arize-dataset

Arize Dataset Skill

SPACE — All --space flags and the ARIZE_SPACE env var accept a space name (e.g., my-workspace) or a base64 space ID (e.g., U3BhY2U6...). Find yours with ax spaces list.

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

Proceed directly with the task — run the ax command you need. Do NOT check versions, env vars, or profiles upfront.

If an ax command fails, troubleshoot based on the error:

• command not found or version error → see references/ax-setup.md
• 401 Unauthorized / missing API key → Stop and inform the user that authentication failed. Do NOT run ax profiles show automatically — depending on the ax version, this command may print the stored API key to stdout where it can be captured in logs or conversation context. Ask the user to run ax profiles show themselves in a separate terminal to check their profile configuration, follow references/ax-profiles.md to create or update a profile, or visit https://app.arize.com/admin > API Keys to retrieve their key.
• Space unknown → run ax spaces list to pick by name, or ask the user
• Project unclear → ask the user, or run ax projects list -o json --limit 100 and present as selectable options

Security

• Credentials: Never read .env files or search the filesystem for credentials. Use ax profiles for Arize credentials and ax ai-integrations for LLM provider keys. If credentials are not available through these channels, ask the user.
• Input safety: Always quote dataset names and user-provided values when substituting them into commands (e.g., ax datasets get "NAME_OR_ID" --space "SPACE"). Do not construct --json values by interpolating unsanitized user input — generate the JSON payload programmatically and pass it as a quoted string.
• Path traversal: When using --output-dir, only accept paths that resolve within the current working directory. Do not accept values containing ../ sequences or absolute paths outside the workspace.
• Arbitrary file read: When using --file, only pass paths to data files (CSV, JSON, JSONL, Parquet) that the user has explicitly identified as dataset files. Never pass credential files, shell configs, SSH keys, system files, or any file the user has not explicitly designated as dataset input. Prefer the stdin pattern (--file -) for agent-generated data.
• Persistence: Do not modify shell profiles (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, etc.) or write startup scripts without explicit user instruction. If environment variable export is needed, ask the user to make the change themselves.

List Datasets: ax datasets list

Browse datasets in a space. Output goes to stdout.

ax datasets list
ax datasets list --space SPACE --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 NAME_OR_ID
ax datasets get NAME_OR_ID -o json
ax datasets get NAME_OR_ID --space SPACE   # required when using dataset name instead of ID

Flags

Response fields

Export Dataset: ax datasets export

Download all examples to a file. Use --all for datasets larger than 500 examples (unlimited bulk export).

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

ax datasets export NAME_OR_ID --all
ax datasets export NAME_OR_ID --version-id VERSION_ID
ax datasets export NAME_OR_ID --output-dir ./data
ax datasets export NAME_OR_ID --stdout
ax datasets export NAME_OR_ID --stdout | jq '.[0]'
ax datasets export NAME_OR_ID --space SPACE   # required when using dataset name instead of ID

Flags

Path safety: Validate that --output-dir resolves to a path within the current working directory. Do not accept values containing ../ sequences or absolute paths outside the workspace.

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

Export completeness verification: After exporting, confirm the row count matches what the server reports:

# Get the server-reported count from dataset metadata
ax datasets get DATASET_NAME --space SPACE -o json | jq '.versions[-1] | {version: .id, examples: .example_count}'

# Compare to what was exported
jq 'length' dataset_*/examples.json

# If counts differ, re-export with --all

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

Flags

File safety: Only pass --file paths that the user has explicitly identified as dataset files (CSV, JSON, JSONL, Parquet). Never pass credential files, shell configs, SSH keys, or any system file to --file. For agent-generated data, prefer the stdin pattern (--file -) described below.

Passing data via stdin

Use --file - to pipe data directly — no temp file needed:

echo '[{"question": "What is 2+2?", "answer": "4"}]' | ax datasets create --name "my-dataset" --space SPACE --file -

# Or with a heredoc
ax datasets create --name "my-dataset" --space SPACE --file - << 'EOF'
[{"question": "What is 2+2?", "answer": "4"}]
EOF

To add rows to an existing dataset, use ax datasets append --json '[...]' instead — no file needed.

