⚠️ Deprecated. Monitor Microsoft deprecation notices for removal timeline and replacement tooling.

What it does

Step-by-step trace of how each work item moved through the routing engine, intake, classification, route-to-queue, and agent assignment. The primary tool for diagnosing misrouted items, stuck assignments, and routing logic errors.

Key facts

• Diagnostics data generated up to 5 minutes after a work item is processed: not real-time
• Setting change takes up to 15 minutes to activate after enabling
• Four stages traced per work item: Intake → Classification → Route to queue → Assignment
• Assignment stage shows: preferred agent outcome, assignment method used, capacity/presence/skills checked, total assignment attempts, and status reason
• Assignment criteria details only shown for OOB assignment methods: custom assignment shows limited detail
• Assignment failure status reason updates hourly during sustained failure; total attempts count may lag
• Diagnostics data stored in Dataverse: accumulates over time; must be periodically purged via Manage routing diagnostics data
• Supervisors can access diagnostics for their visible queues: control read-only permissions if config visibility is a concern

When to use / skip

Enable from day one in UAT and keep enabled in production until a replacement tool is available. Despite being deprecated, it remains the only tool for routing trace verification.

Configuration decisions

• Whether to restrict supervisor access to diagnostics: supervisors who can click through from a diagnostics record can reach workstream and rule configurations; review during security design
• Purge schedule: set a periodic purge process in the operational runbook for high-volume environments

Gotchas

• Enable in UAT, not just production. Every routing test in UAT should be verified via the diagnostics trace: confirming the right agent got the work is not enough. The trace shows which rules fired and which were skipped.
• Storage accumulates silently. In high-volume environments, diagnostics data can consume significant Dataverse storage. Build a purge schedule into the operational runbook from go-live.
• The deprecation is real but no replacement exists yet. Don't build long-term workflows dependent on this tool, but don't disable it until a replacement is confirmed.

Consultant notes

• Enable from day one in UAT and make verifying the trace part of the UAT test process for every routing scenario. Seeing the right agent got the work isn't enough: the trace tells you which rules actually fired, which were skipped, and why. That's what you need to sign off the routing design with confidence.
• Build the purge schedule into the operational runbook at handover. High-volume environments will accumulate significant Dataverse storage silently. It's the type of ongoing maintenance that gets forgotten until someone notices storage costs have crept up.
• Deprecated but still the only tool. Don't disable it until a confirmed replacement exists. Document its status in the handover so the client doesn't switch it off thinking it's redundant.

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Source last updated: 2025-04-29 | Review when: Deprecation timeline confirmed or replacement tooling released