# Perma-Beta

> Keeping the agent in "beta" forever — so quality regressions stay someone else's problem.

- **Category**: Agentic AI
- **Subcategory**: Anti-Patterns
- **Canonical URL**: https://designpattern.fyi/patterns/perma_beta/

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## Description
**Intent**: Shipping to real users under a beta label indefinitely — without the evaluation tooling needed to actually measure or gate quality across releases.

**Context**: The agent launches in beta. Months pass. It''s still beta — partly because quality hasn''t been measured, partly because removing the label would commit to a bar nobody can defend. The label quietly shifts from "actively iterating" to "not our fault."

**Solution**: Build the eval harness and exit beta deliberately. Set a measurable quality bar and gate releases on it. See eval-harness, llm-as-judge, shadow-canary.



## Use Cases
- Never use this; treat indefinite beta as a process failure and exit it deliberately.
- Build an eval harness so quality regressions are visible before they reach users.
- Pair eval-harness with llm-as-judge and shadow-canary to gate releases.






## Trade-offs




### Considerations & Drawbacks

- User trust erodes with no SLA to point to when things go wrong

- Quality stagnates because there''s nothing to improve against

- No defensible response when something fails in production







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**Reference**: [Original Source](https://www.agentpatternscatalog.org/patterns/perma-beta/)