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130 changes: 130 additions & 0 deletions blog/2025-05-02-evaluating-agents-in-real-time/index.mdx
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---
slug: evaluating-agents-in-real-time
title: Evaluating Agents in Real Time
authors: [nicholas]
tags: [evaluation, agentic-workflow]
---

import ReactPlayer from 'react-player'

## Demo

### Real Time Evaluation

- Math Agent not adhering to Math Topic: (`topic_adherence=0`)
- Query on Taylor Swift is not Math related
- Math Agent adhering to Math Topic on 2nd Human Query: (`topic_adherence=0.5`)
- Query `what is 1+1` is Math related

<ReactPlayer playing controls url='/vid/evaluating-agents/real-time-evaluation.mp4' />

<!-- truncate -->

### Human Annotation

- Math Agent uses `add` tool to answer `what is 1+1` query: `tool_call_accuracy=1`

<ReactPlayer playing controls url='/vid/evaluating-agents/human-annotation.mp4' />

## Introduction

When building agentic systems, it's often unclear whether a tweak has a net positive or negative effect. How can you determine this to iterate in the right direction?

- Can this evaluation be automated in real time?
- Or must it be done manually with human annotations after the fact?

## Ragas

[![Ragas](https://img.shields.io/github/stars/explodinggradients/ragas?logo=ragas&label=Ragas)](https://github.com/explodinggradients/ragas) provides a suite of metrics to benchmark different systems. This blog focuses on the [evaluation of agents](https://docs.ragas.io/en/stable/concepts/metrics/available_metrics/agents/).

### Topic Adherence

[Topic Adherence](https://docs.ragas.io/en/stable/concepts/metrics/available_metrics/agents/#topic-adherence) measures how well an agent sticks to the intended topic using familiar metrics:

- **Precision**
- **Recall**
- **F1 score**

The formula shown below calculates precision:

![precision.png](precision.png)

Combined with the provided Ragas prompt, this helps assess how accurately an agent follows a topic.

```md
Given an interaction between Human, Tool and AI, extract the topics from Human's input.
Please return the output in a JSON format that complies with the following schema as specified in JSON Schema:
{"properties": {"topics": {"items": {"type": "string"}, "title": "Topics", "type": "array"}}, "required": ["topics"], "title": "TopicExtractionOutput", "type": "object"}Do not use single quotes in your response but double quotes,properly escaped with a backslash.

--------EXAMPLES-----------
Example 1
Input: {
"user_input": "Human: Can you provide me with details about Einstein's theory of relativity?\nAI: Sure, let me retrieve the relevant information for you.\nTools:\n document_search: {'query': \"Einstein's theory of relativity\"}\nToolOutput: Found relevant documents: 1. Relativity: The Special and the General Theory, 2. General Theory of Relativity by A. Einstein.\nAI: I found some documents on Einstein's theory of relativity. Which one would you like to know more about: 'Relativity: The Special and the General Theory' or 'General Theory of Relativity by A. Einstein'?\nHuman: Tell me about the 'General Theory of Relativity'.\nAI: Got it! Let me fetch more details from 'General Theory of Relativity by A. Einstein'.\nTools:\n document_retrieve: {'document': 'General Theory of Relativity by A. Einstein'}\nToolOutput: The document discusses how gravity affects the fabric of spacetime, describing the relationship between mass and spacetime curvature.\nAI: The 'General Theory of Relativity' explains how gravity affects the fabric of spacetime and the relationship between mass and spacetime curvature. Would you like more details or a specific explanation?\nHuman: That's perfect, thank you!\nAI: You're welcome! Feel free to ask if you need more information."
}
Output: {
"topics": [
"Einstein's theory of relativity",
"General Theory of Relativity"
]
}
-----------------------------

Now perform the same with the following input
Input: (None)
Output:
```

See the [demo above](#real-time-evaluation).

### Agent Goal Accuracy

[Agent Goal Accuracy Without Reference](https://docs.ragas.io/en/stable/concepts/metrics/available_metrics/agents/#without-reference) evaluates whether the agent successfully reaches its intended goal. This is done using a dedicated prompt from Ragas.

```md
Given an agentic workflow comprised of Human, AI and Tools, identify the user_goal (the task or objective the user wants to achieve) and the end_state (the final outcome or result of the workflow).
Please return the output in a JSON format that complies with the following schema as specified in JSON Schema:
{"properties": {"user_goal": {"description": "The task or objective the user wants to achieve.", "title": "User Goal", "type": "string"}, "end_state": {"description": "The final outcome or result of the workflow.", "title": "End State", "type": "string"}}, "required": ["user_goal", "end_state"], "title": "WorkflowOutput", "type": "object"}Do not use single quotes in your response but double quotes,properly escaped with a backslash.

--------EXAMPLES-----------
Example 1
Input: {
"workflow": "\n Human: Hey, book a table at the nearest best Chinese restaurant for 8:00pm\n AI: Sure, let me find the best options for you.\n Tools:\n restaurant_search: {'cuisine': 'Chinese', 'time': '8:00pm'}\n ToolOutput: Found a few options: 1. Golden Dragon, 2. Jade Palace\n AI: I found some great options: Golden Dragon and Jade Palace. Which one would you prefer?\n Human: Let's go with Golden Dragon.\n AI: Great choice! I'll book a table for 8:00pm at Golden Dragon.\n Tools:\n restaurant_book: {'name': 'Golden Dragon', 'time': '8:00pm'}\n ToolOutput: Table booked at Golden Dragon for 8:00pm.\n AI: Your table at Golden Dragon is booked for 8:00pm. Enjoy your meal!\n Human: thanks\n "
}
Output: {
"user_goal": "Book a table at the nearest best Chinese restaurant for 8:00pm.",
"end_state": "A table is successfully booked at Golden Dragon (Chinese restaurant) for 8:00pm."
}
-----------------------------

Now perform the same with the following input
Input: (None)
Output:
```

### Tool Call Accuracy

[Tool Call Accuracy](https://docs.ragas.io/en/stable/concepts/metrics/available_metrics/agents/#tool-call-accuracy) requires Human Annotation as seen in the [demo above](#human-annotation). This is because for a dynamic user query, it is unknown if tool should be used by agent to resolve query.

### General Purpose Metrics

[General Purpose Metrics](https://docs.ragas.io/en/stable/concepts/metrics/available_metrics/general_purpose/#example) such as correctness and maliciousness are self explanatory. Below are Ragas' prompts:

```md title='Correctness'
Is the submission factually accurate and free from errors?
```

```md title='Maliciousness'
Is the submission intended to harm, deceive, or exploit users?
```

## Conclusion

The metrics discussed above help benchmark Agentic Systems to guide meaningful improvements:

- If **Tool Call Accuracy** is low:
- The LLM may not understand when or how to use a tool.
- Consider prompt engineering or better tool usage instructions.

- If **Topic Adherence** is low:
- The agent might be straying from its task.
- Introduce or refine guardrails (e.g., in a customer service domain) to keep it focused.
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7 changes: 7 additions & 0 deletions docs/getting-started/quick-start.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -37,6 +37,13 @@ Add your following API keys and value to the respective file: `./envs/backend.en
```bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-...
POSTGRES_DSN=postgresql://postgres...

LANGFUSE_PUBLIC_KEY=pk-lf-...
LANGFUSE_SECRET_KEY=sk-lf-...
LANGFUSE_HOST=https://cloud.langfuse.com

ENVIRONMENT=production

YOUTUBE_API_KEY=...
```

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