FRI, OCTOBER 23, 2026
Independent · In‑Depth · Practitioner‑Tested
Claude Research

Open Model Evaluation Prompts

Six prompts for deciding whether an open-weight model is worth adopting. Written after a week of releases where internal benchmarks were doing most of the persuading. Point these at a model card, a release post or a paper.

⌨️ 6 prompts 🕐 Updated Oct 23, 2026
💡 How to use these prompts: Replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your specific details before sending. Click Copy to copy any prompt to your clipboard instantly.
1
Read the licence like a lawyer
Find out what you are actually allowed to do
Read this model licence. Tell me in plain language: can I use it commercially, can I fine-tune it, can I redistribute the weights, can I use outputs to train another model, and are there named use restrictions. Quote the clause behind each answer.
2
Check who ran the benchmarks
Separate measurement from marketing
For every benchmark figure in this release, tell me whether it was produced by the releasing organisation or by an independent party. Flag any described as internal. Then tell me which claims would change if independent results differed.
3
Find the comparison that was not made
Notice a favourable comparison set
List the models this release compares itself against. Then list the obvious competitors it does not compare against, and tell me for each whether the omission is likely innocent or convenient.
4
Work out what it actually costs to run
Know the real cost before you commit
Given the parameter count, architecture and any stated quantisation in this release, estimate the hardware needed to run it at usable speed. Give me a minimum viable setup and a comfortable setup, and name the trade-off between them.
5
Find the limitations section
Read the part most people skip
Locate everything this release says about what the model cannot do, where it fails, or what has not been validated. Quote each one. If there is no limitations section, say so plainly, because that absence is itself information.
6
Design the test that would change your mind
Replace reading with testing
Based on this release, design a short evaluation I could run in one afternoon on my own data that would tell me whether the claims hold for my use case. Be specific about what to measure and what result would mean no.