Claude Sonnet 5.5 (effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on) on Fix cache invalidation in an incremental static-site builder (transitive partials, config, deletions, same-second edits)
AClaude Sonnet 5.5default · thinking on · Claude Code 2.1.299 (headless -p) · cloud · 2026-10-17 · by @bobsiopener
- Estimated cost
- $0.06
- Wall time
- 28s
- Human step-ins
- 0
- Outcome
- Pass
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Summary
Exact prompt
# Task: fix the incremental builder's cache invalidation `minibuild.py` builds `site/out/*.html` from `site/src/*.md` and caches what it built in `site/.cache.json`. Users report stale pages: editing a partial (even one included indirectly) doesn't update pages, changing `config.json` doesn't either, quick successive edits within the same second are missed, deleted pages leave their HTML behind, and deleting or hand-editing an output file isn't repaired. Fix the caching in `minibuild.py` so that after **any** sequence of changes, `python3 minibuild.py site` leaves `out/` exactly equal to a clean full build (same files, same bytes, no extra files), while still being incremental: a page is rewritten only if its output would change or its output file is missing/modified. Pages unaffected by a change must not be rewritten at all (the grader checks output file timestamps). Note: the grader resets the timestamps of all output files to an old value before each build, so detect missing/modified outputs by their content (e.g. a hash), not by their timestamps. Only config keys a page actually uses (`site_title` is used by every page; `{{var KEY}}` by the pages containing it, directly or through partials) should cause it to rebuild. Keep the rendering output and the command line unchanged; `build()` should still return the list of rebuilt page names. Standard library only. No network.
Over-invalidating fails the minimal-rebuild checks; under-invalidating fails correctness. Mtime-based caches miss same-second edits, dependency tracking must be transitive and config-key aware, and outputs must be repaired and pruned. Original benchmark task written for usecaserank.com (not based on a specific public post). Headless, offline run on a reproducible fixture. Each run's notes say how its cost was measured (estimates are marked).
Success criteria: 1. clean_build_correct: a first build produces out/ identical to a clean build by the original renderer. 2. For each of 11 change scenarios (indirect partial edit, used config var, site_title, same-mtime source edit, deleted page, deleted output, hand-edited output, new page, no change, touch with identical content, unrelated config key) <scenario>_correct: out/ is byte-identical to a clean full build with no extra files. 3. For each of those 11 scenarios <scenario>_minimal: exactly the expected set of output files is rewritten (others keep their timestamps).
Setup notes: Use Case Scout batch 6 case f06-incremental-build-cache (offline fixture). Prepared with batch6/prepare.sh; hidden key/tests kept outside the agent's work dir. Prompt = TASK.md verbatim. Scored with the scout's scorer: `python score.py WORKDIR KEYDIR`. Tools: Read/Write/Edit/Glob/Grep/Bash, web disabled. Single run, no retries. 1-min load average at scoring: 1.16. Claude Code's own reported cost for claude-sonnet-5.5: $0.063679. Score: 23/23 checks. Cost is an ESTIMATE: measured tokens x pricing.json list price (Claude Pro subscription, nothing billed); input_tokens include cache reads and writes. Single run.
Estimated cost List-price estimate; not actually billed.
Metrics
- Estimated cost
- $0.06
- Wall time
- 28s
- Human step-ins
- 0
- Turns
- 5
| Model | Input tok | Output tok | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| AClaude Sonnet 5.5anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on | 80,009 | 2,215 | $0.06 |
Reproduce this run
- Use the use case prompt on the use case page.
- Same setup: Claude Sonnet 5.5 (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5, effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on) via
Claude Code 2.1.299 (headless -p), cloud. - It counts as a success only if it meets every success criterion: 1. clean_build_correct: a first build produces out/ identical to a clean build by the original renderer. 2. For each of 11 change scenarios (indirect partial edit, used config var, site_title, same-mtime source edit, deleted page, deleted output, hand-edited output, new page, no change, touch with identical content, unrelated config key) <scenario>_correct: out/ is byte-identical to a clean full build with no extra files. 3. For each of those 11 scenarios <scenario>_minimal: exactly the expected set of output files is rewritten (others keep their timestamps).
- Log model, tokens, wall time, human step-ins and the evidence log, then submit it as a reproduction. A different model? Submit a head-to-head rerun.
How runs are scored: Methodology.
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Automated checks
Trust 80% comes from these checks (how Trust % works).
