The quality of your Tempered results depends directly on the quality of your input. This guide covers how to write effective evaluation descriptions for different use cases.
Be specific about what, why, and what's affected. Vague descriptions produce vague analysis. Specific descriptions produce actionable insights.
State the change clearly. Include technical specifics where relevant.
Context about motivation helps the analysis focus on the right risks.
List systems, users, data, and downstream dependencies.
Include anything that shapes the risk profile.
The optional JSON context field provides structured data that Tempered can analyse alongside your description:
{
"environment": "production",
"services_affected": ["order-service", "reporting-dashboard"],
"users_affected": 5000,
"maintenance_window": "Sunday 02:00-06:00 UTC",
"rollback_plan": "Blue-green switchback, tested in staging",
"compliance_frameworks": ["PCI DSS", "ISO 27001"],
"data_sensitivity": "high",
"tested_in_staging": true,
"dependencies": ["api-v2.3"]
}
There's no fixed schema — use whatever keys are relevant to your change. Common keys include:
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
environment |
Where the change is applied (production, staging, etc.) |
services_affected |
List of services or systems impacted |
users_affected |
Number or description of affected users |
maintenance_window |
Scheduled change window |
rollback_plan |
How to revert if things go wrong |
data_sensitivity |
Classification of data involved (low, medium, high, critical) |
compliance_frameworks |
Applicable regulations or standards |
tested |
Whether the change has been tested |
dependencies |
Other changes or systems this depends on |
reversible |
Whether the change can be undone |
Deploy updated Traefik reverse proxy configuration to enable HTTP/3 (QUIC) on all public-facing endpoints. Change involves: new UDP listener on port 443, updated TLS configuration, and Traefik version bump from 2.11 to 3.0. Tested in staging for 1 week. Rollback: revert to previous Traefik image tag.
Implement mandatory MFA for all administrator accounts across the platform. Currently 12 admin accounts use password-only authentication. Change enforces TOTP or WebAuthn on next login. Grace period: 7 days. Fallback: admin can request temporary bypass via support ticket with identity verification.
Migrate 500,000 customer records from legacy CRM (Salesforce) to new platform (HubSpot). Data includes: contact details, purchase history, support tickets. PII fields: name, email, phone, address. Migration runs via encrypted API-to-API transfer with field mapping validated against 1,000 sample records.
Update the data retention policy from 7 years to 5 years for non-financial customer records. Affects approximately 2 million records. Requires: legal review sign-off, customer notification, automated deletion job scheduling. Does not affect records subject to financial regulatory requirements (FCA 7-year retention).
For recurring types of evaluations, upload knowledge documents that provide standing context:
Upload via Settings → Knowledge Documents or via the API:
curl -X POST https://your-tempered-instance/api/v1/knowledge/ \
-H "Authorization: Bearer prx_your_api_key" \
-F "title=Infrastructure Security Policy" \
-F "[email protected]"
Then reference them when submitting evaluations:
{
"description": "...",
"knowledge_document_ids": ["doc-uuid-1", "doc-uuid-2"]
}
| Mistake | Impact | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Too vague ("update the system") | Generic, unhelpful analysis | Be specific about what's changing |
| Missing environment | Can't assess blast radius | Always state production/staging/dev |
| No rollback plan mentioned | Analysis assumes irreversible | Describe your rollback strategy |
| Ignoring compliance context | Misses regulatory requirements | List applicable frameworks |
| Omitting data sensitivity | Under-assesses data risks | Classify the data involved |
| Wall of text with no structure | Key details buried | Use clear sections or bullet points |