do-and-judge
Task
Execute a single task by dispatching an implementation sub-agent, verifying with an independent judge, and iterating with feedback until passing or max retries exceeded.
Arguments
Example: /do-and-judge Refactor the UserService class to use dependency injection --strict
Context
This command implements a single-task execution pattern with meta-judge → LLM-as-a-judge verification. You (the orchestrator) dispatch a meta-judge (to generate evaluation criteria) and an implementation agent in parallel, then dispatch a judge with the meta-judge's evaluation specification to verify quality. If verification fails, you launch new implementation agent with judge feedback and iterate until passing (score ≥4, or accepted per the Iteration Discretion Rule) or max retries (3) exceeded.
Key benefits:
- Fresh context - Implementation agent works with clean context window
- Structured evaluation - Meta-judge produces tailored rubrics and checklists before judging
- External verification - Judge applies meta-judge specification mechanically — catches blind spots self-critique misses
- Parallel speed - Meta-judge and implementation run simultaneously
- Feedback loop - Retry with specific issues identified by judge
- Quality gate - Work doesn't ship until it meets threshold
CRITICAL: You are the orchestrator only - you MUST NOT perform the task yourself. IF you read, write or run bash tools you failed task imidiatly. It is single most critical criteria for you. If you used anyting except sub-agents you will be killed immediatly!!!! Your role is to:
- Analyze the task and select the model per the Model Selection Policy —
sonnet/haikuby default,opusonly when earned - Dispatch meta-judge AND implementation agent in parallel as foreground agents (meta-judge first in dispatch order)
- Dispatch judge agent with meta-judge's evaluation specification
- Parse verdict and iterate if needed (max 3 retries)
- Report final results or escalate
RED FLAGS - Never Do These
NEVER:
- Read implementation files to understand code details (let sub-agents do this)
- Write code or make changes to source files directly
- Skip judge verification to "save time"
- Read judge reports in full (only parse structured headers)
- Proceed after max retries without user decision
ALWAYS:
- Use Task tool to dispatch sub-agents for ALL implementation work
- Dispatch meta-judge and implementation agent in parallel (meta-judge FIRST in dispatch order)
- Wait for BOTH meta-judge and implementation to complete before dispatching judge
- Pass meta-judge evaluation specification to the judge agent
- Include
CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT=${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}`` in prompts to meta-judge and judge agents - Parse only VERDICT/SCORE/ISSUES from judge output
- Iterate with feedback if verification fails
Model Selection Policy
Picking the model is the single highest-leverage decision you make — more than any prompt wording, it decides whether the task comes back correct and how long it takes. You MUST NOT treat it as a formality: name the tier and give a one-line justification before dispatching. Reaching for the strongest model because you did not want to think is a failure, not caution.
Tier default: sonnet and haiku are the default. opus is reserved and opt-in — it MUST be earned by a trigger in the table below, never picked because you are unsure.
Selection Rules
Precedence (MANDATORY): evaluate EVERY row, not just the first that matches. When more than one row matches, the HIGHEST matching tier wins — criticality and complexity always override size. A four-line null check inside a security-critical auth handler matches both the haiku row and the opus row, and is therefore opus. The critical list is exhaustive, not illustrative: shipping to production, touching real users, or adding to a public API are NOT triggers, so a new endpoint with validation in one service file stays sonnet. Mechanical-breadth carve-out: breadth alone is not complexity — a purely mechanical change (e.g., renaming a symbol across many files, with no logic or contract change) stays at the tier its content earns no matter how many files it touches, so mechanically renaming a symbol across 40 files is haiku or sonnet work, not opus; this carve-out does NOT cover a shared-contract change (already an opus trigger above), so extracting a shared interface across files remains opus.
Tie-breaker: ONLY when no row matches cleanly — the task sits genuinely between two tiers — pick the cheaper tier. You MUST NOT bias up to opus to hedge; the Escalation Rule makes a cheap first guess recoverable, and one recovered run costs far less than over-provisioning every run.
Role Pairing
Any model-assigned pipeline has up to three roles — producer (does the work), criteria-setter (defines what "correct" means), evaluator (checks the work against those criteria); in this skill they instantiate as implementation / meta-judge / judge. Default: the SAME tier for all roles — and where a pipeline has no separate criteria-setter (e.g. a plan step or stage simply assigned a model), this default is the whole rule.
Only for a non-obvious task you MAY raise the criteria-setter alone by one tier, so the criteria are sharper than the work being evaluated. Non-obvious is testable: the tier was decided by the Tie-breaker (no Selection Rules row matched cleanly), OR the task states no checkable acceptance condition.
Producer and evaluator MAY be a differnt tier. You MAY decide to raise the evaluator alone if criteria list produced by criteria-setter looks too complex, but you MUST NOT set the criteria-setter below the producer tier.
Escalation Rule
Bump BOTH producer and evaluator (implementation and judge) one tier for the next iteration when either trigger fires:
- Low first-iteration quality — a low score, or issues showing the model misunderstood the task rather than merely missing details.
- The user complains that quality is too low or the results are wrong — at any point, including after a reported PASS.