- Run date is not in the future : passed
- Model is in the dated pricing table : passed
- Cost recomputed from tokens matches : passed
- Cached tokens are consistent : passed
- Output throughput is plausible : passed
- Autonomy matches step-ins : passed
- Step-ins do not exceed turns : passed
- Retries agree with first-try result : passed
- Evidence log SHA-256 matches : passed
- Evidence log is substantial : passed
Evidence log
[
{
"duration_api_ms": 26697,
"stop_reason": "end_turn",
"session_id": "[REDACTED]",
"total_cost_usd": 0.06367880000000001,
"usage": {
"input_tokens": 8,
"cache_creation_input_tokens": 8593,
"cache_read_input_tokens": 71408,
"output_tokens": 2215,
"output_tokens_details": {
"thinking_tokens": 486
},
"server_tool_use": {
"web_search_requests": 0,
"web_fetch_requests": 0
},
"service_tier": "standard",
"cache_creation": {
"ephemeral_1h_input_tokens": 8593,
"ephemeral_5m_input_tokens": 0
},
"inference_geo": "global",
"iterations": [
{
"input_tokens": 2,
"output_tokens": 633,
"cache_read_input_tokens": 20950,
"cache_creation_input_tokens": 182,
"cache_creation": {
"ephemeral_5m_input_tokens": 0,
"ephemeral_1h_input_tokens": 182
},
"type": "message"
}
],
"speed": "standard",
"fallback_credit": null
},
"modelUsage": {
"claude-sonnet-5-5": {
"inputTokens": 8,
"outputTokens": 2215,
"cacheReadInputTokens": 71408,
"cacheCreationInputTokens": 8593,
"webSearchRequests": 0,
"costUSD": 0.06367880000000001,
"contextWindow": 1000000,
"maxOutputTokens": 128000,
"thinkingTokens": 486,
"canonicalModel": "claude-sonnet-5-5",
"provider": "firstParty",
"costBasis": "list"
}
},
"permission_denials": [],
"terminal_reason": "completed",
"fast_mode_state": "off",
"fast_mode_disabled_reason": "sdk_opt_in_required",
"subagent_stats": {
"spawned": 0,
"requested": {
"background": 0,
"foreground": 0,
"unset": 0
},
"started_in_background": 0,
"max_depth": 0,
"spawned_by_subagents": 0,
"completed": 0,
"failed": 0,
"killed": {
"parent": 0,
"user": 0,
"system": 0
},
"refused": {
"depth_limit": 0,
"concurrency_limit": 0,
"budget": 0
},
"by_type": {}
},
"safety_stops": 0,
"is_error": false,
"num_turns": 5,
"subtype": "success",
"api_error_status": null,
"result": "I rewrote `build()` in `minibuild.py` so `out/` always matches a clean full build. It no longer relies on source mtimes. I ran it by hand on the sample site, but I haven't run the grader or a full set of change scenarios.\n\n- **How it works:** every build renders each page in memory, which covers indirect partials, `config.json` and same-second edits. It then compares a SHA-256 of the new output with the file on disk. The file is rewritten only if it's missing or different, and `build()` returns just those names. That check uses content, so it doesn't matter that the grader resets timestamps. A deleted or hand-edited output file is repaired the same way.\n- **Config keys:** a config change rebuilds only pages whose output actually changes, because the comparison is on the rendered bytes. `site_title` therefore hits every page, and `{{var KEY}}` hits only the pages that use it, directly or through partials.\n- **Deleted pages:** anything in `out/` that isn't `<page>.html` for a current source page is removed, including stray files and directories.\n- **Cache:** `.cache.json` now just records each page's output hash. The build doesn't read it, so a missing or corrupt cache can't cause stale pages.\n- **Cost:** it re-renders every page on each run, so it saves disk writes rather than rendering time. That's cheap for markdown this size.\n- **Unchanged:** rendering and the command line are the same. The only change to the output is that files are written as UTF-8, where before they used the locale default. They are still read with the default encoding.\n\nOn the sample site:\n\n- A second build rewrote nothing.\n- Editing the `footer` partial rebuilt only `about` and `index`.\n- A deleted `out/blog.html` came back.\n- A stray `out/zz` file was removed.\n\nI also appended a line to `site/partials/footer.md` for the test and removed it afterwards. That last build rewrote `about` and `index` again to undo it.",
"ttft_ms": 7341,
"type": "result",
"duration_ms": 27203,
"uuid": "[REDACTED]",
"ttft_stream_ms": 6532,
"time_to_request_ms": 245,
"first_content_frame_ms": 6532,
"queued_turn_count": 0,
"result_index": 0
}
]