claude
389ac2e460
Apply the no-ai-slop standard (now binding in AGENTS.md): the em-dash character is banned outright (restructured, not blind-replaced), plus the banned word/phrase list (delve, leverage, robust, seamless, truly, unlock, etc.). 0 em-dashes remain in modules + capstone; the only "robust" left is the planted M10 ai-change.patch trap. Module H1 titles use a colon separator. All deliberate teaching devices preserved; labs compile/parse (py/sh/yaml/json); no junk. AGENTS.md updated with the hard no-slop rules. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01TfzV5QvtPDz8LJS3Pu5VLT
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Reviewing an AI-generated diff: working checklist
Keep this open while you read a diff the AI produced. The point is not to re-read the whole file; it's to interrogate the change against the prompt you gave. Work top to bottom.
0. Frame the review
- What did I actually ask for? Write the request in one sentence. Every changed line should trace back to it.
- Read the diff, not the summary. Ignore the AI's account of what it did; the diff is the
only ground truth. (
git diff main..<branch>)
1. Scope: did it change only what was asked?
- Every hunk maps to the request. Anything outside it is scope creep until proven otherwise.
- No unrelated files touched (formatting churn, import reshuffles, version bumps).
- No "while I was here" refactors of code the request never mentioned.
2. Deletions: what did it take away?
- Read every
-line. Deletions are higher-risk than additions and skim right past you. - Edge-case handling still there? Bounds checks,
None/empty guards,try/except, validation, error returns; confirm none were dropped or weakened. - An error that used to be raised/logged isn't now silently swallowed (
except: pass).
3. Plausibility: does it only look right?
- Invented APIs. Every function, method, kwarg, attribute, import, env var, CLI flag, config key, and endpoint actually exists. Confidence is not evidence; verify the unfamiliar ones against real docs/source.
- Invented behavior. It isn't relying on a flag/option that doesn't do what the name
suggests (e.g. assuming
list.poptakes a default likedict.pop). - Off-by-one / boundary logic. Indexing, ranges, slicing, loop bounds, 0- vs 1-based.
- Inverted or weakened conditions.
if not xvsif x,<vs<=,andvsor, a filter quietly dropped from a comprehension.
4. Behavior change: would the happy path hide it?
- Does any existing command/function behave differently now? Trace one real call through.
- Run the failure case, not the success case. The trap usually survives the happy path. Feed it bad input, an empty list, a missing file, a duplicate.
- Return values / exit codes unchanged where callers depend on them.
5. Decide
- I can explain, in my own words, what every hunk does and why it's correct.
- If I can't, I request changes; the burden of proof is on the diff, not on me.
Rule of thumb: a diff is guilty until proven correct. "It runs" is the weakest possible evidence; "I read every
-line and ran the failure case" is the bar.