Experiments via SDK

LangWatch makes it easy to run experiments from code. Just add a few lines to start tracking your experiments.

Quickstart

1. Install the SDK

Python
TypeScript

pip install langwatch

npm install langwatch
# or
pnpm add langwatch

2. Set your API Key

Python (Notebook)
Environment Variable

import langwatch

langwatch.login()

Be sure to login or create an account on the link that will be displayed, then provide your API key when prompted.

export LANGWATCH_API_KEY=your_api_key

3. Start tracking

Python
TypeScript

import langwatch
import pandas as pd

# Load your dataset
df = pd.read_csv("my_dataset.csv")

# Initialize a new experiment
evaluation = langwatch.experiment.init("my-experiment")

# Wrap your loop with evaluation.loop(), and iterate as usual
for idx, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows()):
    # Run your model or pipeline
    response = my_agent(row["question"])

    # Log a metric for this sample
    evaluation.log("sample_metric", index=idx, score=0.95)

import { LangWatch } from 'langwatch';

// Initialize the SDK
const langwatch = new LangWatch();

// Your dataset
const dataset = [
  { question: "What is 2+2?", expected: "4" },
  { question: "What is the capital of France?", expected: "Paris" },
];

// Initialize evaluation
const evaluation = await langwatch.experiments.init("my-experiment");

// Run evaluation with a callback
await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index }) => {
  // Run your model or pipeline
  const response = await myAgent(item.question);

  // Log a metric for this sample
  evaluation.log("sample_metric", { index, score: 0.95 });
});

That’s it! Your evaluation metrics are now being tracked and visualized in LangWatch.

Core Concepts

Evaluation Initialization

The evaluation is started by creating an evaluation session with a descriptive name:

Python
TypeScript

evaluation = langwatch.experiment.init("rag-pipeline-openai-vs-claude")

const evaluation = await langwatch.experiments.init("rag-pipeline-openai-vs-claude");

Iterating over data

Python
TypeScript

Use evaluation.loop() around your iterator so the entries are tracked:

for index, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows()):
    # Your existing evaluation code

Use evaluation.run() with a callback that receives each item:

await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index, span }) => {
  // Your existing evaluation code
});

The callback receives item (the current dataset item), index (the current index), and span (an OpenTelemetry span for custom tracing).

Metrics logging

Track any metric you want with evaluation.log():

Python
TypeScript

# Numeric scores
evaluation.log("relevance", index=index, score=0.85)

# Boolean pass/fail
evaluation.log("contains_citation", index=index, passed=True)

# Include additional data for debugging
evaluation.log("coherence", index=index, score=0.9,
               data={"output": result["text"], "tokens": result["token_count"]})

// Numeric scores
evaluation.log("relevance", { index, score: 0.85 });

// Boolean pass/fail
evaluation.log("contains_citation", { index, passed: true });

// Include additional data for debugging
evaluation.log("coherence", {
  index,
  score: 0.9,
  data: { output: result.text, tokens: result.tokenCount }
});

Comparing Multiple Targets

When comparing different models, prompts, or configurations, use targets to organize your results. Both SDKs provide a target() / withTarget() context that automatically captures latency and enables context inference.

Python
TypeScript

Use evaluation.target() for automatic latency capture and context inference:

evaluation = langwatch.experiment.init("model-comparison")

for index, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows()):
    def compare_models(index, row):
        # Evaluate GPT-5 with automatic latency tracking
        with evaluation.target("gpt5-baseline", {"model": "openai/gpt-5"}):
            response = call_openai("gpt-5", row["question"])
            evaluation.log_response(response)  # Store the model output
            # Target is auto-inferred inside target()!
            evaluation.log("accuracy", index=index,
                          score=calculate_accuracy(response, row["expected"]))

        # Evaluate Claude with automatic latency tracking
        with evaluation.target("claude-experiment", {"model": "anthropic/claude-4-opus"}):
            response = call_anthropic("claude-4-opus", row["question"])
            evaluation.log_response(response)
            evaluation.log("accuracy", index=index,
                          score=calculate_accuracy(response, row["expected"]))

    evaluation.submit(compare_models, index, row)

evaluation.target() automatically captures latency, creates isolated traces per target, and enables context inference so log() calls don’t need explicit target parameters. Use log_response() to store the model’s output.

