ai-evals

@caisson/ai-evals is an eval harness for AI features: define a dataset of cases, score them with a grader, and gate a build on a committed baseline instead of a gut feeling. It runs fully offline and deterministic (no live model call, no secret, no flaky network dependency) so the same suite produces the same verdict in CI every time.

Install

bun add @caisson/ai-evals

Quickstart

import {
  defineEval,
  exactGrader,
  gateAgainstBaseline,
} from "@caisson/ai-evals";

const run = await defineEval({
  name: "greeting-quality",
  promptVersionId: version.id,
  threshold: 0.95,
  cases: [{ id: "case-1", input: { name: "Ada" }, output: "Hello, Ada!" }],
  scorers: { "exact-match": exactGrader() },
});

const gate = gateAgainstBaseline("__evals__/baseline.json", [run]);
if (!gate.passed) throw new Error("eval regressed past its committed baseline");

Grader taxonomy

Six graders in two classes. exactGrader, regexGrader, jsonShapeGrader, and schemaGrader run pure and offline, no model call. judgeGrader routes through a Judge port for model-graded scoring. injectionGrader is its own fail-closed class: its refusal rubric is a hard-coded deny-list, so a persuasive input can talk a model judge out of a refusal but can never talk a deny-list out of one.

import { schemaGrader, judgeGrader, cassetteJudge } from "@caisson/ai-evals";
import { z } from "zod";

const shapeCheck = schemaGrader(z.object({ ok: z.boolean() }));
const judged = judgeGrader(cassetteJudge(committedCassette), "matches the house tone");

Offline judge via cassette replay

cassetteJudge() replays recorded verdicts from a committed cassette file, zero network call, zero provider secret, safe to run in CI. An unrecorded case id is a hard cassette-miss error, not a silent pass. recordingJudge() wraps a real local judge to mint a fresh cassette for review before you commit it.

The regression gate

gateAgainstBaseline() compares a fresh run against a committed JSON baseline and fails closed, a missing baseline, a score below threshold, or any individual scorer regression blocks the gate:

export function compareToBaseline(
  run: EvalRun,
  baseline: BaselineFile,
): BaselineComparison {
  const findings: RegressionFinding[] = [];

  if (run.score + EPS < run.threshold) {
    findings.push({
      kind: "below-threshold",
      actual: run.score,
      baseline: run.threshold,
      detail: `score ${run.score} < threshold ${run.threshold}`,
    });
  }

  const prior = baseline.evals[run.name];
  if (prior === undefined) {
    findings.push({
      kind: "missing-baseline",
      actual: run.score,
      detail: `no committed baseline for eval "${run.name}" — bless to record it`,
    });
    return { eval: run.name, passed: false, findings, blessed: false };
  }
  // ...
}

BLESS=1 bun run eval is the one sanctioned path to rewrite the baseline, it merges into existing entries so a partial run never drops other evals, mirroring the golden-fixture discipline in @caisson/testing.

Confidence and agreement statistics

wilsonLowerBound() threads an opt-in Wilson confidence floor into the baseline gate, so a small lucky-draw sample can't pass as reliable. fleissKappa, ensembleAgreement, and counterfactualStability score an eval suite's own reliability, not just its pass rate. classifyExit() tags why a run exited (error, timeout, budget-exhausted, refusal, empty-output) as a signal orthogonal to pass/fail.

Reflexivity queue

captureDisagreement() enqueues a case only when a model verdict and a human verdict disagree; consolidateReflexivityQueue() dedupes and caps the list for operator review. Nothing here auto-writes a committed dataset, merging a candidate back in stays a human act.

Spend, and how it composes

recordEvalSpend() tracks eval-run cost on its own budget-isolated ledger, it never touches the production credit wallet or @caisson/ai-meter. ai-evals is a base primitive: the AI Production bundle's prompt registry and metering compose on top of it to gate quality in the same CI run that gates spend.