Runtime context that travels with the code.
AppMap records traces in the developer environment. Recording, exploration, diagrams, and MCP access all start locally, and most agent interaction happens there. When important behavior needs to persist, the Gold Trace set can travel with the code as versioned AppMap Gold Traces.
Runtime context for every agent that works on the repository
An AppMap trace is structured data, not just a diagram. A coding agent queries the same traces a developer uses locally. AppMap Gold Traces can be versioned with the repository so important runtime behavior travels with the code.
Source code -> Git API spec -> openapi.yaml Infrastructure -> terraform Documentation -> README.md
Behavior that survives the session
A coding agent normally begins each investigation by reading the current code and inferring what matters. Gold Traces travel with the repository, so the team can compare behavior across revisions.
A developer or coding agent opening the repository later starts with the same Gold Traces. This is not conversational memory. The set lives in the repository, versioned and reviewed like the code. Most agent work starts with local runtime context. Git gives the Gold Trace set a longer life, so future developers and agents can reuse important behavior instead of inferring it from source code.
Where AppMap Gold Traces live
When a team versions Gold Traces with the code, the set lives in the repository alongside the application, in gold_traces/. The set contains representative traces for important paths and the configuration AppMap uses to maintain the set. The AppMap Gold Traces skill updates the set as the code changes. The set can be used locally or committed with the code for team review.
Git gives you a history of what the code said. AppMap Gold Traces give you a history of what the code did.
repo/
src/
gold_traces/
manifest.yml # the test cases in the set
appmaps/ # the sanitized trace filesWhen the Gold Trace set is versioned with the code, changes to it follow the team's existing pull-request workflow.
Putting AppMap in the repository gives coding agents runtime context that travels with the code. Instead of inferring execution from source search every time they enter a codebase, agents query recorded call paths, SQL, HTTP activity, and application structure directly. AppMap Gold Traces carry important behavior forward as versioned context, so a new agent or a different model starts from the same traces. Both the code and the runtime context are available to the developer and the AI without requiring an AppMap-operated data service.