Understanding the Unique Challenges of AI Application Testing

Testing LLM applications isn't like testing regular software. When your "code" has AI agents making choices on their own, applying tools, and recalling discussions, regular testing just doesn't work. That's where specialized observability and testing approaches come in. They're made especially for the weird issues of LLM system testing.

Introduction

Come on - you can't test LLM applications because it is like trying to test a conversation with somebody else. How do you test responses that change every time you try it? How do you debug when the AI gets to tell you how to use the tools? How do you know your agent is thinking the right way if you can't even see what's going on inside its "head"?

All these problems are made that much more difficult when you're building advanced AI agents that:

• Interact with multiple tools and APIs
• Remember conversations from session to session
• Chain together many thinking steps
• Work together with other AI agents as subagents

Standard testing frameworks weren't built for this. You need something that knows how LLM systems actually function.

Modern testing approaches fill this need by giving you:

• Observability tools that make testing possible
• End-to-end visibility into all the steps your agent is executing
• Analysis capabilities that inform you exactly what's happening
• Monitoring systems so issues can be caught in the act

Alright, let's dive into understanding these challenges and building better testing strategies.

The Challenge of Testing LLM-based Agents

Let's discuss why it's so unlike testing normal software before we get into solutions.

Non-deterministic outputs

Deterministic software behavior - same input, same output, every time. LLMs are fundamentally stochastic. Even with the exact same prompt, an LLM can:

• Express the same thing in different words
• Choose tools in a different order
• Answer with less or more information
• Make different (and comparable quality) choices

This precludes regular testing from being practically possible. You can't just test response === "expected string" when the response varies every time.

State and memory implications

LLM agents have retained knowledge between conversations. What the agent responds with is dependent on more than what your immediate question is:

• What happened in prior conversations
• Things in memory
• User state now
• Environment choices

This means tests can affect other tests, and debugging will have to take the whole system state into consideration.

Use of tools and impact on the external world

Modern AI agents not only generate text - they actually do something in the external world:

• Send emails and notifications
• Book meetings and appointments
• Query databases and APIs
• Process payments and transactions

While evaluating these agents, you need to take into account:

• How to mock external service calls
• How to verify if the right tools were invoked with correct data
• How to verify when the external services are unavailable
• How to verify tools are invoked in the proper order

Why conventional testing methods fail

Conventional testing systems struggle with:

1. Random output - Standard assertions break
2. Deep interactions - Agents make many tool calls and thinking steps
3. State management - Memory and context control everything
4. Async behavior - Agent output contains multiple async operations
5. Error chains - Failures can propagate through tool chains and subagents

Click to zoom

This is where specialized observability and testing approaches become crucial.

How Observability Changes LLM Testing

Traditional testing relies on predictable inputs and outputs. LLM testing requires understanding the entire execution flow and decision-making process.

Understanding execution patterns

Instead of testing specific outputs, we need to understand:

• What decisions the AI made and why
• Which tools were called and in what order
• How memory and context influenced responses
• Where bottlenecks and failures occurred

Pattern-based testing approaches

Rather than exact output matching, effective LLM testing focuses on:

• Behavioral patterns - Does the agent follow expected workflows?
• Tool usage patterns - Are the right tools called for specific scenarios?
• Error handling patterns - How does the system respond to failures?
• Performance patterns - Are response times consistent?

Testing through observation

The key insight is that LLM testing is more like behavioral analysis than unit testing. You need to:

1. Observe how the system behaves under different conditions
2. Analyze patterns in the execution traces
3. Identify deviations from expected behavior
4. Document successful patterns for regression testing

Observability with VoltOps - A Case Study

While there are various observability tools available, VoltOps provides a good example of how modern observability can transform LLM testing and debugging.

Step-by-step execution analysis

Modern observability tools show you explicitly how your agent handled a request:

Click to zoom

This timeline shows you:

• What happened when - Operation order
• Decision points - Why the agent acted that way
• Data flow - Where information moved between pieces
• Timing - How long each took

Tool and API interaction logging

Every external interaction gets logged with complete details:

{
  "interaction": {
    "type": "api_call",
    "service": "weather_api",
    "parameters": {
      "location": "Paris",
      "units": "celsius"
    },
    "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "executionTime": "247ms",
    "status": "success"
  },
  "response": {
    "data": {
      "temperature": 22,
      "conditions": "sunny",
      "humidity": 65
    },
    "responseTime": "180ms"
  }
}

This detailed logging allows you to:

• Verify correct parameters - Make sure APIs are called with appropriate inputs
• Debug failures - Determine exactly what happens when services go wrong
• Optimize performance - Find slow external calls
• Monitor reliability - Track success rates and error patterns

Memory and context analysis

Understanding how memory affects AI behavior:

You can observe:

• What was retrieved from memory per request
• What was stored after each interaction
• How context influenced agent choices
• Memory performance and optimization opportunities

Revealing decision-making processes

Modern observability tools open up the "black box" by making available:

1. Reasoning steps - Why the agent made specific decisions
2. Context usage - How previous context influenced responses
3. Tool selection logic - Why certain tools were chosen
4. Error propagation - How mistakes move around the system

Click to zoom

This visibility is critical to:

• Fixing deep, multi-component bugs
• Understanding performance bottlenecks
• Optimizing behavior based on observed patterns
• Building confidence in AI decisions

Real-World Example: Debugging with Observability

Here's a walk-through of how observability tools can help solve real-world testing problems.

