Running an explanation
1
Open Explainability
Navigate to Console > Explainability.
2
Enter IDs
Enter a User ID and Item ID.
3
Run the explanation
Click Explain.
What you see
Similarity score
The raw cosine similarity between the user’s embedding and the item’s embedding, converted to a 0-1 score. This is the base relevance signal before any rules or pipeline adjustments.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:Feature contributions
A breakdown of what signals contributed to the final score — the embedding similarity, any metadata features, and rule adjustments.Common debugging scenarios
”Why is this item ranked so low?”
1
Check similarity
Check the similarity score. If it is low, the user’s behaviour does not strongly align with this item’s embedding.
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, so create a segment with broader conditions to verify.
4
Check pipeline configuration
Check the pipeline config. If the rules stage is disabled, no rules will 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.