225 lines
8.7 KiB
Markdown
225 lines
8.7 KiB
Markdown
# Metrics and Scenarios
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Status: **v0.1 draft** — instruments for the [InnerLoop](InnerLoop.md).
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Everything the loop calls "better" is measured through the three artifact
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kinds defined here: **scenarios** (correctness), **benchmarks** (speed and
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cost), and **evidence files** (the committed comparison record).
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---
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## 1. Metric selection is itself a loop pass
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Metrics are not invented ad hoc. Every metric used in an acceptance table
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carries **provenance** — a one-line answer to "what state-of-the-art
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practice does this metric derive from, and how does ours improve on it?"
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| Provenance tag | Meaning |
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|---|---|
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| `adopted:<source>` | taken as-is from a named practice (e.g. `adopted:criterion` regression thresholds) |
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| `adapted:<source>` | derived from a named practice, with the delta stated |
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| `novel` | no known precedent — requires a sentence justifying why nothing existing fits |
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A metric with no provenance line is invalid. This keeps the
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assimilate-and-surpass discipline applied to the measuring instruments,
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not only to the measured components.
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### Standing metric set (v0.1)
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Selected for the four dimensions; capability specs pick from these first
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and add capability-specific rows only when these don't cover the claim.
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| ID | Dimension | Metric | Unit | Provenance |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| M-D1-COV | D1 | numbered spec rules covered by ≥1 passing scenario | % | adapted:requirements-traceability (per-rule, not per-feature) |
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| M-D1-SPL | D1 | spec lines per numbered rule | lines | novel — proxies statement simplicity; gameable, so paired with M-D1-COV |
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| M-D2-LOC | D2 | source LOC excluding tests (tokei) | lines | adopted:tokei |
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| M-D2-DEP | D2 | transitive dependency count (cargo tree) | crates | adopted:cargo-deny practice |
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| M-D2-BLD | D2 | clean build / incremental build time | s | adopted:cargo timing |
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| M-D2-TOK | D2 | tokens consumed per completed workplan task | tokens | novel — agentic-efficiency core metric; recorded per task in evidence |
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| M-D2-CST | D2 | **cost** per completed workplan task: tokens × the executing model's pricepoint | USD | adapted:anthropic-pricing — tokens alone mislead once models with different prices mix; see §1a |
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| M-D3-THR | D3 | events applied per second, headless replay | events/s | adapted:criterion (throughput mode) |
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| M-D3-LAT | D3 | p99 command→state-applied latency | µs | adopted:criterion |
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| M-D3-MEM | D3 | peak resident memory during benchmark scenario | MB | adopted:/usr/bin/time -v |
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| M-D4-API | D4 | public API items (cargo doc item count) | items | adapted:cargo-public-api |
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| M-D4-LEAK | D4 | foreign types in canonical interfaces | count | novel — must be 0; enforced by grep/deny rule, the Clay-Borg hard rule |
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| M-D4-SWAP | D4 | capability has null + reference impls passing the same conformance suite | bool | adapted:hexagonal-architecture port testing |
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### 1a. Token cost accounting (M-D2-CST)
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Token counts are only comparable at a single pricepoint. Since work moves
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between models (Fable for demanding passes, Sonnet/Opus for routine ones),
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every task's token record carries the **model** it ran on, and cost is
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computed against a committed price sheet:
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```text
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benchmarks/baselines/model-prices.toml # the price sheet, updated when prices change
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```
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```toml
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# USD per million tokens; source: Anthropic pricing, recorded 2026-07-31
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[claude-fable-5]
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input = 10.00
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output = 50.00
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[claude-opus-5]
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input = 5.00
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output = 25.00
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[claude-sonnet-5]
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input = 3.00 # intro 2.00 through 2026-08-31
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output = 15.00 # intro 10.00 through 2026-08-31
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[claude-haiku-4-5]
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input = 1.00
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output = 5.00
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[cache] # multipliers on the input price
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read = 0.1
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write_5m = 1.25
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write_1h = 2.0
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```
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Rules:
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- `cost = (in_tokens × input + out_tokens × output) / 1e6`, using the sheet
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in force at the time the work ran; cache reads/writes, when known, use the
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multipliers. If cache split is unknown, count all input at full price and
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note it — cost is then an upper bound.
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- The state-hub task close (`update_task_status`) already records tokens and
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`model`; the evidence file's task log adds the computed USD figure so
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cross-model comparisons are honest.
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- **Cheaper is only better at equal quality**: M-D2-CST verdicts are valid
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only alongside passing scenarios/metrics from the same run — a cheap
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failed pass scores nothing.