Example scenario: Multi-step AI workflow

Let's say we're analyzing a customer support AI that can:

• Search customer information
• Check order status
• Schedule follow-up calls
• Send email notifications

Observability-driven debugging process

When analyzing the query: "Hi, I'm [email protected] and need help with my previous order"

Modern observability shows the complete execution flow:

Step 1: Initial Processing

{
  "step": 1,
  "type": "user_input",
  "content": "Hi, I'm [email protected] and need help with my previous order",
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "extracted_entities": ["email", "order_inquiry"]
}

Step 2: Decision Analysis

{
  "step": 2,
  "type": "decision_making",
  "decision": "customer_lookup_required",
  "confidence": 0.95,
  "reasoning": "Email provided, need profile before proceeding with order inquiry"
}

Step 3: Customer Lookup

{
  "step": 3,
  "type": "external_call",
  "service": "customer_database",
  "input": {
    "email": "[email protected]"
  },
  "output": {
    "customerId": "cust_123",
    "name": "John Doe",
    "tier": "premium",
    "lastContact": "2024-01-10"
  },
  "executionTime": "156ms"
}

Common problems revealed through observability

During analysis, observability often reveals issues like:

Problem 1: Inefficient Call Patterns

What observability revealed: Agent was making redundant API calls, checking customer status multiple times.

Observability data:

{
  "issue": "redundant_calls",
  "pattern": "customer_lookup called 3 times in sequence",
  "impact": "300ms additional latency",
  "solution": "implement caching layer"
}

Problem 2: Context Loss

What observability revealed: Agent wasn't maintaining conversation context properly.

Observability trace:

{
  "context_analysis": {
    "previous_context": null,
    "current_context": "order_inquiry",
    "issue": "session_context_not_preserved",
    "recommendation": "implement_session_management"
  }
}

Problem 3: Error Handling Gaps

What observability revealed: Silent failures when external services were slow.

Error trace:

{
  "error_analysis": {
    "service": "order_status_api",
    "timeout": "5000ms",
    "actual_response_time": "8000ms",
    "result": "silent_failure",
    "user_impact": "incomplete_response"
  }
}

Click to zoom

Testing Strategies for LLM Applications

Based on observability insights, here are effective testing approaches:

Observability-driven testing

Instead of writing tests first, use observability to understand behavior:

1. Monitor real interactions with various inputs
2. Analyze execution patterns to understand normal behavior
3. Identify edge cases from actual usage data
4. Document expected patterns based on successful executions
5. Create tests that verify these patterns

This approach helps you write tests that actually matter, not just tests that pass.

Pattern validation testing

Focus on validating behavioral patterns rather than exact outputs:

• Workflow patterns: Does the AI follow logical sequences?
• Error handling patterns: How does it respond to failures?
• Performance patterns: Are response times consistent?
• Decision patterns: Are choices appropriate for context?

Regression testing with execution traces

Use recorded execution traces for regression testing:

• Capture successful interactions as baseline behaviors
• Compare new executions against known good patterns
• Alert on significant deviations from established patterns
• Build regression suites from real-world scenarios

Continuous monitoring as testing

Treat production monitoring as continuous testing:

• Real-time pattern analysis of live interactions
• Anomaly detection for unusual behaviors
• Performance regression detection for degrading systems
• User experience monitoring for impact assessment

Best Practices for LLM Testing

What we've learned from analyzing LLM applications in production:

Start with observability, not tests

Don't begin with formal tests. Instead, use observability to understand how your system behaves:

1. Deploy observability first before writing tests
2. Collect real usage data to understand patterns
3. Identify critical behaviors that need protection
4. Then create tests that verify these behaviors

This approach ensures your tests are based on real-world needs.

Focus on patterns, not exact outputs

LLM testing is about behavioral validation, not output matching:

• Test decision patterns rather than specific words
• Validate workflow sequences rather than exact responses
• Check error handling rather than perfect responses
• Monitor performance trends rather than absolute numbers

Use production data for test scenarios

Real user interactions provide the best test cases:

• Anonymize and use real conversation patterns
• Extract edge cases from production incidents
• Build test suites from successful interaction patterns
• Update tests regularly based on new usage patterns

Implement layered monitoring

Different types of issues require different monitoring approaches:

• Performance monitoring for response times and throughput
• Quality monitoring for response appropriateness
• Error monitoring for failure patterns and recovery
• Business monitoring for user satisfaction and outcomes

Conclusion

Testing LLM apps does not have to be daunting. With proper observability tools and pattern-based testing approaches, you can build AI systems with confidence. You'll understand how to analyze behavior, identify issues, and verify quality as your applications mature.

The future belongs to teams that can effectively observe, understand, and validate their LLM applications. Start building these capabilities now with modern observability tools and testing strategies.