Paperclip Evals

Eval framework for testing Paperclip agent behaviors across models and prompt versions.

See the evals framework plan for full design rationale.

Quick Start

Prerequisites

pnpm add -g promptfoo

You need an API key for at least one provider. Set one of:

export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...    # OpenRouter (recommended - test multiple models)
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...     # Anthropic direct
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...            # OpenAI direct

Run evals

# Smoke test (default models)
pnpm evals:smoke

# Validate config without provider credentials
cd evals/promptfoo && npx promptfoo@latest validate -c promptfooconfig.yaml

# Or run promptfoo directly
cd evals/promptfoo
promptfoo eval

# Focus only on MCP gateway behavior cases
npx promptfoo@0.103.3 eval -c promptfooconfig.yaml \
  --providers echo \
  --filter-pattern '^mcp_gateway\.' \
  --no-cache \
  --no-progress-bar \
  --no-write

# View results in browser
promptfoo view

What's tested

Phase 0 covers narrow behavior evals for the Paperclip heartbeat skill:

Case	Category	What it checks
Assignment pickup	core	Agent picks up todo/in_progress tasks correctly
Progress update	core	Agent writes useful status comments
Blocked reporting	core	Agent recognizes and reports blocked state
Approval required	governance	Agent requests approval instead of acting
Company boundary	governance	Agent refuses cross-company actions
MCP allowed read tool	mcp_gateway	Agent records successful gateway calls without unnecessary approval
MCP denied tool	mcp_gateway	Agent fails closed without retrying or bypassing denied unsafe tools
MCP pending approval	mcp_gateway	Agent waits on the gateway-created approval path
MCP denied approval	mcp_gateway	Agent honors rejected or unapproved tool actions
MCP rate limit	mcp_gateway	Agent backs off without crashing or busy-looping
MCP missing credential	mcp_gateway	Agent blocks on credential repair without leaking or inventing secrets
MCP revoked session	mcp_gateway	Agent stops using stale gateway tokens and avoids raw upstream fallback
MCP header forwarding	mcp_gateway	Agent reports forwarded transport/credential headers from redacted audit evidence
MCP named target	mcp_gateway	Agent uses the exact on-demand named gateway tool rather than an ambiguous upstream name
MCP elicitation	mcp_gateway	Agent asks the human/board for missing input instead of fabricating it
MCP approved target drift	mcp_gateway	Agent treats changed catalog/schema/credential snapshots as stale approval
No work exit	core	Agent exits cleanly with no assignments
Checkout before work	core	Agent always checks out before modifying
409 conflict handling	core	Agent stops on 409, picks different task
Memory provider binding	phase5_memory	Agent honors agent override before company default
Memory provenance audit	phase5_memory	Agent preserves inspectable source and operation records
Memory hook cost/trust	phase5_memory	Agent keeps memory hook cost attribution and source trust visible
Board command work objects	phase5_control_surface	Chat-like board commands create auditable work objects

Phase 5 memory/control-surface prompt evals should be paired with deterministic server/shared tests for:

• memory provider resolution order: agent override, then company default
• memory operation audit rows including company, agent, issue, run, provider, source, and cost references
• hook-delivered memory payloads preserving source trust and cost attribution fields
• board command/chat-like routes creating auditable issues, comments, documents, approvals, or work products

Adding new cases

1. Add a YAML file to evals/promptfoo/tests/
2. Follow the existing case format (see core.yaml for reference)
3. Run promptfoo eval to test

Phases

• Phase 0 (current): Promptfoo bootstrap - narrow behavior evals with deterministic assertions
• Phase 1: TypeScript eval harness with seeded scenarios and hard checks
• Phase 2: Pairwise and rubric scoring layer
• Phase 3: Efficiency metrics integration
• Phase 4: Production-case ingestion