> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.galtea.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Evaluation

> An evaluation that assesses inference results from a session using a metric

## What is an Evaluation?

An evaluation in Galtea represents the assessment of inference results from a [session](/concepts/product/version/session) using the evaluation criteria of a [metric](/concepts/metric). Evaluations are now directly linked to sessions, allowing for comprehensive evaluation of full sessions containing multiple inference results for multi-turn dialogues.

<Note>Evaluations do not call your AI product — they score outputs that have already been generated. Run your product first to produce outputs, then trigger the evaluation to score them.</Note>

You can create evaluations from the [Galtea dashboard](https://platform.galtea.ai/) (using [Endpoint Connections](/concepts/product/endpoint-connection)) or programmatically using the [Galtea SDK](/sdk/api/evaluation/service).

## Evaluation Lifecycle

Evaluations follow a specific lifecycle:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Creation">[Trigger an evaluation](/sdk/tutorials/run-test-based-evaluations). It will appear in the session's details page with the status "pending"</Step>
  <Step title="Processing">Galtea's evaluation system processes the evaluation using the evaluation criteria of the selected [metric](/concepts/metric)</Step>
  <Step title="Completion">Once processed, the status changes to "completed" and the [results](/concepts/product/version/session/evaluation#evaluation-properties) are available</Step>
</Steps>

## SDK Integration

The Galtea SDK allows you to create, view, and manage evaluations programmatically. This is particularly useful for organizations that want to automate their evaluation process or integrate it into their CI/CD pipeline.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Evaluation Service SDK" icon="clipboard-check" iconType="solid" href="/sdk/api/evaluation/service">
    Manage evaluations using the Python SDK
  </Card>

  <Card title="GitHub Actions" icon="code-compare" href="/sdk/integrations/github-actions">
    Learn how to set up GitHub Actions to automatically evaluate new versions
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Evaluation Properties

### Result Properties

Once an evaluation completes, the following fields are available:

<ResponseField name="Status" type="Enum">
  The current status of the evaluation.
  Possible values:

  * **Pending**: The evaluation has been created but not yet processed.
  * **Pending Human**: The evaluation is waiting for a human annotator to review and score it. This status is used for metrics with `source: "human_evaluation"`.
  * **Success**: The evaluation was processed successfully.
  * **Failed**: The evaluation encountered an error during processing. Check the `canRetry` field to determine if this evaluation can be retried.
  * **Skipped**: The evaluation was skipped because the metric validation failed (e.g., missing required parameters) or due to insufficient credits. The error message contains details about what was missing. Check the `canRetry` field to determine if this evaluation can be retried.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Score" type="Number">
  The score assigned to the output by the metric's evaluation criteria. **Example**: 0.85
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Reason" type="Text">
  The explanation of the score assigned to the output by the [metric's](/concepts/metric) evaluation criteria.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Error" type="Text">
  The error message if the evaluation failed during processing.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Retries Attempted" type="Number">
  The number of retry attempts made for this evaluation. Starts at 0 and increments each time the evaluation is retried. Used to track retry history and enforce retry limits.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Can Retry" type="Boolean" default="false">
  Indicates whether the evaluation can be retried. When `true`, the evaluation failed or was skipped due to a temporary condition (e.g., evaluation processing error, insufficient credits) and can be retried later. When `false`, the evaluation cannot be retried. Only evaluations with `canRetry=true` are eligible for the retry operation. Defaults to `false`.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Human Evaluator ID" type="Text" optional>
  The ID of the human evaluator assigned to this evaluation, if applicable.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Human Score" type="Number" optional>
  The human-provided annotation score, separate from the AI-generated score. When a human annotates an AI-evaluated metric, this field stores their score without overwriting the original AI score.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Human Reason" type="Text" optional>
  The human-provided annotation reason, separate from the AI-generated reason. When a human annotates an AI-evaluated metric, this field stores their reasoning without overwriting the original AI reason.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Human Evaluator Started At" type="Text" optional>
  The timestamp when the human evaluator started reviewing this evaluation, if applicable.
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="Human Evaluator Finished At" type="Text" optional>
  The timestamp when the human evaluator submitted their evaluation or annotation.
</ResponseField>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Concepts overview" icon="diagram-project" iconType="solid" href="/concepts/overview">
    How Galtea's concepts connect — diagram + per-entity quick reference.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Test" icon="clipboard-list" iconType="solid" href="/concepts/product/test">
    A set of test cases for evaluating product performance
  </Card>

  <Card title="Test Case" icon="list" iconType="solid" href="/concepts/product/test/case">
    Each challenge in a test for evaluating product performance
  </Card>

  <Card title="Session" icon="clock-rotate-left" iconType="solid" href="/concepts/product/version/session">
    A full conversation between a user and an AI system.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Metric" icon="gauge" iconType="solid" href="/concepts/metric">
    Ways to evaluate and score product performance
  </Card>
</CardGroup>