# Resume an interrupted evaluation

:::callout{intent="note"}
`evaluate_resume` is a Python SDK feature for experiments created with
`opik.evaluate(...)`.
:::

A long evaluation can be interrupted: Ctrl-C, OOM, a metric raising, a network blip.
`opik.evaluate_resume(experiment_id, ...)` continues from where the original `evaluate(...)`
stopped — replaying only the runs that didn't finish, keeping the runs that did.

## Quick start

```python title="Python" language="python"
import opik
from opik.evaluation.metrics import Equals

def my_task(item):
    return {"output": call_my_model(item["input"])}

result = opik.evaluate_resume(
    experiment_id="<id of the experiment to resume>",
    task=my_task,
    scoring_metrics=[Equals()],
)
```

The returned `EvaluationResult` covers the **whole** experiment, not just the runs this call
executed. You don't pass `dataset`, `nb_samples`, or `experiment_name` — resume reads them
back from the experiment.

## What resume does

- **Keeps every run that already completed.** Outputs and feedback scores are preserved
  as-is; the task is not re-invoked for them.
- **Replays only the runs that didn't complete.** Failed task, failed scoring, never-reached
  items, and missing runs for items with `trial_count > 1` all replay.
- **Returns one merged result.** `EvaluationResult.test_results` covers both the kept runs
  and the freshly replayed ones.

## When `evaluate_resume` is the wrong tool

- **You want to re-score an existing experiment with new metrics.** Use
  [`opik.evaluate_experiment(...)`](https://www.comet.com/docs/opik/python-sdk-reference/evaluation/evaluate_experiment)
  — it scores existing runs without re-running the task.
- **You want to add more items to the experiment.** Resume only iterates the items the
  original evaluation saw. Start a fresh `evaluate()` against the larger dataset.
- **You changed the `task` implementation or the metrics between calls.** Providing the
  same `task` and `scoring_metrics` you used originally is the caller's responsibility.
  Resume calls your new `task` and runs your new metrics only for the missing runs;
  already-completed runs keep their original outputs and feedback scores. If the change
  should affect every run, start a fresh `evaluate()`.

## Requirements

To call `evaluate_resume`, the experiment must have been created by:

- A Python SDK version that supports resume.
- An `evaluate(...)` call against a **versioned dataset**.

If either condition isn't met, `evaluate_resume` raises
`opik.exceptions.ExperimentNotResumable`.

If the original `evaluate(...)` used a custom `dataset_sampler` or explicit
`dataset_item_ids`, resume also needs a local checkpoint that was written next to the
experiment id. Run resume from the same machine that ran the original call — otherwise
`opik.exceptions.LocalCheckpointMissing` is raised. Evaluations without a sampler or
explicit ids do **not** need to run on the same machine.

## Related pages

- [Building Test Suites](./evaluation-building-evaluation-suites.md)
- [Evaluate your agent](./evaluation-advanced-evaluate-your-llm.md)
- [Manage datasets](./evaluation-advanced-manage-datasets.md)
- [Evaluate agent trajectories](./evaluation-advanced-evaluate-agent-trajectory.md)
- [Evaluate multi-turn agents](./evaluation-advanced-evaluate-multi-turn-agents.md)
- [Annotation Queues](./evaluation-advanced-annotation-queues.md)
- [Manually logging experiments](./evaluation-advanced-log-experiments-with-rest-api.md)
- [Exporting experiment results](./evaluation-advanced-export-experiment-results.md)

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