The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for providing quality-driven processing of out-of-order data streams based on a configurable quality metric. In one example, the method includes identifying a configurable quality metric defined by a user or application for executing continuous queries over a sliding window, the metric specifying a user requirement for the quality of the continuous query result. A quality threshold metric is calculated based on the configurable quality metric, the configurable quality metric associated with a size of an adaptation buffer for incoming tuples of the query. In response to receiving a signal indicating a new query result, a sliding window prior to a current time is identified. A runtime quality metric associated with the incoming tuples for the sliding window is measured, and the adaptation buffer is modified based on a difference between the quality threshold metric and the measured runtime quality metric.