diff --git a/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/AutoEvaluation.tsx b/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/AutoEvaluation.tsx
index 30cc378d5..8de813dbe 100644
--- a/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/AutoEvaluation.tsx
+++ b/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/AutoEvaluation.tsx
@@ -540,7 +540,10 @@ const AutoEvaluation = () => {
                     <Button
                         icon={<Gauge size={14} />}
                         className={classes.button}
-                        onClick={() => setIsConfigEvaluatorModalOpen("open")}
+                        onClick={() => {
+                            setIsConfigEvaluatorModalOpen("open")
+                            setCurrent(0)
+                        }}
                     >
                         Configure evaluators
                     </Button>
diff --git a/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/EvaluatorsModal/EvaluatorsModal.tsx b/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/EvaluatorsModal/EvaluatorsModal.tsx
index afac6edf6..2d8a3c23a 100644
--- a/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/EvaluatorsModal/EvaluatorsModal.tsx
+++ b/agenta-web/src/components/pages/evaluations/autoEvaluation/EvaluatorsModal/EvaluatorsModal.tsx
@@ -79,14 +79,13 @@ const EvaluatorsModal = ({
             .finally(() => setFetchingEvalConfigs(false))
     }
 
-    const {data} = useVariants(currentApp)({
-        appId,
-        onSuccess: (data) => {
-            if (data?.variants?.length) {
-                setSelectedVariant(data?.variants[0])
-            }
-        },
-    })
+    const {data} = useVariants(currentApp)({appId})
+
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (data?.variants?.length) {
+            setSelectedVariant(data?.variants[0].variant)
+        }
+    }, [data])
 
     useEffect(() => {
         Promise.all([fetchAllEvaluators(), fetchAllEvaluatorConfigs(appId), fetchTestsets()]).then(
diff --git a/agenta-web/src/lib/helpers/utils.ts b/agenta-web/src/lib/helpers/utils.ts
index 40bf58140..c3dc2780c 100644
--- a/agenta-web/src/lib/helpers/utils.ts
+++ b/agenta-web/src/lib/helpers/utils.ts
@@ -130,6 +130,51 @@ export const safeParse = (str: string, fallback: any = "") => {
     }
 }
 
+export const extractChatMessages = (testcase: any) => {
+    if (testcase.messages)
+        return formatMessages(normalizeMessages(parseStringToJson(testcase.messages)))
+    if (testcase.chat) return formatMessages(normalizeMessages(parseStringToJson(testcase.chat)))
+
+    const filteredEntries = Object.entries(testcase).filter(([key]) => key !== "correct_answer")
+
+    for (const [_, value] of filteredEntries) {
+        const parsedValue = parseStringToJson(value)
+        if (Array.isArray(parsedValue)) {
+            return formatMessages(parsedValue)
+        }
+    }
+
+    return []
+}
+
+const parseStringToJson = (value: any) => {
+    if (typeof value === "string") {
+        try {
+            return JSON.parse(value)
+        } catch {
+            return value
+        }
+    }
+    return value
+}
+
+const normalizeMessages = (messages: any) => {
+    if (!Array.isArray(messages) && typeof messages === "object") {
+        return [messages]
+    }
+    return messages
+}
+
+const formatMessages = (messages: any) => {
+    if (typeof messages === "object" && !Array.isArray(messages)) {
+        messages = Object.values(messages)
+    }
+
+    return Array.isArray(messages)
+        ? messages.map(({role, content, id}) => ({role, content, id}))
+        : []
+}
+
 export const getAgentaApiUrl = () => {
     const apiUrl = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_AGENTA_API_URL
 
diff --git a/agenta-web/src/services/api.ts b/agenta-web/src/services/api.ts
index a3d6fa621..faa6b31ad 100644
--- a/agenta-web/src/services/api.ts
+++ b/agenta-web/src/services/api.ts
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ export async function callVariant(
 ): Promise<string | FuncResponse | BaseResponse> {
     const isChatVariant = Array.isArray(chatMessages) && chatMessages.length > 0
     // Separate input parameters into two dictionaries based on the 'input' property
-    const mainInputParams: Record<string, string> = {} // Parameters with input = true
+    const mainInputParams: Record<string, any> = {} // Parameters with input = true
     const secondaryInputParams: Record<string, string> = {} // Parameters with input = false
 
     for (let key of Object.keys(inputParametersDict)) {
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ export async function callVariant(
         if (paramDefinition && !paramDefinition.input) {
             secondaryInputParams[key] = inputParametersDict[key]
         } else {
+            // Parse the value if key is "messages"
             mainInputParams[key] = inputParametersDict[key]
         }
     }