Analyst Guide
Welcome to Traces. This guide will help you get started as an analyst and provide reference material for all analyst tasks.
What is Traces?
Traces is a forensic data collection platform that enables legal and compliance teams to collect evidence from cloud platforms (Slack, GitHub, Figma, etc.) while maintaining chain of custody and forensic integrity.
As an analyst, you are responsible for:
- Creating and maintaining connectors for data collection
- Reviewing collected data for completeness
- Signing off on collections before delivery
- Verifying customer accounts and credentials
- Supporting customers through the collection process
Key Concepts
Connectors
A connector defines how to collect data from a specific platform's API. It includes:
- Authentication configuration
- List of endpoints to call
- Pagination settings for each endpoint
- Dependencies between endpoints
- Rate limiting configuration
Collections
A collection is a single data collection job for a customer. It includes:
- The connector to use
- Customer-provided credentials
- Scope configuration (date ranges, filters)
- All collected files and metadata
- Complete chain of custody trail
Chain of Custody
Every action in Traces is logged to maintain forensic integrity:
- Collection creation and status changes
- Credential access and validation
- Analyst assignments and sign-offs
- File collection and hash verification
Versioning
Connectors use semantic versioning (1.0.0, 1.1.0, 2.0.0). When you publish changes to a connector, Traces creates a new connector record with a new UUID and soft-deletes the old one — each published version is an immutable snapshot. The version number is bumped automatically based on what changed (endpoint changes → major, mappings/order → minor, pagination/headers/notes → patch). Collections reference specific versions, ensuring that historical collections can be reproduced exactly.
Getting Started
Logging In
- Navigate to the Traces analyst portal
- Sign in with your credentials (managed via Clerk)
- You'll land on the analyst dashboard
Dashboard Overview
The analyst dashboard shows:
- Summary stats: Total collections, collections needing review, and collections in progress
- Needs-review banner: A prompt when collections are awaiting your sign-off
- Recent Collections: The latest collections with status and priority
- Quick Actions: Shortcuts for common tasks
Navigation
The top bar is slim. Click the menu (hamburger) icon on the left to open the navigation drawer:
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Overview and quick actions |
| Collections | View and manage all collections |
| Connectors | Create and manage connectors |
| Roadmap | Feature roadmap and release notes |
| Credentials | Manage stored credentials |
| Customers | Customer accounts |
On the right of the top bar you'll find the theme toggle, the feature-request button, the notifications bell, a settings dropdown, and your account menu.
Quick Reference
Common Tasks
| Task | Location |
|---|---|
| Generate a connector from API docs | Connectors → Generate from API Docs |
| Create a connector manually | Connectors → New Connector |
| Review a collection | Collections → (open a completed collection) |
| Sign off on a collection | Collection Details → Sign Off |
| Test a connector endpoint | Open a connector → Test & Configure (draft) or the endpoint editor (published) |
Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Connector | Configuration defining how to collect from a platform |
| Collection | Single data collection job with all files and metadata |
| Endpoint | Single API call within a connector |
| Dependency | Relationship where one endpoint needs data from another |
| Pagination | Process of retrieving all pages of data |
| Chain of Custody | Audit trail of all actions on a collection |
| Sign-off | Analyst approval that collection is complete and accurate |
| Scope | Configuration limiting what data to collect (dates, filters) |
| Hash | Cryptographic fingerprint verifying file integrity |