Highlights:

  • Engineers can now use plain English instead of a query language by employing the Query Assistant capability developed using OpenAI models.
  • Query Assistant will enhance the AI tool BubbleUp that Honeycomb already has with its platform.

Recently, startup Honeycomb unveiled a new artificial intelligence tool that should make it easier for developers to troubleshoot application issues.

The tool, known as Query Assistant, uses generative AI technology from OpenAI LP. The observability platform bearing the name Honeycomb will include Query Assistant. The tool will supplement many machine-learning features that Honeycomb currently provides to make troubleshooting software easier.

Companies can identify and address application technical problems using Honeycomb, officially Hound Technology Inc. The platform makes it simpler to identify the root cause of issues like latency increases. Honeycomb says it can take in billions of rows’ worth of troubleshooting data.

The funding for the San Francisco-based venture is USD 148.9 million. Following last month’s USD 50 million funding round, Honeycomb disclosed that over 600 companies use its platform.

Software teams can query the application data stored in Honeycomb to identify technical problems. For instance, a developer might create a query that lists every error an application has encountered in the last week. In the past, such data analysis called for knowledge of the SQL language.

The startup recently unveiled Query Assistant, a new generative AI tool that makes tasks more manageable. It offers the capability to use natural language prompts to analyze application problems. Developers can specify the information they need to troubleshoot, and the tool will automatically create the matching query.

According to Honeycomb, the tool can analyze various application data formats. Additionally, it offers the capability of graphically displaying technical data for more straightforward access. When required, developers with complex requirements can manually alter the AI-generated queries in Honeycomb.

Query Assistant may aid developers in resolving technical problems more quickly by decreasing the time and effort needed to analyze troubleshooting data. The technology promises to shorten new users’ learning curves in the process. Natural language prompts for interacting with application logs reduce the complexity of custom query code.

Charity Majors, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Honeycomb, said, “The best developer tools are increasingly going to be the ones that get out of your way and become invisible. Observability shouldn’t require you to master complicated tools or languages that force you to constantly switch context and piece together clues to get answers to complex problems. The only thing observability tools should encourage you to focus on is your own curiosity about what’s happening in your system.”

Query Assistant will supplement the AI tool BubbleUp that Honeycomb already includes with its platform. Analyzing data from several sources is frequently necessary to determine the reason for an application fault. BubbleUp can automatically expose relevant information to speed up debugging when a developer evaluates a group of data points concerning an error.