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- Prices are `adopted:anthropic-pricing` with a recorded date; a stale sheet
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(> 90 days or known price change) invalidates new `better` verdicts on
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M-D2-CST until refreshed.
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Determinism is not a metric but an **invariant**: N replays of the same
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seed and command log must produce bit-identical state hashes. Invariant
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violations fail the run regardless of metric values.
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---
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## 2. Scenario format
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Scenarios are the correctness currency: executable, declarative, diffable.
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One file = one scenario. Location: `scenarios/<game-or-capability>/<slug>.yaml`.
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```yaml
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scenario: ground/darvo-interrupted-by-ground # id = path without extension
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description: GROUND practice interrupts a DARVO sequence at the Attack step.
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covers: [R-041, R-052, R-053] # numbered rules from the capability spec
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seed: 42
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setup:
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players: 3
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preset: standard-3p # named setup preset from the game spec
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patch: # optional explicit state overrides
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relationships:
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- {from: P1, to: P2, kind: rivalry, strength: 2}
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commands: # ordered; actor-tagged
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- {actor: P1, cmd: trigger_darvo, target: P2}
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- {actor: P2, cmd: play_ground, target: P1}
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expect:
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events: # ordered subsequence that must occur
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- {type: DarvoInterrupted, step: attack}
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state: # end-state assertions, dot-path = value
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darvo_sequences: []
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relationships[P1->P2].strength: 1
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rejects: [] # commands above that must be rejected, by index
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```
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Rules:
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- `covers` is what feeds M-D1-COV; a scenario without `covers` counts for
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nothing.
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- Assertions are **partial**: only listed paths are checked. Full-state
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golden comparison is opt-in via `expect.state_hash`.
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- Every scenario must be deterministic given `seed`; the runner executes
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each scenario twice and fails on hash divergence (cheap standing
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determinism check).
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- A failing run writes `replays/<scenario-id>.cbreplay` (see §4).
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---
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## 3. Benchmarks and baselines
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Benchmarks live in `benchmarks/` as Criterion benches driving scenario
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files (a benchmark is a scenario run at scale — no separate workload
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format).
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Baselines are **committed numbers**, recorded once per approved survey and
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updated only by an explicit ADR:
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```text
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benchmarks/baselines/<capability>.toml
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```
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```toml
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[M-D3-THR]
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value = 120000
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unit = "events/s"
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source = "boardgame.io v0.50, measured locally, 3-player synthetic log"
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recorded = 2026-07-31
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machine = "bnt-lap001"
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[M-D2-LOC]
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value = 8400
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unit = "lines"
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source = "boardgame.io core, cloc, cited from CB-RES-0001"
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```
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- Comparisons are same-machine where `machine` is set; cross-machine
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numbers are marked `provenance = cited` and treated as directional.
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Per the runnable-baseline option in [InnerLoop.md](InnerLoop.md) §Step 1,
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evidence rows compared only against cited numbers cap their verdict at
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`parity`; a `better` verdict requires a locally measured baseline from a
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fidelity-noted harness.
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- Regression rule (adopted:criterion): a merge-blocking regression is
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>3% on any D3 metric against **our own** last evidence file, independent
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of the SOTA baseline.
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---
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## 4. Replay bundle
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`*.cbreplay` is a directory (or tar) with exactly:
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```text
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manifest.yaml # scenario id, seed, git commit, schema versions
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commands.log # the full ordered command stream (serialized events optional)
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initial.snapshot # starting state
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expected.yaml # the assertions that failed, with expected vs actual
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```
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Contract: `cb replay <bundle>` (until the CLI exists: the scenario runner's
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`--replay` flag) re-executes the bundle headless and must reproduce the
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failure bit-identically. A bug report without a replay bundle is
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information; with one, it is work an agent can start.
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---
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## 5. Evidence file
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`evidence/CB-EV-NNNN-<slug>.md` — the committed close-out of a loop pass:
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```markdown
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# CB-EV-NNNN: <capability>
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research: CB-RES-NNNN adr: ADR-NNNN spec: specs/<Capability>.md
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commit: <sha of measured tree>
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| Metric | Baseline | Ours | Verdict |
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| M-D3-THR | 120000 events/s (boardgame.io) | 410000 events/s | better |
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| ...every acceptance row, no `unmeasured`... |
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## Task cost log
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| Task | Model | Tokens in/out | Cost (USD, per price sheet) | Iterations |
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## Retrospective
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<what the loop itself should change — one paragraph minimum>
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```
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Verdicts: `better / parity / worse`. A `worse` row does not necessarily
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fail the pass — the ADR's declared trade governs — but an undeclared
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`worse` does.
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