RFC 0081: Agent Evaluation, Scorecards, and Promotion Gates

Summary

openwop can run an agent (RFC 0070/0072/0077) and observe its reasoning, tool calls, cost (RFC 0026), and human feedback (RFC 0056) — but it has no portable way to answer "is this agent good enough to deploy?". Feedback (RFC 0056) is a post-hoc human quality signal, not a repeatable benchmark; run-diff (RFC 0054) compares two runs structurally but carries no notion of _score_ or _threshold_. A platform that wants to gate a model swap, a prompt change, or a pack publish on measurable quality has nowhere to put the eval suite, the scorecard, or the pass/fail bar. This RFC adds that surface additively: a portable AgentEvalSuite artifact (tasks + expected outputs or rubrics + tool/memory fixtures + allowed models + pass/fail thresholds, distributed in a pack tarball exactly like a systemPromptRef), an eval run that is a _projection over the existing run surface_ (POST /v1/runs with mode: "eval" against a suite — no bespoke executor), a content-free eval.{started,scored,completed} event family bracketing the existing agent.* / provider.usage events, an EvalSummary scorecard schema (score / cost / latency / regressions-vs-baseline / safety-findings / schema-validity), and a host-advertised agents.evalSuite capability naming which of five eval modes (golden / rubric / adversarial / regression / live-shadow) it supports. It composes — not duplicates — RFC 0054 (regression baseline), RFC 0026 (per-task cost), and RFC 0056 (human override of an auto-score), and defines the seam by which RFC 0082 deployment promotion MAY require an eval pass. No existing field, event, or endpoint changes.

Motivation

docs/OPENWOP-AI-AGENT-PLATFORM-RECOMMENDATIONS.md §"RFC 0081" frames it: _a best-in-class agent platform needs a way to answer "is this agent good enough to deploy?" — the protocol has feedback and annotations, but not eval suites or deployment scorecards._ Three concrete gaps:

1. No portable eval artifact. An agent's quality bar (its golden tasks, its rubric, the tool/memory fixtures the tasks run against, the models it's allowed to use, the score it must clear) lives nowhere on the wire. Two hosts cannot run _the same_ evaluation of _the same_ agent pack and compare results, and a pack author cannot ship "here is how you tell if this agent works" alongside the agent. This is exactly the portability gap openwop exists to close, applied to evaluation. 2. No scorecard or threshold. A run terminates completed or failed (run lifecycle), and a human can attach a rating after the fact (RFC 0056) — but there is no _score_ (did it clear 0.8?), no _cost/latency budget for the eval_, and no _regression signal_ ("this model swap dropped the score 12 points"). Run-diff (RFC 0054) tells you _where_ two runs diverged structurally, not _whether the newer one is worse_. 3. No promotion seam. RFC 0051 gates a deployment on a human approval (role/scope); nothing lets that gate say "approve only if the eval suite passes." Without a portable eval result, deployment promotion (RFC 0082) can only ever be a human judgment call, never an evidence-backed one.

The spec is the right place because _eval-suite portability_, _scorecard shape_, and the _eval→promotion seam_ are cross-host interop concerns: a registry that runs a pack's eval before publishing, an operator comparing two model choices, and a deployment gate that wants evidence all depend on one agreed shape. The _scoring implementation_ (how a rubric is judged, which judge model is used) stays a host choice; this RFC fixes the portable artifact, the observable event family, the scorecard, and the capability advertisement — all additively.

Proposal

§A — The AgentEvalSuite portable artifact (NEW agent-eval-suite.schema.json)

An AgentEvalSuite is a standalone JSON artifact, distributed in a pack tarball and referenced by URI the same way systemPromptRef and handoff schemas are (RFC 0003 §"refs resolved at install"; RFC 0070 §C/§D). It is not embedded in AgentManifest — an agent MAY carry an optional evalSuiteRef (additive optional field on agent-manifest.schema.json), and a suite MAY also be authored independently and pointed at any agentId.

{
  "suiteId": "core.openwop.evals.support-resolver",   // <scope>.<org>.evals.<name>
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "targetAgentId": "core.openwop.agents.support-resolver", // optional; a suite MAY be agent-agnostic
  "modes": ["golden", "regression"],          // §D vocabulary; the modes this suite exercises
  "allowedModels": ["reasoning", "general"],  // modelClass values (RFC 0002) the suite is valid for
  "thresholds": { "passScore": 0.8, "maxCostUsd": 0.50, "maxP95LatencyMs": 8000 },
  "tasks": [
    {
      "taskId": "refund-policy-q",
      "input": { /* run input, validated against the agent's input schema */ },
      "expected": {                            // golden: exact/contains/json-match; rubric: criteria
        "kind": "rubric",                      // "golden" | "rubric"
        "rubric": [{ "criterion": "cites the 30-day window", "weight": 0.5 }, ...]
      },
      "fixtures": { "toolResponses": [...], "memorySeed": [...] }  // deterministic tool/memory inputs
    }
  ]
}

Normative shape rules: additionalProperties: false; suiteId matches ^[a-z0-9.-]+\.evals\.[a-z0-9-]+$; expected.kind is golden or rubric; thresholds.passScore is 0.0–1.0. Fixtures are the deterministic substitute for live tool/memory I/O so a golden/regression eval is reproducible (the eval host MUST inject fixtures.toolResponses in place of live tool calls when present; live-shadow mode, §D, is the explicit exception).

