> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nika.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# nika:inspect

> Usage, declared contract and source links for this Nika builtin.

export const Ecosystem = () => <CardGroup cols={3}>
    <Card title="Documentation" icon="book" href="/introduction">
      Guides, reference contracts and working examples.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Nika Lab" icon="diagram-project" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-lab">
      Internal workspace and graph projections of the spec, documentation and code.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Language spec" icon="file-contract" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-spec">
      the nine-key envelope, Apache-2.0. The contract these docs explain.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Engine source" icon="gem" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika">
      Rust, AGPL-3.0-or-later. Every commit public.
    </Card>
    <Card title="TypeScript SDK" icon="code" href="/sdk/overview">
      Use one typed lifecycle locally or against authenticated nika serve HTTP.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Editor extension" icon="puzzle-piece" href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=supernovae.nika-lang">
      VS Code · Cursor · Windsurf: check-as-you-type, DAG view, trace replay.
    </Card>
    <Card title="Homebrew tap" icon="beer-mug-empty" href="https://github.com/supernovae-st/homebrew-tap">
      `brew install supernovae-st/tap/nika` for the latest tagged CLI release.
    </Card>
    <Card title="SuperNovae" icon="star" href="https://supernovae.studio">
      The Paris studio crafting Nika. 🦋
    </Card>
  </CardGroup>;

[Builtins catalog](/reference/builtins) / `nika:inspect`

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Introspection" icon="layer-group">Tool family from the canonical registry.</Card>
  <Card title="invoke" icon="code" href="/reference/language/words/invoke">Call this builtin through the invoke verb.</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Read this contract

This reference preserves the specification at the revision linked below. Source examples are **fragments**: their surrounding tasks, inputs and permissions are not supplied here. Consult [engine status](/reference/status) and `nika catalog --tools --json` for the installed implementation; a registry declaration is not a runtime qualification.

## Usage and behavior

```yaml illustration theme={"system"}
invoke:
  tool: "nika:inspect"
  args:
    view: cost                     # REQUIRED · enum · cost | records | dag_info | threads
```

Workflow introspection · 1 builtin · 4 `view:` enum modes (Rams collapse per ADR-088 · 2026-05-27) ·

* `view: cost` → `{ total_usd, by_task, by_provider }`. Running workflow cost.
* `view: records` → `{ tasks: [{ id, status, duration_ms, ... }] }`. Full execution record. (Per-task status is also read directly via the `${{ tasks.X.status }}` namespace, same shape.)
* `view: dag_info` → `{ nodes, edges, waves }`. DAG topology.
* `view: threads` → `{ active, queued, completed }`. Engine task-pool state · **advisory** · counts reflect the engine's concurrency model (impl-dependent · use for coarse adaptive-throttling · not a portable contract-precise number).

Replaces · 4 legacy introspection builtins (`nika:cost` · `nika:records` · `nika:dag_info` · `nika:threads`) collapsed per « less but better » Rams sweep · same trust class (PURE) · same query-own-workflow-state semantic family · the split into 4 separate builtins was historical (one-per-shape) not structural · the unified `view:` discriminator + per-shape `args:` is the canonical « one super-powerful builtin · multi-mode args » pattern (matches fetch+extract · jq · convert · wait).

Throws · `NIKA-BUILTIN-INSPECT-001` if `view:` value not in the canonical enum.

The reference engine injects a live cell at composition and writes it
as tasks settle. `available: true` once the DAG is seeded at run start.
The teaching shape is
[`examples/16-inspect-self.nika.yaml`](https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-spec/blob/f8c5df2127c7867b2e51a2cd5712fa9d8461e73e/examples/16-inspect-self.nika.yaml).
Probe any new builtin with `mock/echo` *before* wiring it after a paid
infer.

***

## Related concepts

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Arguments" icon="sliders" href="/reference/language/words/args">Pass the values required by the tool contract.</Card>
  <Card title="Permissions" icon="shield" href="/concepts/security">Understand authority before granting effects.</Card>
  <Card title="Errors and recovery" icon="rotate" href="/reference/error-codes">Read diagnostics and choose a recovery policy.</Card>
  <Card title="Workflow templates" icon="file-code" href="/guides/templates">Put the fragment inside a complete workflow.</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Contract provenance

[Read the pinned specification](https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-spec/blob/f8c5df2127c7867b2e51a2cd5712fa9d8461e73e/stdlib/builtins-v0.1.md#L467) · [Canonical registry](https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika-spec/blob/f8c5df2127c7867b2e51a2cd5712fa9d8461e73e/canon/builtins.yaml).

Tool identity: `nika:inspect`. Specification revision: `f8c5df2127c7`.
The Lab language identity is `language:tool:inspect`; the registry view is `ecosystem:tool/nika:inspect`. They refer to this contract without merging their graph identities.

<Ecosystem />