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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.

Evaluation Types#

PromptReports supports multiple evaluation methodologies for different use cases:

TypePurposeBest For
Batch EvaluationRun prompt against all test cases and measure qualityRegular quality checks, pre-deployment validation
A/B TestingCompare two versions with random assignment and statistical analysisDeciding between competing prompt versions
Pairwise ComparisonHead-to-head evaluation on identical inputsDetailed quality analysis, preference ranking
BacktestingRun new version against historical execution dataUnderstanding impact before deployment
Regression TestingCompare against production baseline before promotionPreventing 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:

1

Representative Inputs

Cover the range of inputs your prompt will encounter in production.
2

Edge Cases

Include challenging inputs that might cause failures or unexpected behavior.
3

Expected Outputs (Optional)

For automated scoring, include reference outputs to compare against.
4

Metadata

Add tags or categories to enable filtered analysis.
Example Dataset (CSV)
csv
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",positive

Test 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:

MetricDescriptionRange
RelevanceHow well the response addresses the input1-5
CoherenceLogical flow and clarity of the response1-5
CompletenessWhether all aspects of the task were addressed1-5
AccuracyFactual correctness (when reference available)1-5
Tone MatchAlignment with expected tone/style1-5
Overall QualityAggregate score across all metrics1-5

Workflow Integration#

Evaluation integrates seamlessly into your prompt development workflow:

1

Development

Run evaluations frequently during development to validate changes.
2

Pre-Promotion

Run comprehensive evaluation before requesting promotion to staging.
3

Regression Gate

Automatic regression testing blocks promotions if quality drops.
4

Production Monitoring

Schedule periodic evaluations to detect drift over time.

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.