§B — Eval run = a projection over the existing run surface (no bespoke executor)

An eval is a run. A client starts one via the existing POST /v1/runs with an additive mode: "eval" discriminator and an evalSuiteRef (mirroring RFC 0072's "dispatch is WorkflowNode.agent + POST /v1/runs, not a bespoke endpoint"):

POST /v1/runs  { "mode": "eval", "evalSuiteRef": "...", "agentId": "...", "configurable": { "evalModes": ["golden"] } }

The host executes each task as a child agent invocation (reusing the RFC 0077 agent.invocation.* bracket + the existing agent.reasoned / agent.toolCalled / agent.decided / provider.usage events per task), scores it, and terminates the run with an EvalSummary (§C) as its output. A new run-mode is additive: hosts that don't advertise agents.evalSuite.supported reject mode: "eval" with 501 capability_not_provided (the RFC 0056 precedent). The only new read surface is GET /v1/runs/{runId}/eval-summary returning the EvalSummary for a terminal eval run (additive sibling endpoint).

§C — The eval.* event family + EvalSummary scorecard

Three content-free event types (added to run-event.schema.json RunEventType; payloads in run-event-payloads.schema.json), bracketing the per-task agent.* events:

eval.scored is per-task so a streaming consumer (the Agents-tab scorecard) sees results land incrementally. None of the three carries task output, rubric text, model prose, or credential material — only counts, scores, and ids (SR-1; the §F invariant). The terminal EvalSummary (NEW eval-summary.schema.json, returned by GET …/eval-summary and set as the eval run's output) carries the full scorecard: aggregateScore, passed, per-task {taskId, score, passed, costUsd, latencyMs, schemaValid, safetyFindings[]}, totalCostUsd (summed from RFC 0026 provider.usage), regression (§D regression mode — score delta + a pointer to the RFC 0054 :diff against baselineRunId), and suiteId/suiteVersion/evaluatedModelClass provenance. safetyFindings[] entries are redaction-safe descriptors (kind + severity, no excerpted content), per §F.

§D — Host-advertised eval modes (agents.evalSuite capability)

"agents": { "evalSuite": {
  "supported": true,
  "modes": ["golden", "rubric", "regression"],   // closed vocabulary; host advertises only what it gates on
  "maxTasksPerSuite": 200, "maxCostUsdPerSuite": 5.0   // optional ceilings (RFC 0058 clamp precedent)
}}

The five modes (closed vocabulary): golden (exact/contains/json-match against expected), rubric (a judge scores against weighted criteria — host-chosen judge; nondeterministic, §F), adversarial (the suite's tasks probe for unsafe/jailbreak behavior; safetyFindings is the primary output), regression (re-run a prior suite against a new agent/model/prompt version and diff scores vs baselineRunId, composing RFC 0054), live-shadow (run the suite against _live_ tools/memory instead of fixtures — explicitly nondeterministic and the only mode that bypasses fixture injection). A host MUST advertise only the modes it actually implements (the RFC 0031 "truthful advertisement" rule); a suite requesting an unadvertised mode is rejected at run-create with 400 validation_error.

§E — The promotion seam (composes RFC 0082 / RFC 0051)

This RFC defines _how an eval result is referenced by a deployment gate_, not the gate itself (that is RFC 0082). The seam: a terminal eval run has a stable runId and an EvalSummary.passed; RFC 0082's promotion request MAY carry an evalRunId, and RFC 0051's approvalGate config MAY require evalSummary.passed === true for a given agentId@version before deployment.promoted is emitted. RFC 0081 reserves the reference shape ({ evalRunId, requiredPassScore? }) and defers the enforcement contract to RFC 0082 §"eval-gated promotion". A human MAY still override via RFC 0056 annotation (record a correction on an eval.scored event) — the auto-score is advisory evidence, not an immutable verdict.