Supported file formats

Format gotchas:

• CSV: Loses type information — dates become strings, null becomes empty string. Use JSON/Parquet to preserve types.
• JSONL: Each line is a separate JSON object. A JSON array ([{...}, {...}]) in a .jsonl file will fail — use .json extension instead.
• Parquet: Preserves column types. Requires pandas/pyarrow to read locally: pd.read_parquet("examples.parquet").

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_NAME --space SPACE --json '[{"question": "What is 2+2?", "answer": "4"}]'

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

From a file

ax datasets append DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --file new_examples.csv
ax datasets append DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --file additions.json

To a specific version

ax datasets append DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --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
• Maximum 100,000 examples per request

Schema validation before append: If the dataset already has examples, inspect its schema before appending to avoid silent field mismatches:

# Check existing field names in the dataset
ax datasets export DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --stdout | jq '.[0] | keys'

# Verify your new data has matching field names
echo '[{"question": "..."}]' | jq '.[0] | keys'

# Both outputs should show the same user-defined fields

Fields are free-form: extra fields in new examples are added, and missing fields become null. However, typos in field names (e.g., queston vs question) create new columns silently -- verify spelling before appending.

Delete Dataset: ax datasets delete

Confirmation required: Before running ax datasets delete, confirm with the user which dataset is to be deleted and that they accept the deletion is permanent and irreversible. Do not use --force unless the user has explicitly confirmed they want to skip the CLI prompt.

ax datasets delete NAME_OR_ID
ax datasets delete NAME_OR_ID --space SPACE   # required when using dataset name instead of ID
# The command above will prompt for confirmation.
# Only use --force if the user has explicitly confirmed the deletion in advance.
# ax datasets delete NAME_OR_ID --force

Flags

Agent instruction: Do not use --force by default. Always seek explicit user confirmation before running a destructive delete command.

Workflows

Find a dataset by name

All dataset commands accept a name or ID directly. You can pass a dataset name as the positional argument (add --space SPACE when not using an ID):

# Use name directly
ax datasets get "eval-set-v1" --space SPACE
ax datasets export "eval-set-v1" --space SPACE

# Or resolve name to ID via list if you need the base64 ID
ax datasets list -o json | jq '.[] | select(.name == "eval-set-v1") | .id'

Create a dataset from file for evaluation

1. Prepare a CSV/JSON/Parquet file with your evaluation columns (e.g., input, expected_output)
   • If generating data inline, pipe it via stdin using --file - (see the Create Dataset section)
2. ax datasets create --name "eval-set-v1" --space SPACE --file eval_data.csv
3. Verify: ax datasets get DATASET_NAME --space SPACE
4. Use the dataset name to run experiments

Add examples to an existing dataset

# Find the dataset
ax datasets list --space SPACE

# Append inline or from a file using the dataset name (see Append Examples section for full syntax)
ax datasets append DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --json '[{"question": "...", "answer": "..."}]'
ax datasets append DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --file additional_examples.csv

Download dataset for offline analysis

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

Export a specific version

# List versions
ax datasets get DATASET_NAME --space SPACE -o json | jq '.versions'

# Export that version
ax datasets export DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --version-id VERSION_ID

Iterate on a dataset

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

Pipe export to other tools

# Count examples
ax datasets export DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --stdout | jq 'length'

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

# Convert to CSV with jq
ax datasets export DATASET_NAME --space SPACE --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:

Related Skills

• arize-trace: Export production spans to understand what data to put in datasets → use arize-trace
• arize-experiment: Run evaluations against this dataset → next step is arize-experiment
• arize-prompt-optimization: Use dataset + experiment results to improve prompts → use arize-prompt-optimization

Troubleshooting

Save Credentials for Future Use

See references/ax-profiles.md § Save Credentials for Future Use.