The Foundations Every Task Must Get Right
Two decisions made before prompt 1 that cannot be repaired afterwards. Each one is cheap to check and expensive to get wrong.
The deliverable sits below the complexity bar
The deliverable misses its type's complexity floor.
The task relies on records the universe does not hold
A rule reads off records the assigned universe does not hold, such as a catalog or a policy page, while prompts, inputs and criteria read as if they were there.
What you may not tell Model A or Model B
Leg A defines the task: the opening prompt and the follow ups you send Model A. Leg B is the golden run: Model B gets the same opening prompt, word for word, then the turns you send it as you steer it through the milestones. The no leak rule and the input folder are the same in both legs; what a turn may point at is not.
A Leg B hint that hands Model B the answer
In Leg B, a turn you send Model B hands it what it had to work out: a value, a count, a position or the conclusion.
A Leg A prompt that answers its own attachment
A Leg A prompt that hands Model A a file also states what the file exists to make it read, such as a count or which document is current.
A deferred asset that announces its own turn
Something in the input folder, open to both models from turn 1, previews a later turn: a file named for its turn, or a document carrying a later instruction.
Milestones
Written from the Leg A conversation with Model A, used in Leg B to steer Model B. Three standards cover what sits around the intent line: Modifier and Assets Delivered, the stopping rules, and one milestone per requirement on every Leg A turn.
Modifier and Assets Delivered that do not match the Leg A turn
Modifier or Assets Delivered misdescribes the milestone's Leg A turn: deferred_asset or revision on Leg A turn 1, none as a modifier, a bare extension for a filename, or a deferred file no row lists.
Stopping rules that do not gate the turn
Continuation criteria, read in Leg B to decide when Model B moves on, either miss one of their Leg A turn's asks or demand what that turn cannot produce, such as a later turn's file.
A Leg A turn no milestone covers, or the same milestone written twice
A Leg A turn no milestone covers, usually from a set stopping a turn short, or two milestones on one turn with identical intent and clauses.
A rubric that separates two runs
A rubric exists to tell a strong run from a weak one. Five standards keep it doing that, and a set can break any of them while still looking complete.
A rubric that can only reward, never penalise
Too few negatives for the scenario's traps, so taking the bait costs nothing extra, or a negative worded as the virtue, which marks down correct runs.
A requirement nothing grades, and a criterion nothing asked for
A prompt requirement no criterion checks, or a criterion no turn asked for, usually written from the golden.
Weights that do not separate difficulty from lookup
Weights that ignore difficulty: a cross source derivation weighted like a direct read, or one operation at 5 in one row and 3 in the next.
More trajectory criteria than the Guidelines allow
More than five criteria target Trajectory.
A run that does not fail enough of the rubric
The criteria Model A fails carry under half the rubric's weight, both blocks counted.
Criteria a correct run can pass
A criterion has to pass a correct run, fail a wrong one, carry the right Category and Evaluation Target, and count once. If your own golden fails one, check the criterion first: it is usually the one that is broken.
A criterion the golden itself fails
Your golden fails a criterion that is wrong about the task: a rule only the Desired Outcome states, a phrase at a different length than the golden renders, or a file the inputs archive lacks.
Criteria a correct run cannot pass, or a wrong one can
A criterion stricter than its source fails correct runs: it pins a figure the source leaves open, picks one answer of several, insists on one of two sources, or scopes to a step that lacks the values.
Category and Evaluation Target filled with the wrong kind of value
Category or Evaluation Target does not fit the criterion: Agent Behavior or Tool Use on an artifact, a category in the target field, or a subjective row tagged Instruction Following.
The same check written twice
Two criteria decided by the same evidence: one inside a broader one, a negative mirroring a positive, or a subjective criterion restating an objective value.
The subjective block
Ten or more criteria, no more than 30% of the weight, each grading a property of the render rather than your golden's wording, and each naming its file when the task ships more than one. Check all four before you submit.
Subjective criteria that never name the file
Subjective criteria describe features without naming the file that carries them, usually after the first one or two.
Too few subjective criteria, or too much weight on them
The subjective block holds fewer than ten criteria, or more than 30% of the total weight.
Subjective criteria that require your golden's wording
A subjective criterion requires the exact heading or label your golden happens to use, words no prompt contains.
Closing the task
The golden is a deliverable, not a run you stopped. Check every value against its source and every revision for wording it left behind, then run the close out before you submit.
The golden states something its own sources contradict
The golden states a value its source, or its own page, contradicts, often one true at an earlier turn.
A revision that leaves the old wording standing
A revision changes what was asked but leaves wording that depended on it, so the artifact states the old position and the new one.
The five minute close out nobody runs
Five cheap checks, often skipped: stray files in the golden archive, a filename spelled two ways, a golden that stops early, no starred run, and clauses a grader must decode.
No mistake matches this filter.