Alternatively, use the target parameter directly with evaluation.log():

evaluation.log(
    "accuracy",
    index=index,
    score=0.95,
    target="gpt5-baseline",
    metadata={"model": "openai/gpt-5", "temperature": 0.7}
)

Use withTarget() for automatic latency capture and context inference:

const evaluation = await langwatch.experiments.init("model-comparison");

await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index }) => {
  // Run targets in parallel with automatic tracing
  const [gpt5Result, claudeResult] = await Promise.all([
    evaluation.withTarget("gpt5-baseline", { model: "openai/gpt-5" }, async () => {
      const response = await callOpenAI("gpt-5", item.question);
      // Target and index are auto-inferred inside withTarget()!
      evaluation.log("accuracy", { score: calculateAccuracy(response, item.expected) });
      return response;
    }),

    evaluation.withTarget("claude-experiment", { model: "anthropic/claude-4-opus" }, async () => {
      const response = await callAnthropic("claude-4-opus", item.question);
      evaluation.log("accuracy", { score: calculateAccuracy(response, item.expected) });
      return response;
    }),
  ]);

  // Latency is automatically captured from each withTarget() span
  console.log(`GPT-5: ${gpt5Result.duration}ms, Claude: ${claudeResult.duration}ms`);
});

withTarget() automatically captures latency, creates isolated traces per target, and enables context inference so log() calls don’t need explicit target or index parameters.

Target Registration

The first time you use a target name, it’s automatically registered with the provided metadata:

Python
TypeScript

# Using target() - metadata is set when entering the context
with evaluation.target("gpt5", {"model": "gpt-5", "temp": 0.7}):
    evaluation.log_response("AI response here")  # Store the output
    evaluation.log("latency", index=0, score=150)  # target auto-inferred
    evaluation.log("accuracy", index=0, score=0.95)  # target auto-inferred

# Or using explicit target parameter (without target() context)
evaluation.log("latency", index=0, target="gpt5", metadata={"model": "gpt-5", "temp": 0.7})

# Subsequent calls can omit metadata - it's already registered
evaluation.log("accuracy", index=0, target="gpt5", score=0.95)
evaluation.log("latency", index=1, target="gpt5", score=150)

// Using withTarget() - metadata is set once when registering the target
await evaluation.withTarget("gpt5", { model: "gpt-5", temp: 0.7 }, async () => {
  evaluation.log("latency", { score: 150 });  // target auto-inferred
  evaluation.log("accuracy", { score: 0.95 }); // target auto-inferred
});

// Or using explicit target parameter
evaluation.log("latency", { index: 0, target: "gpt5", metadata: { model: "gpt-5", temp: 0.7 } });
evaluation.log("accuracy", { index: 0, target: "gpt5", score: 0.95 }); // metadata already registered

If you provide different metadata for the same target name, an error will be raised. Use a different target name if you want different configurations.

Metadata for Comparison

Target metadata is used for comparison charts in the LangWatch UI. You can group results by any metadata field:

Python
TypeScript

# Compare different temperatures
for temp in [0.0, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0]:
    for index, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows()):
        response = call_llm(row["question"], temperature=temp)
        evaluation.log(
            "quality",
            index=index,
            score=evaluate_quality(response),
            target=f"temp-{temp}",
            metadata={"model": "gpt-5", "temperature": temp}
        )

// Compare different temperatures
for (const temp of [0.0, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0]) {
  await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index }) => {
    const response = await callLLM(item.question, { temperature: temp });
    evaluation.log("quality", {
      index,
      score: evaluateQuality(response),
      target: `temp-${temp}`,
      metadata: { model: "gpt-5", temperature: temp }
    });
  });
}

In the LangWatch UI, you can then visualize how quality varies across temperature values.

Parallel Execution

LLM calls can be slow. Both SDKs support parallel execution to speed up your evaluations.

Python
TypeScript

Use the built-in parallelization by putting the content of the loop in a function and submitting it:

evaluation = langwatch.experiment.init("parallel-eval-example")

for index, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows(), threads=4):
    def task(index, row):
        result = agent(row["question"])  # Runs in parallel
        evaluation.log("response_quality", index=index, score=0.92)

    evaluation.submit(task, index, row)

By default, threads=4. Adjust based on your API rate limits and system resources.

