--- name: inference-model-eval last_validated: 2026-05-23 description: >- Drive lm-eval-harness quality evals (GPQA, MMLU-Pro) inside model pods plus optional ExternalEval (externally operated). Use to validate model quality before promoting to staging or prod, after vLLM / quantization / KV-cache changes, or to compare against published HuggingFace / paper baselines. Pair with inference-perf-bench (the perf-side counterpart) for full pre-promotion validation. Triggers on "lm-eval-harness", "GPQA", "MMLU-Pro", "ExternalEval", "model quality eval", "/run-model-eval", "run evals", "run gpqa", "run mmlu", "run external-eval", "run evals on the model", or any combination of "eval / quality / accuracy" with "inference / model / vllm". allowed-tools: - mcp__profile_and_optimize__search_runbooks - mcp__profile_and_optimize__search_evidence - Bash(kubectl:*) - Bash(curl:*) - Bash(jq:*) - Bash(date:*) - Read - Write --- # inference-model-eval ## Purpose Run quality and accuracy evaluations against a live inference endpoint to validate that a model deployment is fit for promotion. Three benchmark families: - **GPQA** - graduate-level Q&A; runs inside the model pod via [lm-eval-harness](https://github.com/EleutherAI/lm-evaluation-harness). - **MMLU-Pro** - broad multi-task understanding. Runs inside the model pod via lm-eval-harness. - **ExternalEval** - externally operated. Cockpit surfaces contact info and endpoint details, operator coordinates with the ExternalEval operator out-of-band. The eval workflow itself (task selection, in-pod lm-eval-harness invocation, monitoring, results download, ExternalEval handoff) is summarized under "Workflow" below. This skill's main job is the cockpit-specific glue - the evidence bundle and the perf-baseline tie-in. ## When to use - Before promoting a new model to staging or prod - validate quality alongside the perf check ([`inference-perf-bench`](/plugins/profile-and-optimize/skills/inference-perf-bench/SKILL.md)). - After vLLM version bumps, quantization changes (NVFP4 vs FP8 vs BF16), KV-cache-dtype changes - ensure no quality regression. - Regression check against published baselines (HuggingFace model card, paper numbers). - Pairing perf-vs-quality A/B for proposed config changes. Do **not** use this skill for: - Inference performance measurement - that is [`inference-perf-bench`](/plugins/profile-and-optimize/skills/inference-perf-bench/SKILL.md). - Terminal-Bench 2.0 / SWE-Bench Verified at scale - those are larger evaluation-harness runs driven by a dedicated eval pipeline. This skill covers the in-pod lm-eval-harness path only. ## Example prompts - "Run GPQA + MMLU-Pro on the kimi-k25 dev pods." - "Run model-eval on the new minimax-m2.7 deployment, batch size 64." - "Quality regression check on glm-5-fp8 after the vllm 0.20 bump." - `/run-model-eval --model kimi-k25 --tasks gpqa,mmlu_pro` - `/inference-model-eval --pods c2-kimi-k25-fp4-* --tasks gpqa` ## Prerequisites 1. **`kubectl` context for a dev cluster**. 2. **Namespace** containing the target pods. 3. **HF_TOKEN** if the model card / dataset requires it. 4. **`PROFILE_AND_OPTIMIZE_REPO_ROOT`** for the result bundle. ## Interaction style Iterative. The workflow pauses naturally at task selection, where the operator chooses which evals to run. ## Workflow ### Phase A: scaffold an evidence bundle (cockpit-side) ```text /evidence-bundle-init --family inference-model-eval \ --intent "model-eval on tasks=" ``` ### Phase B: run the evals Select the tasks (GPQA / MMLU-Pro), invoke lm-eval-harness inside the target model pod against the served endpoint, monitor the run, and download the results into the evidence bundle. For ExternalEval, hand off to the ExternalEval operator out-of-band and record the returned scores. ### Phase C: tie evals to a perf-baseline registry entry (cockpit-side) When a model passes both `inference-perf-bench` and `inference-model-eval`, register the perf baseline with a `notes` field that names the eval scores: ```text /inference-perf-baseline-bridge record \ --model \ --source experiments/artifacts/inference-perf-bench// \ --notes "GPQA=; MMLU-Pro=; ExternalEval=" ``` This lets a future [`inference-perf-baseline-bridge`](/plugins/profile-and-optimize/skills/inference-perf-baseline-bridge/SKILL.md) diff confirm that a perf regression isn't masked by a quality gain (or vice versa). ## Safety - **Read-only on the cluster.