Ladder: haiku → sonnet → opus. opus is the ceiling — there is no further tier. If opus-tier work still fails, escalate to the user, never loop.
- Explicit
--modelcarve-out (the ONLY statement of this rule): an explicit--modelis a user override, so trigger (1) MUST NOT silently overrule it — continue iterate with override model till you reach max retry limit. If target still not meet at the end, highlight the found issues and propose to the bump to user. Trigger (2) IS that approval, so it bumps immediately. - Escalation moves producer and evaluator only. A criteria-setter that already produced the evaluation specification is NOT re-run and NOT re-tiered — changing the criteria mid-task invalidates the comparison across attempts.
- Escalation is a complement to, never a substitute for, a genuine root-cause fix. You MUST still pass the judge's specific feedback into the retry; re-dispatching the same prompt at a higher tier and hoping is prohibited.
- Escalation is orthogonal to the score thresholds and the Iteration Discretion Rule — it changes which model runs the next iteration, never whether an iteration is warranted.
Cross-Provider Equivalence
When this skill runs outside the Anthropic model context, map the tier to the nearest model of the same class:
The mapping is by capability tier, not by name — exact names drift as vendors ship new models. Every rule above is expressed in tiers, so on another provider: map tier → your model of that class, then apply the selection, pairing and escalation rules unchanged.
Process
Phase 1: Task Analysis and Model Selection
Resolve configuration first: STRICT_MODE = --strict present || false. Strip all flags from the task text — never pass them into sub-agent prompts.
Unless the user passed --model, assess the task on three axes, then read the tier straight off the Selection Rules table:
- Scope — one file, one module, or multiple files?
- Complexity — mechanical edit, established pattern, or novel/intricate logic?
- Risk — isolated and reversible, internal, or critical per the exhaustive list in the Selection Rules
opusrow?
State the three findings, the chosen tier, and a one-line justification before dispatching. Then apply Role Pairing to decide the meta-judge tier — same tier as implementation unless the task is genuinely non-obvious. If the user passed --model, neither step runs: that one tier is used for implementation, meta-judge and judge alike, and Role Pairing MUST NOT raise the meta-judge above it.
Specialized Agents: Common agents from the sdd plugin include: sdd:developer, sdd:researcher, sdd:software-architect, sdd:tech-lead, sdd:business-analyst. If the appropriate specialized agent is not available, fallback to a general agent without specialization. You MUST use general-purpose every time, when there no direct coralation between task and specialized agent, or agent is not available!
Phase 2: Dispatch Meta-Judge and Implementation Agent (IN PARALLEL)
CRITICAL: Launch BOTH agents in a single message using two Task tool calls. The meta-judge MUST be the first tool call in the message so it can observe artifacts before the implementation agent modifies them.
Both agents run as foreground agents. Wait for both to complete before proceeding to Phase 3.
2.1 Meta-Judge Prompt
The meta-judge generates an evaluation specification (rubrics, checklist, scoring criteria) tailored to this specific task. It will return to you the evaluation specification YAML.
2.2 Implementation Agent Prompt
Construct the implementation prompt with these mandatory components:
Zero-shot Chain-of-Thought Prefix (REQUIRED - MUST BE FIRST)
Task Body
Self-Critique Suffix (REQUIRED - MUST BE LAST)
Dispatch
Determine the optimal agent type based on the task and avaiable agents, for exmple: code implementation -> sdd:developer agent. If you not sure, better use general-purpose agent, than dispatch incorrect agent type.
2.3 Parallel Dispatch Example
Send BOTH Task tool calls in a single message. Meta-judge first, implementation second:
Wait for BOTH to return before proceeding to Phase 3.
Phase 3: Dispatch Judge Agent
After BOTH meta-judge and implementation complete, dispatch the judge agent.
CRITICAL: Provide to the judge EXACT meta-judge's evaluation specification YAML, do not skip or add anything, do not modify it in any way, do not shorten or sumaraize any text in it!
Extract from meta-judge output:
- The final evaluation specification YAML
Extract from implementation output:
- Summary section (files modified, key changes)
- Paths to files modified
3.1 Analyze the Pre-existing Changes Section
Before dispatching the judge, assess whether there are pre-existing changes in the codebase that the judge needs to be aware of. The "Pre-existing Changes" section prevents the judge from confusing prior modifications with the current implementation agent's work.
When to include:
- Previous do-and-judge task runs completed earlier in the same session
- User's manual modifications made before invoking the skill (visible from conversation context or in git)
- Changes from other tools or agents that ran before this task
When to omit:
- This is the first task with no known prior changes — omit the section entirely
- On retries within the SAME task, do NOT include the implementation agent's own previous attempt as "pre-existing changes" — those are part of the current task's iteration cycle
Content guidelines:
- Use a high-level summary: task description, list of affected files/modules, general nature of changes (created, modified, deleted)
- Do NOT include code blocks, diffs, or line-level details — keep it concise
- Label the source clearly: "Previous Task: {description}", "User modifications (before current task)", etc.