Pass the concurrency option to control how many items run in parallel:

await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index }) => {
  const result = await agent(item.question);  // Runs in parallel
  evaluation.log("response_quality", { index, score: 0.92 });
}, { concurrency: 4 });

By default, concurrency=4. Adjust based on your API rate limits and system resources.

Built-in Evaluators

LangWatch provides a comprehensive suite of evaluation metrics out of the box.

Python
TypeScript

Use evaluation.run() to leverage pre-built evaluators:

for index, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows()):
    def task(index, row):
        response, contexts = execute_rag_pipeline(row["question"])

        # Use built-in RAGAS faithfulness evaluator
        evaluation.evaluate(
            "ragas/faithfulness",
            index=index,
            data={
                "input": row["question"],
                "output": response,
                "contexts": contexts,
            },
            settings={
                "model": "openai/gpt-5",
                "max_tokens": 2048,
            }
        )

        # Log custom metrics alongside
        evaluation.log("confidence", index=index, score=response.confidence)

    evaluation.submit(task, index, row)

Use evaluation.evaluate() to leverage pre-built evaluators:

await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index }) => {
  const { response, contexts } = await executeRagPipeline(item.question);

  // Use built-in RAGAS faithfulness evaluator
  await evaluation.evaluate("ragas/faithfulness", {
    index,
    data: {
      input: item.question,
      output: response,
      contexts,
    },
    settings: {
      model: "openai/gpt-5",
      max_tokens: 2048,
    }
  });

  // Log custom metrics alongside
  evaluation.log("confidence", { index, score: response.confidence });
});

Browse our complete list of available evaluators including metrics for RAG quality, hallucination detection, safety, and more.

Complete Example

Python
TypeScript

import langwatch

# Load dataset from LangWatch
df = langwatch.dataset.get_dataset("your-dataset-id").to_pandas()

# Initialize evaluation
evaluation = langwatch.experiment.init("rag-pipeline-evaluation-v2")

# Run evaluation with parallelization
for index, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows(), threads=8):
    def task(index, row):
        # Compare two RAG configurations
        with evaluation.target("rag-v1", {"model": "gpt-5", "retriever": "dense"}):
            response, contexts = execute_rag_pipeline(row["question"], version="v1")
            evaluation.log_response(response.text)  # Store the output

            # Use LangWatch evaluators - target auto-inferred
            evaluation.evaluate(
                "ragas/faithfulness",
                index=index,
                data={"input": row["question"], "output": response, "contexts": contexts},
                settings={"model": "openai/gpt-5", "max_tokens": 2048}
            )

            # Log custom metrics - latency auto-captured by target()
            evaluation.log("response_quality", index=index, score=response.quality)

        with evaluation.target("rag-v2", {"model": "gpt-5", "retriever": "hybrid"}):
            response, contexts = execute_rag_pipeline(row["question"], version="v2")
            evaluation.log_response(response.text)

            evaluation.evaluate(
                "ragas/faithfulness",
                index=index,
                data={"input": row["question"], "output": response, "contexts": contexts},
                settings={"model": "openai/gpt-5", "max_tokens": 2048}
            )

            evaluation.log("response_quality", index=index, score=response.quality)

    evaluation.submit(task, index, row)

import { LangWatch } from 'langwatch';

const langwatch = new LangWatch();

// Your dataset (or load from LangWatch)
const dataset = await loadDataset();

// Initialize evaluation
const evaluation = await langwatch.experiments.init("rag-pipeline-evaluation-v2");

// Run evaluation with parallelization
await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index }) => {
  // Compare multiple RAG configurations in parallel
  await Promise.all([
    evaluation.withTarget("rag-v1", { model: "gpt-5", retriever: "dense" }, async () => {
      const { response, contexts } = await executeRagPipeline(item.question, "v1");

      // Use LangWatch evaluators - target auto-inferred
      await evaluation.evaluate("ragas/faithfulness", {
        data: { input: item.question, output: response, contexts },
        settings: { model: "openai/gpt-5", max_tokens: 2048 }
      });

