# Record one controlled UI or tool task attempt

`POST /api/v1/workflow-trials` · operationId `recordWorkflowTrial`

For developers: your server sends this request with a server key; it is not a button in the dashboard.

Requires a live session with server-associated identity. The authenticated application backend attests matching task and test conditions; no independent success or time-savings guarantee. UI and tool runs share pairId, taskId, protocolId, scenarioId and appRevision. An identical eventId retry is idempotent while the record and session remain available; conflicting facts or a duplicate mode are 409. Keep opaque non-personal IDs, never inputs or outputs. Stored for 90 days with a 10,000-attempt per-Site limit and erased with its subject. See [Measured workflow comparisons](/docs/workflow-comparisons).

## Authentication

Send `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SERVER_KEY` (siteServerKey: Site server key in Authorization: Bearer <key> (the scheme is case-insensitive and required; a bare key is 401). Shown once on creation or rotation. Publishable keys cannot authenticate). Keep the server key in server-only configuration; never send it to a browser.

## Request body

Content-Type: application/json (required)

- `sessionToken` (string, required) · minLength 1, maxLength 250: Opaque browser session token; do not log.
- `eventId` (string, required) · pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.-]{0,79}$`
- `pairId` (string, required) · pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.-]{0,79}$`
- `taskId` (string, required) · pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.-]{0,79}$`
- `protocolId` (string, required) · pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.-]{0,79}$`
- `scenarioId` (string, required) · pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.-]{0,79}$`
- `appRevision` (string, required) · pattern `^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.-]{0,79}$`
- `controlled` (true, required)
- `mode` ("ui" | "tool", required)
- `outcome` ("succeeded" | "failed" | "cancelled", required)
- `durationMs` (integer, required) · minimum 1, maximum 86400000
- `retries` (integer, required) · minimum 0, maximum 10000

```json
{
  "sessionToken": "PASTE_BROWSER_SESSION_TOKEN",
  "eventId": "trial_export_ui_01",
  "pairId": "pair_export_01",
  "taskId": "task_export_report",
  "protocolId": "protocol_2026_11",
  "scenarioId": "scenario_monthly_export",
  "appRevision": "v2.3.1",
  "controlled": true,
  "mode": "ui",
  "outcome": "succeeded",
  "durationMs": 42000,
  "retries": 0
}
```

## Responses

- **200**: Success · body `object`
- **400**: bad_request: the request is invalid; message says what to fix and field names the request field · body `Error`
- **401**: unauthorized (missing or invalid server key, missing Bearer scheme, or a malformed or unsigned session token) or session_reinit_required (a token this collector issued whose session expired, was revoked or was removed); use the code to distinguish · body `Error`
- **403**: forbidden: the server key and session token belong to different Sites, or the call came from a browser page · body `Error`
- **404**: not_found: unknown path, or an ID in the path that is not on this Site · body `Error`
- **409**: conflict: the eventId was used with different facts, or this pair already has a run in this mode · body `Error`
- **413**: payload_too_large: the request body exceeds 131072 bytes · body `Error`
- **429**: rate_limited: wait for Retry-After · body `Error` · headers `Retry-After`
- **500**: internal_error: fail the protected action; do not retry automatically · body `Error`
- **503**: service_unavailable: temporarily unavailable; only verify retries · body `Error`

Failures are not verdicts. Error bodies follow the `Error` schema: `code` is one of `bad_request`, `unauthorized`, `session_reinit_required`, `forbidden`, `not_found`, `conflict`, `identity_required`, `payload_too_large`, `rate_limited`, `internal_error`, `service_unavailable`, `request_failed`, `approval_invalid`, `approval_used`, `approval_expired`, `approval_mismatch`, `step_up_not_held`, `step_up_mismatch`, `step_up_settled`, `step_up_expired`, `step_up_superseded`, `agent_tokens_disabled`, `tool_not_approved`, `tool_not_read_only`. [Errors and retries](/docs/errors) explains each code and what to do.

## Example

```sh tab=curl
curl -sS -X POST 'https://app.trytelltale.dev/api/v1/workflow-trials' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TELLTALE_SERVER_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"sessionToken":"PASTE_BROWSER_SESSION_TOKEN","eventId":"trial_export_ui_01","pairId":"pair_export_01","taskId":"task_export_report","protocolId":"protocol_2026_11","scenarioId":"scenario_monthly_export","appRevision":"v2.3.1","controlled":true,"mode":"ui","outcome":"succeeded","durationMs":42000,"retries":0}'
```

```js tab=fetch
const response = await fetch("https://app.trytelltale.dev/api/v1/workflow-trials", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer ' + process.env.TELLTALE_SERVER_KEY,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "sessionToken": "PASTE_BROWSER_SESSION_TOKEN",
    "eventId": "trial_export_ui_01",
    "pairId": "pair_export_01",
    "taskId": "task_export_report",
    "protocolId": "protocol_2026_11",
    "scenarioId": "scenario_monthly_export",
    "appRevision": "v2.3.1",
    "controlled": true,
    "mode": "ui",
    "outcome": "succeeded",
    "durationMs": 42000,
    "retries": 0
  }),
  signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000)
});
const result = await response.json();
```

Machine-readable contract: [openapi.json](https://app.trytelltale.dev/openapi.json). Request builder: the [API explorer](/docs/api-explorer) shows every operation as curl; it sends requests only on a local dashboard.