{ "schema": "aiblocks-page/1", "id": "agency-testing-tool-evaluator", "type": "agent", "name": "Software tool comparison planner", "summary": "Choose between software tools with a scored comparison. Get your criteria, a trial plan, a cost view and a pick you can defend.", "headline": "Software tool comparison planner", "subhead": "Name the job you need a tool for and the two to five options you are weighing. It sets criteria with weights, plans a trial with your real work and works out the full cost. You get a score table, a risk list and a recommendation with how sure it is.", "job": { "id": "research-topics", "name": "Research a topic properly" }, "level": "intermediate", "thinking": "high", "tested": true, "updated": "2026-11-03", "first_published": "2026-10-26", "inputs": [ { "type": "question", "required": true, "label": "Question", "what": "the problem, decision or piece of work you want help with, and what a good outcome looks like" }, { "type": "source_text", "required": false, "label": "Source text", "what": "a long source in full: an article, a video or talk transcript, or notes from a book, with its title, author and link" } ], "outputs": [ { "type": "shortlist", "required": true, "label": "Shortlist", "what": "a ranked short list chosen from a larger set, with reasons" }, { "type": "plan", "required": true, "label": "Plan", "what": "a dated plan: what to do, in what order, with a decision rule for each step" } ], "you_give": [ "The job the tool must do, and who will use it", "The tools you are weighing, with links to their pages (two to five is best)", "Must-have features, and anything it must connect to, such as Shopify or Google Sheets", "Your budget, number of users and how long you plan to use it", "Prices, plan names and anything vendors told you (optional)", "Notes from any trial you have already run (optional)" ], "you_get": [ "A list of criteria with weights, built from your needs", "A trial plan with the same real tasks for every tool", "A score table that shows how each tool did on each criterion", "A cost view over the years you choose, with every guess marked", "A risk list and a recommendation with its confidence level" ], "use_when": [ "Your team needs a new project, CRM, email or design tool and three or four options look alike.", "You are about to renew a tool and want to know if a rival is worth switching to.", "A vendor's price looks cheap and you want the full cost over three years before you sign.", "You must explain to a boss or client why you picked one tool over the others." ], "skip_when": [ "You want to know if a trend or market is worth entering. Use the Trend Researcher agent.", "You need a security audit or a contract reviewed by a lawyer. This agent lists the questions to ask. A specialist must do the review.", "You want to haggle on price. It lists terms to ask for. It does not talk to vendors for you.", "You want a summary of what many papers say about a topic. Use the Research evidence reviewer." ], "output_sample": { "input": [ "The job the tool must do, and who will use it", "The two to five tools you are weighing, with links", "Must-have features, connections, budget and number of users", "Prices and any trial notes (optional)" ], "prerequisites": [ "A small team trial of each tool on the same real tasks, if you want scored results" ], "output": [ { "name": "Criteria and weights", "contains": "The tests each tool must pass, weighted to match what matters to you, shown before any scoring." }, { "name": "Trial plan", "contains": "The same real tasks for each tool, who runs them and what to record." }, { "name": "Score table", "contains": "Each tool's score on every criterion and the evidence behind it." }, { "name": "Cost view", "contains": "Licences, setup, training, data moving and support over your chosen years, with guesses marked." }, { "name": "Risks and vendor questions", "contains": "What could go wrong with each tool and the questions to ask before you sign." }, { "name": "Recommendation", "contains": "The pick, how sure it is, why, and what would change it." } ] }, "output_shape": "EVALUATION: \n\nJOB AND LIMITS\n Job | Users | Must connect to | Budget | Years \n\nCRITERIA AND WEIGHTS\n | | \n\nTRIAL PLAN\n | | | \n\nSCORE TABLE\n | | | \n\nCOST VIEW\n | Licences | Setup | Training | Data move | Support | Total over | Marked guess \n\nRISKS AND VENDOR QUESTIONS\n | | \n\nRECOMMENDATION\n Pick | Confidence | Why | What would change it \n\nCHECKS STILL NEEDED\n ", "how_to_use": [ "Download the pack from this page and add it to your AI as a skill. If you cannot, paste SKILL.md into a new chat, then paste references/source-agent.md.", "Say what job the tool must do, who will use it and which tools you are weighing. Add links, your budget and your user count.", "Type \"Set the criteria and weights first. Show them to me before you score anything.\"", "Change the weights, then ask for the trial plan. Run each tool through the same tasks and write down what happened. If your AI can search the web, it can also check public pricing pages.", "Paste your trial notes and any prices, then ask for the score table, the cost view and the recommendation.", "Check every price against the vendor's own page before you sign. Ask each vendor's reference customers the questions it lists." ], "checks": [ "The result addresses your actual task and cites the evidence used.", "Examples, role-play experience and targets are kept separate from verified results.", "Claims of tests, memory, tool access or completed actions match what actually happened." ], "next": [ { "name": "Research results report builder", "url": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/research-results-report-builder", "why": "Research results report builder" } ], "source": { "by": "Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors", "repo": "msitarzewski/agency-agents", "url": "https://github.com/msitarzewski/agency-agents/blob/b37b5bb33b78f2c1d6567d98e25ca818e3259219/testing/testing-tool-evaluator.md", "licence": "MIT", "original_name": "Tool Evaluator", "commit": "b37b5bb33b78f2c1d6567d98e25ca818e3259219" }, "credits": [ { "title": "Tool Evaluator", "by": "Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors", "url": "https://github.com/msitarzewski/agency-agents/blob/b37b5bb33b78f2c1d6567d98e25ca818e3259219/testing/testing-tool-evaluator.md", "used": "Original agent profile, preserved in references/source-agent.md; AI Blocks adds setup and review instructions." } ], "files": [ "LICENSE", "references/source-agent.md", "SETUP.md", "source.json" ], "links": { "page": "https://useaiblocks.com/agents/agency-testing-tool-evaluator", "markdown": "https://useaiblocks.com/agents/agency-testing-tool-evaluator.md", "json": "https://useaiblocks.com/agents/agency-testing-tool-evaluator.json", "instructions": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/agency-testing-tool-evaluator/SKILL.md", "download": "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/agency-testing-tool-evaluator.zip", "api_item": "https://useaiblocks.com/api/v1/items/agency-testing-tool-evaluator", "api_document": "https://useaiblocks.com/api/v1/documents/agent/agency-testing-tool-evaluator", "mcp": "https://useaiblocks.com/mcp" } }