** lm-eval-harness runs inside the existing model pod. The workflow does not create or delete pods. - **No customer-data leakage.** GPQA / MMLU-Pro datasets are public. Any in-pod intermediate artifacts should be cleared before the bundle is shared externally. - **ExternalEval is operator-mediated.** The cockpit only displays contact info. Do not auto-DM the ExternalEval operator from any agent surface. ## Full-context reporting (no bare numbers) Per the canon "Every performance number carries its full context (no bare numbers)" (`docs/METHODOLOGY.md` "Full-context reporting"): every number this skill emits MUST carry its full measurement-context descriptor, and every comparison MUST be matched on it. A bare `tok/s` / TPOT / BW / %SoL / speedup is a defect - it cannot set a default, ship a config, or appear in a report. - **Identity:** model (+HF path), hardware (exact ceiling token `GB300`/`B200`), quant, kv-cache dtype. - **Parallelism:** TP, DP (replicas), PP, EP, parallel_strategy. - **Serving cfg:** max-num-seqs, max-num-batched-tokens, gpu-memory-utilization, max-model-len, cudagraph_mode/enforce_eager, async_scheduling, prefix-caching. - **Workload:** dataset, ISL/OSL (or mean in/out tokens), concurrency, num-prompts. - **Regime:** warm vs cold. Latency vs throughput tier. - **Stack:** image/vllm commit, bench backend, serving engine. - **Grounding:** `%SoL` (+ ceiling key from `configs/sol-ceilings.yaml` - never inline a peak), sol_rigor (L1-L4), trials n (mean±std), same-node, baseline named. - **Per-number exact shape (no smoothing):** when reporting more than one number, keep EACH with its own exact shape (ISL/OSL, concurrency, dataset, regime) - never normalize a set to one uniform descriptor that hides per-point variation (e.g. `c=1 @ ISL1024/OSL256` + `c=64 @ ISL4096/OSL512`, NOT one shared "random"). Quality-eval scores (lm-eval-harness MMLU/GSM8K/etc.) are not directly roofline-bound, so this skill does NOT add a `%SoL` column to its output. Per `docs/METHODOLOGY.md` "Speed-of-light framing", the methodology applies to *measurement-producing perf skills* - eval accuracy is orthogonal. When eval pairs with perf ([`inference-perf-bench`](/plugins/profile-and-optimize/skills/inference-perf-bench/SKILL.md)) for a quant-quality-vs-throughput comparison, the perf side carries `%SoL` and the eval side carries accuracy %. ## Next lever / BREAKTHROUGH (Grind Mandate) If this skill emits a measured result, its output MUST end by naming the **next perf lever**, its **expected unlock** (direction + rough magnitude), and the **gate** that proves/refutes it, per `docs/METHODOLOGY.md` "Always be grinding". A measured win is the new floor, not the finish -- so **do everything we can to find the next BREAKTHROUGH**: the highest-EV unlock toward Speed-of-Light (a new champion / kernel / router / quant / parallelism / spec-decode win, or an unblocked stack), not just the next micro-lever. Rank the candidate breakthrough levers by value x cost (the GRIND FRONTIER, `perftunereport value_view`), pursue the top, bank the rest with evidence. Record WHY a refuted lever loses, update the standing frontier in the active bundle's `HANDOFF.md`. Never conclude "exhausted/optimal/done" without an explicit next-lever frontier (an empty frontier AND a documented SoL wall only). Delete this section ONLY if the skill produces no measurements. ## Source-of-truth references - Pair: [`inference-perf-bench`](/plugins/profile-and-optimize/skills/inference-perf-bench/SKILL.md) - the perf counterpart for full pre-promotion validation. - [`inference-perf-baseline-bridge`](/plugins/profile-and-optimize/skills/inference-perf-baseline-bridge/SKILL.md) - ties eval scores to a perf-baseline registry entry (Phase C). - `docs/METHODOLOGY.md` - full-context reporting + verdict rigor.