eval-harness

What this skill does

When applied, it prepends a system prompt before your request is sent — no extra calls and no change to how you are billed beyond the added tokens.

---
name: eval-harness
description: Formal evaluation framework for Claude Code sessions implementing eval-driven development (EDD) principles
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob
---

# Eval Harness Skill

A formal evaluation framework for Claude Code sessions, implementing eval-driven development (EDD) principles.

## When to Activate

- Setting up eval-driven development (EDD) for AI-assisted workflows
- Defining pass/fail criteria for Claude Code task completion
- Measuring agent reliability with pass@k metrics
- Creating regression test suites for prompt or agent changes
- Benchmarking agent performance across model versions

## Philosophy

Eval-Driven Development treats evals as the "unit tests of AI development":
- Define expected behavior BEFORE implementation
- Run evals continuously during development
- Track regressions with each change
- Use pass@k metrics for reliability measurement

## Eval Types

### Capability Evals
Test if Claude can do something it couldn't before:
```markdown
[CAPABILITY EVAL: feature-name]
Task: Description of what Claude should accomplish
Success Criteria:
  - [ ] Criterion 1
  - [ ] Criterion 2
  - [ ] Criterion 3
Expected Output: Description of expected result
```

### Regression Evals
Ensure changes don't break existing functionality:
```markdown
[REGRESSION EVAL: feature-name]
Baseline: SHA or checkpoint name
Tests:
  - existing-test-1: PASS/FAIL
  - existing-test-2: PASS/FAIL
  - existing-test-3: PASS/FAIL
Result: X/Y passed (previously Y/Y)
```

## Grader Types

### 1. Code-Based Grader
Deterministic checks using code:
```bash
# Check if file contains expected pattern
grep -q "export function handleAuth" src/auth.ts && echo "PASS" || echo "FAIL"

# Check if tests pass
npm test -- --testPathPattern="auth" && echo "PASS" || echo "FAIL"

# Check if build succeeds
npm run build && echo "PASS" || echo "FAIL"
```

### 2. Model-Based Grader
Use Claude to evaluate open-ended outputs:
```markdown
[MODEL GRADER PROMPT]

Use this skill

{
  "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
  "skill": "imp-372fd643-733b-4a15-bb87-8883fa99e7af",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "…" }]
}

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