Arize Dataset Skill

Concepts

• Dataset = a versioned collection of examples used for evaluation and experimentation
• Dataset Version = a snapshot of a dataset at a point in time; updates can be in-place or create a new version
• Example = a single record in a dataset with arbitrary user-defined fields (e.g., question, answer, context)
• Space = an organizational container; datasets belong to a space

System-managed fields on examples (id, created_at, updated_at) are auto-generated by the server -- never include them in create or append payloads.

Prerequisites

Three things are needed: ax CLI, an API key (env var or profile), and a space ID. A project name is also needed but usually comes from the user's message.

Install ax

Verify ax is installed and working before proceeding:

1. Check if ax is on PATH: command -v ax (Unix) or where ax (Windows)
2. If not found, check common install locations:
   • macOS/Linux: test -x ~/.local/bin/ax && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
   • Windows: check %APPDATA%\Python\Scripts\ax.exe or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Python\Scripts\ax.exe
3. If still not found, install it (requires shell access to install packages):
   • Preferred: uv tool install arize-ax-cli
   • Alternative: pipx install arize-ax-cli
   • Fallback: pip install arize-ax-cli
4. After install, if ax is not on PATH:
   • macOS/Linux: export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
   • Windows (PowerShell): $env:PATH = "$env:APPDATA\Python\Scripts;$env:PATH"
5. If ax --version fails with an SSL/certificate error:
   • macOS: export SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/cert.pem
   • Linux: export SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
   • Windows (PowerShell): $env:SSL_CERT_FILE = "C:\Program Files\Common Files\SSL\cert.pem" (or use python -c "import certifi; print(certifi.where())" to find the cert bundle)
6. ax --version must succeed before proceeding. If it doesn't, stop and ask the user for help.

Verify environment

Run a quick check for credentials:

macOS/Linux (bash):

ax --version && echo "--- env ---" && if [ -n "$ARIZE_API_KEY" ]; then echo "ARIZE_API_KEY: (set)"; else echo "ARIZE_API_KEY: (not set)"; fi && echo "ARIZE_SPACE_ID: ${ARIZE_SPACE_ID:-(not set)}" && echo "--- profiles ---" && ax profiles show 2>&1

Windows (PowerShell):

ax --version; Write-Host "--- env ---"; Write-Host "ARIZE_API_KEY: $(if ($env:ARIZE_API_KEY) { '(set)' } else { '(not set)' })"; Write-Host "ARIZE_SPACE_ID: $env:ARIZE_SPACE_ID"; Write-Host "--- profiles ---"; ax profiles show 2>&1

Read the output and proceed immediately if either the env var or the profile has an API key. Only ask the user if both are missing. Resolve failures:

• No API key in env and no profile → AskQuestion: "Arize API key (https://app.arize.com/admin > API Keys)"
• Space ID unknown → AskQuestion, or run ax projects list -o json --limit 100 and search for a match
• Project unclear → ask, or run ax projects list -o json --limit 100 and present as selectable options

Space ID and Project

Both are needed for most commands. Resolve each:

1. User provides it in the conversation -- use directly via --space-id / --project flags.
2. Env var is set (ARIZE_SPACE_ID, ARIZE_DEFAULT_PROJECT) -- use silently.
3. If missing, AskQuestion once. Tell the user:
   • Space ID is in the Arize URL: /spaces/{SPACE_ID}/...
   • Project is the project name as shown in the Arize UI.
   • For convenience, recommend setting env vars so they don't get asked again: export ARIZE_SPACE_ID="U3BhY2U6..." and export ARIZE_DEFAULT_PROJECT="my-project"

Prefer asking the user over searching or iterating through projects and API keys. If you get a 401 Unauthorized, tell the user their API key may not have access to that space and ask them to verify.

List Datasets: ax datasets list

Browse datasets in a space. Output goes to stdout.

ax datasets list
ax datasets list --space-id SPACE_ID --limit 20
ax datasets list --cursor CURSOR_TOKEN
ax datasets list -o json

Flags

Get Dataset: ax datasets get

Quick metadata lookup -- returns dataset name, space, timestamps, and version list.

ax datasets get DATASET_ID
ax datasets get DATASET_ID -o json

Flags

Response fields

Export Dataset: ax datasets export

Download all examples to a file. By default uses the REST API; pass --all to use Arrow Flight for bulk transfer.

ax datasets export DATASET_ID
# -> dataset_abc123_20260305_141500/examples.json

ax datasets export DATASET_ID --all
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --version-id VERSION_ID
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --output-dir ./data
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --stdout
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --stdout | jq '.[0]'

Flags

REST vs Flight (--all)

• REST (default): Lower friction -- no Arrow/Flight dependency, standard HTTPS ports, works through any corporate proxy or firewall. Limited to 500 examples per page.
• Flight (--all): Required for datasets with more than 500 examples. Uses gRPC+TLS on a separate host/port (flight.arize.com:443) which some corporate networks may block.

Agent auto-escalation rule: If a REST export returns exactly 500 examples, the result is likely truncated. Re-run with --all to get the full dataset.

