E27 stack: conditional impl tier + final-review tier pin + narration recipe + terse reviewer contract

Claims are fidelity and variance, not dollars (full attribution in the
superpowers-evals experiment log, 2026-06-11 L1 entry):
- Global Constraints header: 0/5 -> 5/5 adoption in micro-tests, exact
  values verbatim; makes constraints mechanically propagatable to briefs
  and reviewers (a version-floor violation class shipped because they
  weren't). The one fix wave in the elicited full runs was a version-floor
  catch this header enabled.
- Per-task Interfaces blocks: 0 -> 100% of tasks, exact signatures,
  within-plan consistent; removes the controller's per-dispatch interface
  re-derivation.
- Task right-sizing: 9.4 -> 8.4 mean tasks at svelte scale (kills
  standalone Types/README micro-tasks); no effect at small scale.
- End-to-end (opus-written plan executed under SDD): guidance plan ran 1
  fix wave vs control's 2-4 (control plan shipped a real Sierpinski bug);
  execution cost equal within noise.

docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-10-strict-cost-sdd-design.md

@@ -65,13 +65,21 @@ fewer, better-sized tasks, SDD still runs one fresh subagent per task.
 
 ### L1 — Plan-side crispness (writing-plans changes; est. −$1.5-3/run, plus variance reduction)
 
-**Status 2026-06-11: validated in effect.** A hand-crisped fractals plan
+**Status 2026-06-11 (final): elicitation tested end-to-end; claims
-(10 → 7 tasks, `## Global Constraints` header, per-task `Interfaces:`
+re-attributed.** Micro-tests: constraints header and Interfaces blocks
-lines — scenario `sdd-go-fractals-crisp`) ran 3/3 green at $9.51-12.65
+elicit deterministically (0→5/5, 0→100% of tasks, exact values);
-(mean $11.60 vs combo band $11.67-14.84), 20-24 dispatches vs 28, fix
+right-sizing is modest and scale-dependent (9.4→8.4 tasks at svelte
-waves flat. What remains is elicitation: getting writing-plans guidance
+scale, nothing to move at fractals scale). Full runs: an elicited plan
-to *produce* such plans (micro-test per the doctrine, then the follow-up
+executed at $6.34/$8.49 — but the no-guidance control (opus plan,
-PR). See the experiments log, Batch A-E.
+complete code) hit $7.59/$7.73, inside that range. **The cost win
+belongs to opus-written complete-code plans; the hand-written prose
+fixture plans all prior numbers used are unrepresentative and ~2×
+costlier to execute.** The guidance owns fidelity and variance instead:
+deterministic constraints propagation (the one elicited-run fix was a
+version-floor catch), exact cross-task interfaces, fix waves 1 vs 2-4
+(the control plan shipped a real Sierpinski bug both runs had to fix).
+The writing-plans PR claims those grounds, not dollars. Draft at
+/tmp/sdd-exp/writing-plans-l1 (branch writing-plans-crisp).
 
 The plan is upstream of every cost: task count sets dispatch count; plan
 ambiguity sets review-loop count; plan completeness sets implementer
@@ -110,7 +118,25 @@ target economics and ambiguity, not placeholder hygiene.
 
 ### L2 — Controller tier (est. −$4-5/run; the biggest single lever, gated hardest)
 
-**Status 2026-06-11: recon positive (n=2), gates still owed.**
+**Status 2026-06-11 (final): DIED AT THE GATES, as pre-registered — with
+useful anatomy.** Recon was positive ($6.68/$8.05, n=2, mechanics clean).
+The full battery split the judgment surface: the new
+`sdd-escalates-broken-plan` scenario (explicit plan self-contradiction;
+the human never volunteers it) passed **5/5 at sonnet** ($1.02-1.37/run;
+opus baseline 2/2) — explicit conflicts get escalated. But the
+planted-defect battery failed decisively: under a sonnet controller the
+per-task quality gate collapsed into plan-compliance advocacy ("no
+assertion, as required" listed under Strengths), the defect shipped in
+4/5 runs (deterministic check), and only the tier-pinned opus final
+reviewer ever caught it — while the same sonnet-tier reviewers under an
+opus controller flagged it 5/5. Cheap controllers handle explicit
+escalation; they absorb implicit authority-vs-quality adjudication.
+A possible L2b (discrete rule: "a reviewer finding that conflicts with
+the plan's text is the human's decision — escalate it") would route the
+failing judgment through the escalation behavior that held; untested.
+Original recon notes follow.
+
+**Recon (superseded):**
 Sonnet-controller runs (claude-sonnet coding-agent): all gates green at
 **$6.68 and $8.05** / 31-41 min (combo band $11.67-14.84), tokens inside
 the combo band — no cheap-controller turn inflation. 26/26 and 31/31

skills/subagent-driven-development/SKILL.md

@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ Execute plan by dispatching a fresh implementer subagent per task, a task review
 
 **Core principle:** Fresh subagent per task + task review (spec + quality) + broad final review = high quality, fast iteration
 
+**Narration:** between tool calls, narrate at most one short line — the
+ledger and the tool results carry the record.
+
 **Continuous execution:** Do not pause to check in with your human partner between tasks. Execute all tasks from the plan without stopping. The only reasons to stop are: BLOCKED status you cannot resolve, ambiguity that genuinely prevents progress, or all tasks complete. "Should I continue?" prompts and progress summaries waste their time — they asked you to execute the plan, so execute it.
 