      // Log custom metrics - latency auto-captured by withTarget()
      evaluation.log("response_quality", { score: response.quality });
    }),

    evaluation.withTarget("rag-v2", { model: "gpt-5", retriever: "hybrid" }, async () => {
      const { response, contexts } = await executeRagPipeline(item.question, "v2");

      await evaluation.evaluate("ragas/faithfulness", {
        data: { input: item.question, output: response, contexts },
        settings: { model: "openai/gpt-5", max_tokens: 2048 }
      });

      evaluation.log("response_quality", { score: response.quality });
    }),
  ]);
}, { concurrency: 8 });

Tracing Your Pipeline

To get complete visibility into your LLM pipeline, add tracing to your functions:

Python
TypeScript

@langwatch.trace()
def agent(question):
    # Your RAG pipeline, chain, or agent logic
    context = retrieve_documents(question)
    completion = llm.generate(question, context)
    return {"text": completion.text, "context": context}

for index, row in evaluation.loop(df.iterrows()):
    result = agent(row["question"])
    evaluation.log("accuracy", index=index, score=0.9)

Learn more in our Python Integration Guide.

import { getLangWatchTracer } from 'langwatch';

const tracer = getLangWatchTracer('my-app');

const agent = async (question: string) => {
  return tracer.withActiveSpan('agent', async (span) => {
    // Your RAG pipeline, chain, or agent logic
    const context = await retrieveDocuments(question);
    const completion = await llm.generate(question, context);
    return { text: completion.text, context };
  });
};

await evaluation.run(dataset, async ({ item, index }) => {
  const result = await agent(item.question);
  evaluation.log("accuracy", { index, score: 0.9 });
});

Learn more in our TypeScript Integration Guide.

With tracing enabled, you can click through from any evaluation result to see the complete execution trace, including all LLM calls, prompts, and intermediate steps.

Exporting Results to CSV

After running your evaluations, you can export results to CSV for further analysis in spreadsheet tools like Excel or Google Sheets.

How to Export

Click the Export to CSV button in the top-right corner of the evaluation results page to download a complete CSV file with all your data.

CSV Structure

The exported CSV contains comprehensive data organized by dataset rows and targets. Here’s the complete column structure:

Row Index

Column	Description
`index`	Row number (0-based) for cross-referencing with the UI

Dataset Columns

All columns from your input dataset are included with their original names.

Target Columns (per target)

For each target in your evaluation, the following columns are exported:

Column Pattern	Description	Example
`{target}_model`	Model used for this target	`gpt-4_model` → `openai/gpt-4`
`{target}_prompt_id`	Prompt configuration ID (for prompt targets)	`gpt-4_prompt_id` → `prompt-abc123`
`{target}_prompt_version`	Prompt version number	`gpt-4_prompt_version` → `2`
`{target}_{metadata_key}`	Custom metadata values	`gpt-4_temperature` → `0.7`
`{target}_output`	Model output (or individual output fields)	`gpt-4_output` → `"The answer is 42"`
`{target}_cost`	Execution cost in USD	`gpt-4_cost` → `0.0012`
`{target}_duration_ms`	Execution time in milliseconds	`gpt-4_duration_ms` → `1250`
`{target}_error`	Error message if execution failed	`gpt-4_error` → `"Rate limit exceeded"`
`{target}_trace_id`	Trace ID for viewing execution details	`gpt-4_trace_id` → `trace_abc123`

Evaluator Columns (per target, per evaluator)

For each evaluator applied to a target:

Column Pattern	Description	Example
`{target}_{evaluator}_score`	Numeric score (0-1)	`gpt-4_faithfulness_score` → `0.95`
`{target}_{evaluator}_passed`	Boolean pass/fail	`gpt-4_faithfulness_passed` → `true`
`{target}_{evaluator}_label`	Classification label	`gpt-4_sentiment_label` → `positive`
`{target}_{evaluator}_details`	Additional details or explanation	`gpt-4_faithfulness_details` → `"All claims supported"`
`{target}_{evaluator}_cost`	Cost of running the evaluator	`gpt-4_faithfulness_cost` → `0.0005`
`{target}_{evaluator}_duration_ms`	Evaluator execution time	`gpt-4_faithfulness_duration_ms` → `850`