Output is a JSON array of example objects. Each example has system fields (id, created_at, updated_at) plus all user-defined fields:

[
  {
    "id": "ex_001",
    "created_at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z",
    "question": "What is 2+2?",
    "answer": "4",
    "topic": "math"
  }
]

Create Dataset: ax datasets create

Create a new dataset from a data file.

ax datasets create --name "My Dataset" --space-id SPACE_ID --file data.csv
ax datasets create --name "My Dataset" --space-id SPACE_ID --file data.json
ax datasets create --name "My Dataset" --space-id SPACE_ID --file data.jsonl
ax datasets create --name "My Dataset" --space-id SPACE_ID --file data.parquet

Flags

Supported file formats

Append Examples: ax datasets append

Add examples to an existing dataset. Two input modes -- use whichever fits.

Inline JSON (agent-friendly)

Generate the payload directly -- no temp files needed:

ax datasets append DATASET_ID --json '[{"question": "What is 2+2?", "answer": "4"}]'

ax datasets append DATASET_ID --json '[
  {"question": "What is gravity?", "answer": "A fundamental force..."},
  {"question": "What is light?", "answer": "Electromagnetic radiation..."}
]'

From a file

ax datasets append DATASET_ID --file new_examples.csv
ax datasets append DATASET_ID --file additions.json

To a specific version

ax datasets append DATASET_ID --json '[{"q": "..."}]' --version-id VERSION_ID

Flags

Exactly one of --json or --file is required.

Validation

• Each example must be a JSON object with at least one user-defined field
• Fields id, created_at, updated_at are auto-generated -- do not include them
• Maximum 100,000 examples per request

Delete Dataset: ax datasets delete

ax datasets delete DATASET_ID
ax datasets delete DATASET_ID --force   # skip confirmation prompt

Flags

Workflows

Create a dataset from file for evaluation

1. Prepare a CSV/JSON/Parquet file with your evaluation columns (e.g., input, expected_output)
2. ax datasets create --name "eval-set-v1" --space-id SPACE_ID --file eval_data.csv
3. Verify: ax datasets get DATASET_ID
4. Use the dataset ID to run experiments

Add examples to an existing dataset

# Find the dataset
ax datasets list

# Append inline (e.g., from an LLM-generated payload)
ax datasets append DATASET_ID --json '[
  {"question": "What is gravity?", "answer": "A fundamental force..."},
  {"question": "What is light?", "answer": "Electromagnetic radiation..."}
]'

# Or append from a file
ax datasets append DATASET_ID --file additional_examples.csv

Download dataset for offline analysis

1. ax datasets list -- find the dataset
2. ax datasets export DATASET_ID -- download to file
3. Parse the JSON: jq '.[] | .question' dataset_*/examples.json

Export a specific version

# List versions
ax datasets get DATASET_ID -o json | jq '.versions'

# Export that version
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --version-id VERSION_ID

Iterate on a dataset

1. Export current version: ax datasets export DATASET_ID
2. Modify the examples locally
3. Append new rows: ax datasets append DATASET_ID --file new_rows.csv
4. Or create a fresh version: ax datasets create --name "eval-set-v2" --space-id SPACE_ID --file updated_data.json

Pipe export to other tools

# Count examples
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --stdout | jq 'length'

# Extract a single field
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --stdout | jq '.[].question'

# Convert to CSV with jq
ax datasets export DATASET_ID --stdout | jq -r '.[] | [.question, .answer] | @csv'

Dataset Example Schema

Examples are free-form JSON objects. There is no fixed schema -- columns are whatever fields you provide. System-managed fields are added by the server:

Troubleshooting

Save Credentials for Future Use

At the end of the session, if the user manually provided any of the following during this conversation (via AskQuestion response, pasted text, or inline values) and those values were NOT already loaded from a saved profile or environment variable, offer to save them for future use.

Skip this entirely if:

• The API key was already loaded from an existing profile or ARIZE_API_KEY env var
• The space ID was already set via ARIZE_SPACE_ID env var
• The user only used base64 project IDs (no space ID was needed)

How to offer: Use AskQuestion: "Would you like to save your Arize credentials so you don't have to enter them next time?" with options "Yes, save them" / "No thanks".

If the user says yes:

1. API key — Check if ~/.arize/config.toml exists. If it does, read it and update the [auth] section. If not, create it with this minimal content:

   [profile]
   name = "default"
   
   [auth]
   api_key = "THE_API_KEY"
   
   [output]
   format = "table"
   

   Verify with: ax profiles show

2. Space ID — Persist the space ID as an environment variable:

   macOS/Linux — Detect the user's shell config file (~/.zshrc for zsh, ~/.bashrc for bash). Append:

   export ARIZE_SPACE_ID="THE_SPACE_ID"
   

   Tell the user to run source ~/.zshrc (or restart their terminal) for it to take effect.

   Windows (PowerShell) — Set a persistent user environment variable:

   [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('ARIZE_SPACE_ID', 'THE_SPACE_ID', 'User')
   

   Tell the user to restart their terminal for it to take effect.