Examples

Positive. POST /v1/runs {mode:"eval", evalSuiteRef:"…support-resolver@1.0.0", agentId:"…support-resolver"} on a host advertising agents.evalSuite.modes:["golden","regression"] → emits eval.started{taskCount:12}, twelve agent.invocation.*-bracketed task runs each followed by eval.scored{taskId,score,passed}, then eval.completed{aggregateScore:0.86,passed:true} before run.completed; GET /v1/runs/{id}/eval-summary returns the scorecard with totalCostUsd summed from the per-task provider.usage events and (regression mode) a regression.scoreDelta:+0.04 plus a :diff pointer to the baseline.

Negative (capability). Same request on a host that omits agents.evalSuite → 501 capability_not_provided. Negative (mode). A suite with modes:["adversarial"] against a host advertising only ["golden"] → 400 validation_error. Negative (schema). thresholds.passScore: 1.5 fails validation (0.0–1.0); an eval.scored payload carrying a taskOutput string fails validation (additionalProperties:false, content-free).

Compatibility

Additive (COMPATIBILITY.md §2.1). Two new schema artifacts (agent-eval-suite, eval-summary); an optional evalSuiteRef on agent-manifest.schema.json (absent ⇒ no suite, unchanged); a new optional agents.evalSuite capability block (absent ⇒ mode:"eval" 501s, exactly as an unsupported feature does today); three additive content-free RunEventType values (consumers tolerate unknown types per §2.1); one additive optional mode discriminator on POST /v1/runs (absent ⇒ today's behavior); one additive sibling endpoint. No existing field is moved, renamed, removed, or type-changed; no existing event shape changes; no existing endpoint contract changes; no MUST is relaxed. No conformance pass is invalidated — a host that ignores all of this stays exactly as conformant as it is today. Adding the three event types does not bump eventLogSchemaVersion (the RFC 0008 §K / RFC 0058 precedent for additive types).

Conformance

• New scenarios:

- agent-eval-suite-shape.test.ts (always-on, server-free): the AgentEvalSuite + EvalSummary schemas + the three eval.* payloads validate; the modes vocabulary is the closed five; negatives (passScore out of range, content-bearing eval.scored). - agent-eval-run.test.ts (gated on agents.evalSuite.supported): a mode:"eval" run emits eval.started → per-task eval.scored → eval.completed in order, terminates with a schema-valid EvalSummary, and GET …/eval-summary returns it; an unadvertised mode is rejected at create. Soft-skips when unadvertised.

• Capability gating per conformance/coverage.md (shape always-on; the run scenario gated on agents.evalSuite). New eval fixture (a 2-task golden suite) + fixtures.md catalog row.
• Reference host. Deferred (files at Draft). The schemas + event family + capability shape ship at Draft → Active; the behavioral eval-run scenario soft-skips until a reference host implements the eval projection.

Alternatives considered

1. A bespoke POST /v1/agents/{id}:eval executor endpoint. Rejected — eval is a run (it has reasoning, tool calls, cost, a terminal output); a separate executor would duplicate the run lifecycle, the event stream, and the replay/observability surface. The mode:"eval" projection reuses all of it (the RFC 0072 "dispatch is a run, not a bespoke endpoint" precedent). 2. Embed the eval suite inside AgentManifest. Rejected — a suite is large, evolves on its own cadence, and is often authored by someone other than the agent author (a QA/ops role). A pack-distributed artifact + an optional evalSuiteRef mirrors systemPromptRef and keeps the manifest small. 3. Reuse RFC 0056 feedback/annotations as the scorecard. Rejected — annotations are post-hoc _human_ signals on a _terminal_ run and explicitly non-replayable side-store data; an eval is a _repeatable, machine-scored, threshold-bearing_ artifact. They compose (a human MAY annotate an eval.scored) but they are not the same surface. 4. Reuse RFC 0054 run-diff alone for "is it worse?". Rejected — run-diff is structural divergence, not a score. Regression mode (§D) _composes_ :diff for the structural part but adds the score delta + threshold that diff has no concept of. 5. Do nothing. Rejected — the recommendation flags eval/scorecards as the gate for "deployable" (Wave 3); RFC 0082 deployment promotion is far weaker without portable evidence to gate on.

Unresolved questions

Resolved for Active (2026-05-30) — the proposed answer to each was adopted; verified against the cited spec docs:

1. Rubric/adversarial determinism + replay. A rubric/adversarial/live-shadow eval is nondeterministic (judge model, live tools). Proposed: eval.scored / eval.completed are recorded-fact events per replay.md §"Recorded-fact events" (the RFC 0026 / RFC 0077 invocationId precedent — a replay re-reads the recorded score, never re-judges). Golden/regression-with-fixtures ARE reproducible. Confirm the recorded-fact classification covers all five modes. 2. mode:"eval" vs a RunOptions.eval sub-object. Is mode:"eval" the right discriminator, or should eval be an option overlay on a normal run (configurable.eval)? Proposed: mode (it's a distinct terminal projection, not a tweak). Confirm against run-options.md. 3. Suite signing / trust. An eval suite ships in a pack tarball — does it inherit the RFC 0003 signature/trust-tier, or need its own? Proposed: inherits the pack signature (it's a pack artifact). Confirm against node-packs.md §signing. 4. evalRunId reference shape (§E). Final shape of the deployment-gate reference — owned here or in RFC 0082? Proposed: RFC 0081 reserves {evalRunId, requiredPassScore?}; RFC 0082 owns enforcement. Confirm the split with the RFC 0082 author. 5. Judge-model cost attribution. A rubric judge call is itself a provider.usage-emitting model call — is its cost in totalCostUsd or broken out? Proposed: included, with an optional judgeCostUsd breakout. Confirm.

Implementation notes (non-normative)

• Sequencing. Composes RFC 0070/0072/0077 (the agent-run surface eval projects over), RFC 0026 (per-task cost), RFC 0054 (regression baseline diff), RFC 0056 (human override), RFC 0003 (pack-distributed suite). Chain head of Wave 3 — unblocks RFC 0082 (eval-gated promotion). Adds two schemas + three content-free events + one capability block + one run-mode + one sibling endpoint; no change to any existing surface.
• Reference host. The reference workflow-engine already runs manifest agents + emits provider.usage; wiring eval is: a suite loader (resolve evalSuiteRef from the tarball like systemPromptRef), a per-task dispatcher injecting fixtures.toolResponses, a golden/regression scorer (deterministic), and the EvalSummary assembler. Rubric/adversarial judges are a later milestone.
• Demo impact (out of scope): the Agents tab scorecard + regression history; "run this pack's eval before publishing"; model/provider A/B with measurable quality/cost tradeoffs.
• Expected effort: M for the schemas + prose + shape conformance (lands the surface); M–L for the reference eval-run implementation (golden+regression first, rubric/adversarial later).

Acceptance criteria

Landed at Active (2026-05-30) ✅ / deferred to Active → Accepted ⏳:

• [x] spec/v1/agent-evaluation.md normative doc: §A suite artifact, §B eval-run projection, §C event family + summary, §D modes capability, §E promotion seam, §F safety (SR-1 + cross-tenant + recorded-fact).
• [x] agent-eval-suite.schema.json + eval-summary.schema.json; additive optional evalSuiteRef on agent-manifest.schema.json; additive optional agents.evalSuite on capabilities.schema.json; three eval.* RunEventTypes + payloads. ⏳ mode:"eval" + GET /v1/runs/{runId}/eval-summary in openapi.yaml + eval channels in asyncapi.yaml (deferred — behavioral surface, RFC 0077 precedent).
• [x] SECURITY invariant eval-summary-no-content-leak (content-free events + summary + redaction-safe safetyFindings) + public test (the always-on shape scenario's content-free negatives). Cross-tenant isolation reuses the run owner-triple scope (RFC 0048/0074); a dedicated behavioral test lands with the reference host.
• [x] Conformance: agent-eval-suite-shape.test.ts (always-on). ⏳ agent-eval-run.test.ts (gated/behavioral) + eval fixture + fixtures.md row deferred. [x] coverage.md row.
• [x] CHANGELOG entry. ⏳ INTEROP-MATRIX row (no host advertises evalSuite yet).
• [x] All five Unresolved questions resolved (recorded in Updated:).
• [ ] ⏳ Reference host implements the golden+regression eval projection + passes the gated scenario — the explicit Active → Accepted gate (RFC 0077 precedent: behavioral conformance + reference-host advertisement deferred).

References

• docs/OPENWOP-AI-AGENT-PLATFORM-RECOMMENDATIONS.md §"RFC 0081" — the source recommendation.
• RFCS/0070-agent-manifest-runtime.md + RFCS/0072-agent-inventory-and-dispatch.md + RFCS/0077-agent-run-lifecycle-and-live-manifest-dispatch.md — the agent-run surface an eval run projects over (the agent.invocation. bracket + agent. events per task).
• RFCS/0026-provider-usage-event.md — per-task cost the EvalSummary sums.
• RFCS/0054-run-diff-and-execution-comparison.md — the :diff regression mode composes for the structural delta.
• RFCS/0056-run-feedback-and-annotation-event.md — human override of an auto-score (composed, not duplicated).
• RFCS/0003-agent-packs.md — pack-distributed artifact + …Ref resolution the suite reuses; signing/trust (UQ #3).
• RFCS/0082-agent-deployment-lifecycle.md — the eval-gated promotion seam (§E) this RFC reserves and 0082 enforces.
• spec/v1/replay.md §"Recorded-fact events" — the determinism posture for rubric/adversarial/live-shadow scores (UQ #1).
• COMPATIBILITY.md §2.1 — additive-change discipline.