Judge

Quality review and evaluation skill that verifies completed work against defined criteria. Part of the two-tier multi-agent architecture where Judge evaluates worker output.

Contract

Inputs:

• Completed work output (files, changes, artifacts)
• Original acceptance criteria or success criteria
• Context about what was attempted

Outputs:

• Pass/fail determination
• List of issues found (if any)
• Recommendations for fixes (if failing)

Success Criteria:

• All acceptance criteria evaluated
• Clear pass/fail determination provided
• Actionable feedback given for any failures

When to Use

Invoke the judge skill:

1. After atomic skill completion - Before marking work as done
2. Before committing - Final quality gate
3. After build/test phases - Verify implementation meets spec
4. When reviewing generated code - Catch issues before integration

When NOT to Use

Skip the judge skill for:

• Trivial changes - Single-line fixes, typo corrections
• Mid-workflow - Don't interrupt atomic skills; judge at phase boundaries
• Exploratory work - When user is iterating quickly and explicitly skipping review
• User-requested skip - When user says "just do it" or "skip review"

Review Process

Step 1: Gather Context

Collect the materials needed for review:

1. The output - What was produced (files, code, documents)
2. The criteria - What was supposed to be achieved (acceptance criteria, spec)
3. The scope - What was in/out of scope for this work

Step 2: Evaluate Against Criteria

For each acceptance criterion:

1. Check if the criterion is met
2. Note any partial completion
3. Document evidence (file paths, line numbers, test results)

Use this evaluation format:

## Review: [Work Description]

### Criteria Evaluation

| Criterion | Status | Evidence |
|-----------|--------|----------|
| [Criterion 1] | PASS/FAIL/PARTIAL | [Evidence] |
| [Criterion 2] | PASS/FAIL/PARTIAL | [Evidence] |

### Issues Found

1. [Issue description]
   - **Severity**: Critical/Major/Minor
   - **Location**: [File/line]
   - **Fix**: [Recommended action]

### Verdict

**PASS** / **FAIL** / **PASS WITH NOTES**

[Summary of decision]

Step 3: Apply Review Dimensions

Evaluate across these dimensions based on work type:

For Code Changes

For Document Generation

For Infrastructure Changes

Severity Levels

Verdicts

PASS

All criteria met, no critical/major issues. Work can proceed.

FAIL

Critical issues found OR acceptance criteria not met. Work must be revised.

Provide:

• Specific issues with locations
• Recommended fixes
• Which criteria failed

PASS WITH NOTES

All criteria met, but minor issues noted. Work can proceed with awareness of noted items.

Integration with Orchestrators

When used in orchestrated workflows:

1. Orchestrator invokes atomic skill - Work is produced
2. Orchestrator invokes judge - Work is evaluated
3. If PASS - Proceed to next phase
4. If FAIL - Return to previous skill with feedback

This creates the planner/worker/judge pattern that scales.

Quick Review Checklist

For rapid reviews, use this checklist:

## Quick Review

- [ ] All acceptance criteria addressed
- [ ] No obvious bugs or errors
- [ ] Follows project conventions
- [ ] No scope creep
- [ ] Ready to commit/proceed

**Verdict**: PASS / FAIL

References

See references/review-criteria.md for detailed review criteria by skill type.