Governance

Source traceability

Trace retrieved graph data to the episodes from which Zep derived it

Zep stores ingested messages, text, and JSON as episodes. Facts, entities, observations, and summaries retain associations with the episodes from which Zep derived them. These associations let you trace retrieved graph data to its source content.

Source traceability records where information came from. It does not establish that the source content or a derived fact is true.

Trace a retrieved fact

Each fact is stored on an edge. The edge includes an episodes field that contains the UUIDs of its associated source episodes.

1

Retrieve the fact

Use graph.search or the edge APIs to retrieve the fact and its source episode UUIDs.

2

Retrieve the source episodes

Use the episode API to retrieve each associated episode. An episode contains the original message, text, or JSON that your application ingested.

3

Retain the retrieval record

If you must connect an agent answer to source content, retain the retrieved fact, its source episode UUIDs, and the source content in your application. API Logs record request activity, but they are not a complete answer audit trail.

Use source metadata

You can attach metadata when you ingest an episode. Zep projects supported episode metadata onto the facts, entities, observations, and summaries that it derives from that episode.

Use projected metadata to:

  • Filter graph search results by source attributes.
  • Apply source-based access policies to shared Context Graphs.
  • Identify the source system, record type, account, project, product, or other application scope.

The episode metadata projection guide explains how associations and metadata apply to each context type.

Your application must authorize each source and graph scope before retrieval. Do not use customer-writable or model-generated metadata as a trusted security label.