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Overview

Annotations in Sift represent key events or findings identified within telemetry based on a Rule’s evaluations or user observations. Annotations are automatically or manually created to highlight moments of interest such as anomalies, threshold crossings, or behavioral changes. In Explore v2 (Beta), in additional to automatically created Annotations, you can create Annotations manually. You can then overlay them with your data and use them for alignment.
Only Annotations created within Runs are shown in the sidebar Annotations.You can manually create Annotations to demarcate time ranges of Asset telemetry outside of the bounds of a Run.To create an Annotation manually, click the create Annotation icon in the panel.

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Viewing Annotations

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Annotations Tree

The Annotations tree is the primary way to browse Annotations. Open it by selecting the Annotations tab in the sidebar. The tree is organized hierarchically. Annotations are grouped under their associated runs and assets, followed by the subgroup for each rule. Manual Annotations are grouped under Manual Annotations. Each node shows:
  • Annotation name
  • Time (formatted as HH:MM:SS)
  • Duration
  • A color-coded left border indicating state: amber for Open, red for Failed, blue for Accepted.
Hovering over an Annotation node in the tree highlights the corresponding overlay on the chart, and vice versa. Right-click an Annotation in the sidebar to view actions:
  • Right-click a parent node (run, asset, or rule group) to plot or unplot all child Annotations at once
  • Right-click an individual Annotation, and click View Details, to see all of its settings

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Annotation Details Panel

To see an Annotation’s details, right-click the Annotation in the sidebar and select View Details. The details panel displays:
  • Name and archive status
  • Status (in Data Review type only): a segmented control to transition between Open, Flagged, and Resolved
  • Type: Phase or Data Review
  • Start time, End time, and Duration
  • Description
  • Linked assets: hover overs cards for quick asset info
  • Run: Linked Run
  • Tags
  • Rule: if the Annotation was created by a rule, the rule name, expression, and version are displayed
  • Assigned to (in Data Review type only): select or change the assigned team member
  • File attachments
  • Comments: a rich text comment thread for discussion
  • Activity log: chronological record of state changes, assignments, and comments
In the Annotation details, click Archive to hide the Annotation from the tree and chart. Click Restore to restore an archived annotation.

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Annotations Timeline

Below the timeseries chart, an Annotations timeline provides a compact visual overview of all Annotations within Runs across the current time range. The timeline respects the chart’s zoom range. Hover over an Annotation in the timeline to preview and view details:
  • Instantaneous Annotations (start time equals end time) are displayed as triangles on the timeline.
  • Annotations with duration are displayed as a highlighted range.
  • A cross-hatched area within the timeline indicates a Rule was rate-limited due to a high volume of events. The period between when this Rule started and stopped triggering is captured by the Annotation.

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Plotting Annotations on Charts

Annotations are rendered as overlays on timeseries charts. The Annotation name appears as a vertically rotated label within the band. Hovering over an Annotation within the chart brings it into focus.