 ## When to Use
@@ -88,6 +91,8 @@ Use the least powerful model that can handle each role to conserve cost and incr
 **Integration and judgment tasks** (multi-file coordination, pattern matching, debugging): use a standard model.
 
 **Architecture and design tasks**: use the most capable available model.
+The final whole-branch review is one of these — dispatch it on the most
+capable available model, not the session default.
 
 **Review tasks**: choose the model with the same judgment, scaled to the
 diff's size, complexity, and risk. A small mechanical diff does not need the
@@ -100,8 +105,10 @@ most expensive — which silently defeats this section.
 **Turn count beats token price.** Wall-clock and context cost scale with how
 many turns a subagent takes, and the cheapest models routinely take 2-3× the
 turns on multi-step work — costing more overall. Use a mid-tier model as the
-floor for implementers and reviewers; reserve the cheapest tier for
+floor for reviewers and for implementers working from prose descriptions.
-single-file mechanical fixes.
+When the task's plan text contains the complete code to write, the
+implementation is transcription plus testing: use the cheapest tier for
+that implementer. Single-file mechanical fixes also take the cheapest tier.
 
 **Task complexity signals (implementation tasks):**
 - Touches 1-2 files with a complete spec → cheap model
@@ -150,9 +157,13 @@ final whole-branch review. When you fill a reviewer template:
   loop. If the prompt you are writing contains "do not flag," "don't treat X
   as a defect," "at most Minor," or "the plan chose" — stop: you are
   pre-judging, usually to spare yourself a review loop.
-- Include the spec/design's global constraints that bind the task (version
+- The global-constraints block you hand the reviewer is its attention
-  floors, naming and copy rules, platform requirements) in the requirements
+  lens. Copy the binding requirements verbatim from the plan's Global
-  you paste — a reviewer can only enforce what you hand them.
+  Constraints section or the spec: exact values, exact formats, and the
+  stated relationships between components ("same layout as X", "matches
+  Y"). The reviewer's template already carries the process rules (YAGNI,
+  test hygiene, review method) — the constraints block is for what THIS
+  project's spec demands.
 - Hand the reviewer its diff as a file: run this skill's
   `scripts/review-package BASE HEAD` and pass the reviewer the file path
   it prints (or, without bash: `git log --oneline`, `git diff --stat`,

skills/subagent-driven-development/task-reviewer-prompt.md

@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ Subagent (general-purpose):
     "yes." A tight report that cites lines gives the controller everything
     it needs.
 
+    Your final message is the report itself: begin directly with the
+    spec-compliance verdict. Every line is a verdict, a finding with
+    file:line, or a check you ran — no preamble, no process narration,
+    no closing summary.
+
     ## Calibration
 
     Categorize issues by actual severity. Not everything is Critical.
@@ -159,8 +164,10 @@ Subagent (general-purpose):
 - `[MODEL]` — REQUIRED: reviewer model per SKILL.md Model Selection
 - `[BRIEF_FILE]` — REQUIRED: the task brief file (`scripts/task-brief PLAN N`
   prints the path; same file the implementer worked from)
-- `[GLOBAL_CONSTRAINTS]` — the spec/design's global constraints that bind
+- `[GLOBAL_CONSTRAINTS]` — the binding requirements copied verbatim from
-  this task (version floors, naming and copy rules, platform requirements)
+  the plan's Global Constraints section or the spec: exact values, formats,
+  and stated relationships between components (not process rules — those
+  are already in this template)
 - `[REPORT_FILE]` — REQUIRED: the file the implementer wrote its detailed
   report to
 - `[BASE_SHA]` — commit before this task

skills/writing-plans/SKILL.md

@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ Before defining tasks, map out which files will be created or modified and what
 
 This structure informs the task decomposition. Each task should produce self-contained changes that make sense independently.
 
+## Task Right-Sizing
+
+A task is the smallest unit that carries its own test cycle and is worth a
+fresh reviewer's gate. When drawing task boundaries: fold setup,
+configuration, scaffolding, and documentation steps into the task whose
+deliverable needs them; split only where a reviewer could meaningfully
+reject one task while approving its neighbor. Each task ends with an
+independently testable deliverable.
+
 ## Bite-Sized Task Granularity
 
 **Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):**
@@ -57,6 +66,13 @@ This structure informs the task decomposition. Each task should produce self-con
 
 **Tech Stack:** [Key technologies/libraries]
 
+## Global Constraints
+
+[The spec's project-wide requirements — version floors, dependency limits,
+naming and copy rules, platform requirements — one line each, with exact
+values copied verbatim from the spec. Every task's requirements implicitly
+include this section.]
+
 ---
 ```
 
@@ -70,6 +86,12 @@ This structure informs the task decomposition. Each task should produce self-con
 - Modify: `exact/path/to/existing.py:123-145`
 - Test: `tests/exact/path/to/test.py`
 
+**Interfaces:**
+- Consumes: [what this task uses from earlier tasks — exact signatures]
+- Produces: [what later tasks rely on — exact function names, parameter
+  and return types. A task's implementer sees only their own task; this
+  block is how they learn the names and types neighboring tasks use.]
+
 - [ ] **Step 1: Write the failing test**
 
 ```python