Create MCP Eval

Instructions

Every eval is made up of an eval yaml that specifies which agent file to use, which mcp config file to use, which tasks to run, and which MCP-specific assertions to check (if any).

Creating evals from scratch

When creating a full eval from scratch, you will need to:

1. Create one or more tasks, see tasks.md
2. Create a mcp config file, see mcpConfig.md
3. Create an agent file, see agent.md
4. Create a top-level eval file that references the rest of the files, see eval.yaml

However, in most cases you will not be creating an entirely new set of evals from scratch - you will just be modifying or extending an existing eval. In this case, you will only need to modify some of these files.

Running evals

To run the evals, use:

mcpchecker run <path to eval yaml file>

The

mcpchecker

binary may or may not be in the

$PATH

. If it is not in the path, ask the user where it is.

Examples

Create a full new set of evals

This example creates a full set of evals with a single task. The evals aim to test a kubernetes mcp server, and assume that:

1. There is a correctly configured kubernetes cluster that the user can access through their kubeconfig
2. There is a kubernetes mpc server running on

   http://localhost:8080

Example Setup

eval.yaml - Main config:

kind: Eval
metadata:
  name: "kubernetes-test"
config:
  agentFile: agent.yaml           # How to run your AI agent
  mcpConfigFile: mcp-config.yaml  # Your MCP server config
  taskSets:
    - path: tasks/create-pod.yaml
      assertions:
        toolsUsed:
          - server: kubernetes
            toolPattern: "pods_.*"  # Agent must use pod-related tools
        minToolCalls: 1
        maxToolCalls: 10

mcp-config.yaml - MCP server to test:

mcpServers:
  kubernetes:
    type: http
    url: http://localhost:8080/mcp
    enableAllTools: true

agent.yaml - AI agent configuration:

kind: Agent
metadata:
  name: "claude-code"
commands:
  argTemplateMcpServer: "--mcp-config {{ .File }}"
  argTemplateAllowedTools: "mcp__{{ .ServerName }}__{{ .ToolName }}"
  runPrompt: |-
    claude {{ .McpServerFileArgs }} --print "{{ .Prompt }}"

tasks/create-pod.yaml - Test task:

kind: Task
metadata:
  name: "create-nginx-pod"
  difficulty: easy
steps:
  setup:
    file: setup.sh      # Creates test namespace
  verify:
    file: verify.sh     # Checks pod is running
  cleanup:
    file: cleanup.sh    # Deletes pod
  prompt:
    inline: Create a nginx pod named web-server in the test-namespace

Test Scripts

Scripts return exit 0 for success, non-zero for failure:

setup.sh - Prepare environment:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
kubectl create namespace test-ns

verify.sh - Check task succeeded:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready pod/web-server -n test-ns --timeout=120s

cleanup.sh - Remove resources:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
kubectl delete pod web-server -n test-ns

Or use inline scripts in the task YAML:

steps:
  setup:
    inline: |-
      #!/usr/bin/env bash
      kubectl create namespace test-ns