- If multiple sources of pre-existing changes exist, use separate subsections for each
CRITICAL: avoid reading full codebase or git history, just use high-level git diff/status to determine which files were changed, or use conversation context to determine if there are any pre-existing changes.
3.2 Launch Judge with prompt and specification YAML
Judge prompt template:
Implementation Output
{Summary section from implementation agent} {Paths to files modified}
Instructions
Follow your full judge process as defined in your agent instructions!
Output
CRITICAL: You must reply with this exact structured evaluation report format in YAML at the START of your response!
Use Task tool:
- description: "Judge: {brief task summary}"
- prompt: {judge verification prompt with exact meta-judge specification YAML, and Pre-existing Changes section if applicable}
- model: {judge model — MUST equal the current implementation model, including after escalation}
- subagent_type: "sadd:judge"
Extract from judge reply:
- VERDICT: PASS or FAIL
- SCORE: X.X/5.0
- ISSUES: List of problems (if any)
- IMPROVEMENTS: List of suggestions (if any)
If score ≥4: → VERDICT: PASS → Report success with summary → Include IMPROVEMENTS as optional enhancements
If 3.0 ≤ score <4 and NOT STRICT_MODE: → Apply the Iteration Discretion Rule below → accepted → VERDICT: PASS (report outstanding issues) → declined → VERDICT: FAIL → go to "Check retry count" below
Otherwise (score <3.0, or score <4 with STRICT_MODE): → VERDICT: FAIL → Check retry count
If retries < 3: → Decide the retry tier per Phase 5 "Model Escalation on Retry" (bump BOTH implementation and judge, or hold) → Dispatch retry implementation agent with judge feedback → Return to Phase 3 (judge verification with same meta-judge specification)
If retries ≥ 3: → Escalate to user (see Error Handling) → Do NOT proceed without user decision
Phase 6: Final Report
After task passes verification:
Re-entry after reporting: a reported PASS does NOT close the task. If the user then says the result is wrong or the quality is too low, re-enter Phase 5 with their complaint as the feedback — that is Escalation Rule trigger (2), so bump BOTH producer and evaluator one tier (unless already opus) and retry. The retry budget resets: the complaint opens a fresh cycle of up to 3 retries even if the previous cycle exhausted its own.
Error Handling
If Max Retries Exceeded
When the task still fails verification after 3 retries:
- STOP - Do not proceed
- Report - Provide failure analysis:
- Original task requirements
- All judge verdicts and scores
- Persistent issues across retries
- Escalate - Present options to user:
- Provide additional context/guidance for retry
- Re-run at the next model tier up (unavailable if the run was already at
opus) - Modify task requirements
- Abort task
- Wait - Do NOT proceed without user decision
Escalation Report Format:
Examples
Example 1: Documentation Update (Pass on First Try)
Input:
Execution:
Example 2: Pass After Retry with Model Escalation
Input:
Execution:
Example 3: Task Requiring Escalation
Input:
Execution:
Example 4: Sequential do-and-judge Runs (Pre-existing Changes from Previous Task)
Input (first run):
Execution (first run):
Input (second run, same session):
Execution (second run):
Example 5: User-Modified Codebase Before do-and-judge
Scenario:
The user has been working on an e-commerce codebase during the conversation. They modified the shopping cart, product catalog, and checkout flow before invoking do-and-judge.
Input:
Execution:
Best Practices
Model Selection
The rules govern in the Model Selection Policy; these are the habits that make them stick:
- Justify out loud - state scope, complexity and risk plus the resulting tier before dispatching; this is the highest-leverage decision in the run
opusis earned, never a hedge - resolve every overlap and tie by the Selection Rules precedence and tie-breaker, never by instinct- One tier across roles - raise only the criteria-setter (meta-judge), and only for a non-obvious task (Role Pairing)
- Escalate on evidence - a clearly-too-low iteration or a user quality complaint (Escalation Rule)
Meta-Judge + Judge Verification
- Never skip meta-judge - Tailored evaluation criteria produce better judgments than generic ones
- Reuse meta-judge spec on retries - The evaluation specification stays constant across retry attempts; only the implementation changes
- Parse only headers from judge - Don't read full reports to avoid context pollution
- Trust the threshold - 4/5.0 is the quality gate; below it, the Iteration Discretion Rule decides (unless
--strict) - Include CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT - Both meta-judge and judge need the resolved plugin root path
Iteration
- Focus fixes - Don't rewrite everything, fix specific issues
- Pass feedback verbatim - Let the implementation agent see exact issues
- Same meta-judge spec - Do NOT re-run meta-judge on retries; the evaluation criteria don't change
- Escalate appropriately - Don't loop forever on fundamental problems
- Stay proportionate - Match iteration effort to task size per the Iteration Discretion Rule; at most ONE nitpick-driven retry
Context Management
- Keep it clean - You orchestrate, sub-agents implement
- Summarize, don't copy - Pass summaries, not full file contents
- Trust sub-agents - They can read files themselves
- Meta-judge YAML - Pass only the meta-judge YAML to the judge, do not add any additional text or comments to it!
- Track pre-existing changes - Pass context about prior modifications to the judge to prevent attribution confusion between pre-existing and current changes

