> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.honeycomb.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Early Access & Beta Experiences

> Try experimental features before general release through Honeycomb's Early Access and Beta programs, and give feedback that shapes the final product.

Get an early look at features in development.
Our Early Access experiences let you try alpha-stage features that are still evolving, while our Beta programs offer more polished experiences that are almost ready for general release.
Your feedback at both stages helps shape the final product.

## Current Experiences

Try features in development and share feedback to guide their final release.

### Beta

As part of our [beta program](/troubleshoot/product-lifecycle/release-stages/#beta), you can explore newly developed product capabilities while providing feedback.
Beta experiences are stable enough for everyday use but still evolving.

Beta releases may be restricted to a select number of Honeycomb users (private) or open to all Honeycomb users (public).
If you would like to participate in a beta, get in touch with your Honeycomb point of contact.
If you are not sure who that is, [Honeycomb Support](https://support.honeycomb.io/) can help you connect with them.

#### Anomaly Detection

**Status:** Beta<br />
**Type:** Public<br />
**Dates:** In progress

Anomaly Detection represents a fundamentally different philosophy in Honeycomb.
Rather than requiring teams to predict what might go wrong and configure alerts accordingly, our system learns your service patterns and proactively notifies you when behavior deviates from normal.

When you combine this with BubbleUp, which shows you the outliers around an anomalous event, you can get a very detailed picture of both the what and why on your way to understanding the root cause.

The system is designed with opinionated defaults that work out of the box, while still providing the tuning capabilities teams need.
It is optimized for accuracy, ensuring that when you get an alert, it is worth investigating.

To learn more, visit [Anomaly Detection](/notify/anomaly-detection/).

### Early Access

Try experimental features at the earliest stage of development and help shape them from the ground up.

Our [early access program](/troubleshoot/product-lifecycle/release-stages/#early-access) provides alpha-stage features to a small group of users for feedback and validation.
Early Access features may be incomplete, change significantly before release, or be removed based on what we learn.

Participation is typically by invitation or request.
If you're interested in joining an early access program, get in touch with your Honeycomb point of contact.
If you are not sure who that is, [Honeycomb Support](https://support.honeycomb.io/) can help you connect with them.

## Past Experiences

Explore which features we've tested in the past and how they shaped our product today.

### Beta

An archive of our past beta programs.
These features were nearly production-ready and were refined based on user feedback before graduating to general availability.

#### Activity Logs

**Type:** Public<br />
**Dates:** Graduated to general availability

Activity Logs give you visibility into changes made to key resources in your environment—whether by a person or an automated process.
To learn more, visit [Investigate Team Activity](/configure/teams/investigate-activity/).

#### Chat About a Page

**Type:** Public<br />
**Dates:** Graduated to general availability

Chat about this page lets you ask questions about the Honeycomb page you are on in natural language.
To learn more, visit [Chat About a Page](/investigate/canvas/chat-about-a-page/).

#### Honeycomb Canvas Slack App

**Type:** Public<br />
**Dates:** Graduated to general availability

Use Honeycomb Canvas directly in Slack to ask questions of your data, explore your system, and investigate problems without switching contexts.
Collaborate with your teammates by mentioning `@Honeycomb Canvas` in any channel.

To learn more, visit [Ask Canvas in Slack](/investigate/canvas/slack-app).

#### Metrics

**Type:** Private<br />
**Dates:** Graduated to general availability

Metrics is a major update to Honeycomb's legacy metrics experience, built to align with the OpenTelemetry specification for metric types and behaviors.
This upgrade introduces a more expressive query model, advanced temporal functions, and full support for alerting via Triggers.

To learn more, visit [Metrics in Honeycomb](/get-started/honeycomb/metrics-in-honeycomb).

#### Model Context Protocol (MCP)

**Type:** Public<br />
**Dates:** Graduated to general availability

The Honeycomb Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables AI assistants to directly interact with your Honeycomb observability data through natural language.
This open standard allows seamless communication between AI models and Honeycomb, transforming how you investigate issues and analyze system behavior.

To learn more, visit [Honeycomb Model Context Protocol (MCP)](/integrations/mcp/).

#### Text Panels on Boards

**Type:** Public<br />
**Dates:** Graduated to general availability

Text Panels let you add narrative context directly to a board, alongside your queries. Use them to explain what the data means, highlight key insights, or link to runbooks and playbooks so your team knows what action to take.

To learn more, visit [What is a Board?: Panels](/investigate/observe/boards#panels).