The outcome
Pin a fit-for-purpose model and fallback with measured operating limits.
Step by step
A workflow you can repeat.
- 01
Define the task, users, data class, modalities, success and failure metrics, latency, context, output schema, safety, license, retention, cost, and rollback thresholds.
- 02
Shortlist current base or instruct models and record exact IDs, versions, licenses, context, pricing, rate limits, moderation, and supported parameters.
- 03
Run a frozen representative set with server-side keys, equal prompts and settings, constrained output, captured usage, errors, latency, and repeat trials where nondeterminism matters.
- 04
Score correctness, safety, refusals, bias, schema validity, hallucination, tail latency, failure rate, and total task cost, investigating item-level regressions.
- 05
Pin the winner, configure rate and budget limits plus a tested fallback, canary it, and rerun the benchmark before any model or parameter change.
Working standard
What good use looks like.
- Record exact model IDs and licenses.
- Measure tail latency and task cost.
- Pin a tested fallback.
Official references