Configure a metric customers can interpret

Start with what the customer needs to know, not a preset list of metrics. One criterion should produce an actionable signal tied to available evidence.

1. Define the measurement

Confirm organization/workspace, target agent and requirement. Inspect a few relevant conversations or the written policy. Capture criterion, positive and negative examples, exclusions, missing-evidence handling, output polarity and what decision the value will support. Synthetic examples can clarify a rubric; label them synthetic, never human validation data.

Discover existing definitions with coval --agent metrics list --include-builtin and coval --agent metrics get <id>. Check success/pagination before concluding no suitable metric exists. Reuse only when the definition, units, evidence source and scope fit. A familiar display name is insufficient.

2. Choose the simplest valid metric