Evaluation & Testing Overview
Ensure prompt quality with comprehensive testing: batch evaluations, A/B tests, pairwise comparisons, backtesting, and regression testing.
Why Evaluate Prompts?#
Prompt quality directly impacts user experience, business outcomes, and operational costs. Without systematic evaluation, you're flying blind—unable to know if changes improve or degrade performance, or how your prompts handle edge cases.
Professional prompt evaluation provides:
Quality Assurance
Verify prompts work correctly across diverse inputs before deployment.
Performance Tracking
Monitor quality metrics over time and catch degradation early.
Objective Comparison
Compare prompt versions with statistical rigor, not just intuition.
Risk Mitigation
Prevent quality regressions from reaching production users.
For AI Experts
- Define custom scoring criteria beyond basic metrics
- Run statistically significant A/B tests
- Automate regression testing in CI/CD pipelines
- Export results for further analysis in your preferred tools
Evaluation Types#
PromptReports supports multiple evaluation methodologies for different use cases:
| Type | Purpose | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Batch Evaluation | Run prompt against all test cases and measure quality | Regular quality checks, pre-deployment validation |
| A/B Testing | Compare two versions with random assignment and statistical analysis | Deciding between competing prompt versions |
| Pairwise Comparison | Head-to-head evaluation on identical inputs | Detailed quality analysis, preference ranking |
| Backtesting | Run new version against historical execution data | Understanding impact before deployment |
| Regression Testing | Compare against production baseline before promotion | Preventing quality degradation in releases |
Batch Evaluation
Run your prompt against every row in a test dataset and collect results.
A/B Testing
Split traffic between versions and measure statistical significance.
Pairwise Comparison
Compare two versions side-by-side on the same inputs.
Backtesting
Test against historical data before deploying changes.
Test Datasets#
Test datasets are the foundation of systematic evaluation. A good dataset includes:
Representative Inputs
Edge Cases
Expected Outputs (Optional)
Metadata
input_text,expected_tone,category
"I'm frustrated with my order","empathetic",complaint
"What are your business hours?","informative",inquiry
"This is the third time I've called!","apologetic",escalation
"Thanks for your help!","appreciative",positiveTest datasets can be created manually, imported from CSV files, or generated from execution history. Use representative inputs covering normal cases, edge cases, and potential failure modes.
Quality Metrics#
PromptReports tracks several quality metrics to help you understand prompt performance:
| Metric | Description | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well the response addresses the input | 1-5 |
| Coherence | Logical flow and clarity of the response | 1-5 |
| Completeness | Whether all aspects of the task were addressed | 1-5 |
| Accuracy | Factual correctness (when reference available) | 1-5 |
| Tone Match | Alignment with expected tone/style | 1-5 |
| Overall Quality | Aggregate score across all metrics | 1-5 |
Custom Metrics
Workflow Integration#
Evaluation integrates seamlessly into your prompt development workflow:
Development
Pre-Promotion
Regression Gate
Production Monitoring
The regression testing feature automatically compares your new version against the current production version. If quality drops more than 5%, promotion is blocked. This ensures changes never degrade production quality.
Getting Started#
Ready to start evaluating? Follow these steps:
1. Create a Dataset
Build a test dataset with representative inputs.
2. Run Evaluation
Execute your prompt against the dataset.
3. Analyze Results
Review quality metrics and individual responses.
4. Set Up Regression
Configure automatic regression testing.