diff --git a/actions/ost-compare-ligand-structures b/actions/ost-compare-ligand-structures
index 191b6ee5cdcb1a32780f71bb6c0a4d2a1e622220..bbeaf5a1d2f34e1eb4b14742fc0f2e06feba889f 100644
--- a/actions/ost-compare-ligand-structures
+++ b/actions/ost-compare-ligand-structures
@@ -631,10 +631,11 @@ def _Main():
         with open(args.output, 'w') as fh:
             json.dump(out, fh, indent=4, sort_keys=False)
 
-    except Exception:
+    except Exception as exc:
         out = dict()
         out["status"] = "FAILURE"
-        out["traceback"] = traceback.format_exc()
+        out["traceback"] = traceback.format_exc(limit=1000)
+        out["exception"] = " ".join(traceback.format_exception_only(exc))
         with open(args.output, 'w') as fh:
             json.dump(out, fh, indent=4, sort_keys=False)
         raise
diff --git a/actions/ost-compare-structures b/actions/ost-compare-structures
index d16ce8c86638ca5413d4d367615f6495cb4c5d99..bbff630090e4ed7fa0484099917712ac6aa8b6dc 100644
--- a/actions/ost-compare-structures
+++ b/actions/ost-compare-structures
@@ -897,10 +897,11 @@ def _Main():
         out["status"] = "SUCCESS"
         with open(args.output, 'w') as fh:
             json.dump(out, fh, indent=4, sort_keys=False)
-    except:
+    except Exception as exc:
         out = dict()
         out["status"] = "FAILURE"
         out["traceback"] = traceback.format_exc()
+        out["exception"] = " ".join(traceback.format_exception_only(exc))
         with open(args.output, 'w') as fh:
             json.dump(out, fh, indent=4, sort_keys=False)
         raise