. If you need the full history, contact support and we can pull the complete log.

### Does the activity log update in real time?

Yes. The test page subscribes to a live stream and new events appear as they happen — useful when a teammate is editing or starting a test while you're watching the page. No refresh required.

### Are edits to draft tests logged?

Yes. Each save creates a 'created' or 'updated' entry, linked to the version snapshot that captured what changed. Open the Version History panel to see the exact diff for any logged edit. Cosmetic saves that don't actually change anything are deduplicated and don't create a new log entry.

### Are comments and views included?

Comments are tracked separately in the Comments thread on the test page. Views — opens of the test page — aren't logged. The activity log focuses on state changes that affect the test or its data, not passive reads.

### Can I export the activity log?

Not directly from the dashboard today. If you need an export — for compliance review, audit, or stakeholder reporting — contact support and we can send a CSV or JSON dump.

### Is the activity log included in shared reports?

No. Shared report links show results, not internal history. The activity log is account-internal and only visible to logged-in members of the project.

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Canonical page: https://www.otterab.com/docs/analyzing-results/activity-log