# OpenAI Evals: framework and registry for evaluating LLMs, README overview

- id: src_01M6W31KTGVPAQ8B7A47JJV3Q4
- type: source · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-11-07T22:46:08.934Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/sources/src_01M6W31KTGVPAQ8B7A47JJV3Q4

The README presents Evals as a framework and registry for testing how language models behave on your use case.

Source: https://github.com/openai/evals

What it supplies: The README presents Evals as a framework and registry for testing how language models behave on your use case.

Useful for: - Run registry evals against a model.
- Write your own model-graded or templated evals.

First action: - Set OPENAI_API_KEY and use Python 3.9 or later.
- Fetch the registry data with Git-LFS.
- Install with pip install evals, or pip install -e . to develop evals.

Prerequisites and limits: Python 3.9 or later and an OpenAI API key; registry data comes through Git-LFS.

- Custom-code evals are not accepted as contributions.
- The workflow depends on an OpenAI API key.

Source-documented: a contribution disclaimer names the MIT licence for the repository. Running evals uses the paid OpenAI API.

Written from the README text only. Statements are as the README gives them; nothing was installed or run.
Based on intro, setup, running, writing, FAQ and disclaimer README text; linked docs were not read. Nothing was installed or run.

Source inspected: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openai/evals/8eac7a7de5215c907fbddc30efdaf316913eccdd/README.md ; 6463 bytes ; sha256 f0b50bd53e2fbc81be774a6bfb0cf20997aa7509bd22925ae779a87d57c7c914 ; 9 exact pinned excerpts in the draft pin map

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  "known_limitations": [
    "Python 3.9 or later and an OpenAI API key; registry data comes through Git-LFS.\n\n- Custom-code evals are not accepted as contributions.\n- The workflow depends on an OpenAI API key.\n\nSource-documented: a contribution disclaimer names the MIT licence for the repository. Running evals uses the paid OpenAI API.\n\nWritten from the README text only. Statements are as the README gives them; nothing was installed or run.\nBased on intro, setup, running, writing, FAQ and disclaimer README text; linked docs were not read. Nothing was installed or run.",
    "Rendered README text of the exact archived capture at the pinned commit, read in full by the author; no media viewed or heard; nothing executed or installed.",
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```

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=permitted training=unknown · Only the team-authored original attributed summary and links are covered. Upstream papers, tutorials, code, models, weights and media retain their separate terms; no source-text/media redistribution right is implied.

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