Running an explanation
There are two ways in:
Enter one, then run the explanation.
What you see
Final score and score breakdown
The item’s final score, and how it was built: the base relevance from retrieval (how close the item is to the user or seed item, from 0 to 1), the learned ranker’s score where it ran, and each adjustment from discovery settings and rules.Applied rules
Each active rule is listed with:- Rule name and type (boost, pin, filter, etc.)
- Match status - a green matched badge if the rule’s conditions were satisfied for this user-item pair, or a grey no match badge if conditions did not match.
- Conditions - what the rule checks (item metadata fields, segment membership, etc.)
Pipeline stages
Each pipeline stage is shown with a status badge:Item metadata
The item’s stored metadata, so you can check whether a rule matched on the values you expected.Common debugging scenarios
”Why is this item ranked so low?”
1
Check similarity
Check the base relevance score. If it is low, the user’s behaviour does not strongly align with this item.
2
Check suppressing rules
Check for
bury or filter rules that matched. A bury rule reduces the score; a filter rule removes the item entirely.3
Check higher-priority pins
Check if a higher-priority
pin rule placed another item in the position you expected this one to occupy.”Why is this item appearing when it shouldn’t?”
1
Look for unexpected rules
Look for
boost or pin rules that matched unexpectedly. The rule’s conditions may be broader than intended.2
Check segment membership
Check whether the user belongs to a segment that triggers a promotional rule.
3
Verify item metadata
Verify the item’s metadata, because the rule may be matching on stale or incorrect data.
”Why are rules not applying?”
1
Check active status
Check the rule’s Active toggle; it may be inactive.
2
Check the schedule
Check the schedule; the rule may have a start date in the future or an end date in the past.
3
Check the segment condition
Check the segment condition. The user may not belong to the target segment.
4
Check pipeline configuration
Check the pipeline. If the Rules stage is off, no rules apply regardless of their configuration.
Tips
- Use Explainability before launching a campaign. Test your rules against real user-item pairs to verify they behave as expected.
- Combine with Analytics. If engagement drops after deploying a new rule, use Explainability to check whether the rule is matching more broadly than intended.
- Test edge cases. Try explaining items for users who are in multiple segments, or items that match conditions for multiple rules, to understand priority interactions.