Glossary
Evaluation (evals)
Measuring output quality with datasets and metrics.
What it is
Evals are automated tests for LLM systems — graded on datasets using exact match, model-graded scoring, or task metrics. They catch regressions and are essential for shipping and iterating safely.
Why it matters in production
Without evals, every prompt tweak is a gamble. With them, you can answer 'did this change make things better?' with a number, block regressions in CI, and show an interviewer you ship like an engineer, not a hobbyist.
In practice
A golden set of 30 support questions with expected answers; every prompt change runs the set and must stay above a 90% pass rate before deploy.
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Related terms
Production AI Notes
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