Example CSV Output

For an evaluation comparing GPT-4 and Claude with a faithfulness evaluator:

index,question,expected,gpt-4_model,gpt-4_output,gpt-4_cost,gpt-4_duration_ms,gpt-4_faithfulness_score,gpt-4_faithfulness_passed,claude_model,claude_output,claude_cost,claude_duration_ms,claude_faithfulness_score,claude_faithfulness_passed
0,What is 2+2?,4,openai/gpt-4,The answer is 4,0.0012,1250,0.95,true,anthropic/claude-3,2+2 equals 4,0.0008,980,0.92,true
1,Capital of France?,Paris,openai/gpt-4,Paris is the capital of France,0.0015,1100,0.98,true,anthropic/claude-3,The capital of France is Paris,0.0010,890,0.97,true

Using the Data

The CSV export enables powerful analysis workflows:

Filter and compare models

Use spreadsheet filters to compare specific models or configurations:

Filter by {target}_model to analyze specific model performance
Sort by {target}_{evaluator}_score to find best/worst performing samples
Filter by {target}_error to identify failed executions

Analyze costs and latency

Calculate aggregate metrics across your evaluation:

Sum {target}_cost columns for total evaluation cost per model
Average {target}_duration_ms to compare response times
Identify outliers with high latency or cost

Group by metadata

Analyze performance across different configurations:

Pivot tables by temperature, max_tokens, or custom metadata
Compare prompt versions side-by-side
Track improvements across iterations

Debug failures

Investigate problematic samples:

Filter rows where {target}_error is not empty
Cross-reference index with the UI for detailed inspection
Click through to traces using {target}_trace_id

All column headers are normalized to lowercase with spaces replaced by underscores for consistency and compatibility with data analysis tools.

Running in CI/CD

You can run SDK experiments in your CI/CD pipeline. The print_summary() method outputs a structured summary and exits with code 1 if any evaluations fail:

import langwatch

experiment = langwatch.experiment.init("ci-quality-check")

for idx, row in experiment.loop(dataset.iterrows()):
    response = my_llm(row["input"])
    experiment.evaluate("ragas/faithfulness", index=idx, data={...})

# This will exit with code 1 if any evaluations failed
experiment.print_summary()

See CI/CD Integration for complete examples with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and more.

What’s Next?

CI/CD Integration

Run experiments in your CI/CD pipeline

View Evaluators

Explore all available evaluation metrics

Datasets

Learn about dataset management

View Examples

Check out example notebooks

Get Started

Agent Simulations

Observability

Evaluations

Prompt Management

Platform

Examples & Cookbooks

Experiments via SDK

Quickstart

1. Install the SDK

2. Set your API Key

3. Start tracking

Core Concepts

Evaluation Initialization

Iterating over data

Metrics logging

Comparing Multiple Targets

Target Registration

Metadata for Comparison

Parallel Execution

Built-in Evaluators

Complete Example

Tracing Your Pipeline

Exporting Results to CSV

How to Export

CSV Structure

Row Index

Dataset Columns

Target Columns (per target)

Evaluator Columns (per target, per evaluator)

Example CSV Output

Using the Data

Running in CI/CD

What’s Next?

CI/CD Integration

View Evaluators

Datasets

View Examples

Get Started

Agent Simulations

Observability

Evaluations

Prompt Management

Platform

Examples & Cookbooks

​Quickstart

​1. Install the SDK

​2. Set your API Key

​3. Start tracking

​Core Concepts

​Evaluation Initialization

​Iterating over data

​Metrics logging

​Comparing Multiple Targets

​Target Registration

​Metadata for Comparison

​Parallel Execution

​Built-in Evaluators

​Complete Example

​Tracing Your Pipeline

​Exporting Results to CSV

​How to Export

​CSV Structure

​Row Index

​Dataset Columns

​Target Columns (per target)

​Evaluator Columns (per target, per evaluator)

​Example CSV Output

​Using the Data

​Running in CI/CD

​What’s Next?

CI/CD Integration

View Evaluators

Datasets

View Examples

Quickstart

1. Install the SDK

2. Set your API Key

3. Start tracking

Core Concepts

Evaluation Initialization

Iterating over data

Metrics logging

Comparing Multiple Targets

Target Registration

Metadata for Comparison

Parallel Execution

Built-in Evaluators

Complete Example

Tracing Your Pipeline

Exporting Results to CSV

How to Export

CSV Structure

Row Index

Dataset Columns

Target Columns (per target)

Evaluator Columns (per target, per evaluator)

Example CSV Output

Using the Data

Running in CI/CD

What’s Next?