Claude Sonnet 5.5 (effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on) on Write a robust backup rotation script (dry-run, spaces, exit codes, safe deletion)
AClaude Sonnet 5.5default · thinking on · Claude Code 2.1.299 (headless -p) · cloud · 2026-10-16 · by @bobsiopener
- Estimated cost
- $0.09
- Wall time
- 30s
- Human step-ins
- 0
- Outcome
- Pass
Compare with other models on this task →
Summary
Exact prompt
# Task: write a robust backup-rotation shell script Write `rotate.sh` (bash, coreutils + tar/gzip only) implementing: ``` rotate.sh [--keep N] [--dry-run] SRC_DIR DEST_DIR ``` - Creates `DEST_DIR/backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.tar.gz` containing SRC_DIR's contents (paths inside the archive relative to SRC_DIR, i.e. `./file`), excluding any `*.tmp` files and any directory named `.cache` (at any depth). Use the timestamp from env `BACKUP_NOW` (format `YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS`) if set, else the current UTC time. Creates DEST_DIR if missing. - Then keeps only the N newest backups (default 5, ordered by the timestamp in the filename), deleting older ones. Never delete files in DEST_DIR that don't match `backup-????????-??????.tar.gz`. - `--dry-run`: change nothing on disk; print one line per action: `CREATE <path>` and `DELETE <path>`. - Must handle file/dir names with spaces, newlines are not required. - Exit codes: 0 ok; 2 usage error (unknown option, missing args, N not a positive integer); 3 SRC_DIR does not exist. Errors go to stderr. - `rotate.sh --help` prints usage to stdout and exits 0. Make it executable. No network.
15 scenario checks incl. names with spaces, excluded .cache/*.tmp, dry-run with no side effects, only deleting pattern-matching files, exact exit codes. 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. 15 scenario checks in a private temp dir, all must pass: 2. --help exits 0; no args, --keep 0, and an unknown option each exit 2; missing SRC exits 3. 3. Archive created as backup-<BACKUP_NOW>.tar.gz; it contains './sub dir/my file.txt' and './a/keep.log' and no *.tmp or .cache entries. 4. --dry-run --keep 3 changes nothing on disk, prints the exact CREATE line and exactly 5 DELETE lines. 5. Real run with --keep 3 leaves exactly the 3 newest pattern-matching backups. 6. Non-matching files (notes.txt, 'backup-old copy.tar.gz') are never deleted. 7. Destination path with a space works; without BACKUP_NOW a correctly-named timestamped archive is created.
Setup notes: Use Case Scout batch 4 case d07-bash-backup-rotation (offline fixture). Prepared with batch4/prepare.sh; hidden key/tests kept outside the agent's work dir. Prompt = TASK.md verbatim. Scored with the scout's scorer: `bash score.sh WORKDIR`. Tools: Read/Write/Edit/Glob/Grep/Bash, web disabled. Single run, no retries. Claude Code's own reported cost for claude-sonnet-5.5: $0.087036. Score: 15/15. 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
- $0.09
- Wall time
- 30s
- Human step-ins
- 0
- Turns
- 3
| Model | Input tok | Output tok | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| AClaude Sonnet 5.5anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on | 40,889 | 4,392 | $0.09 |
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. 15 scenario checks in a private temp dir, all must pass: 2. --help exits 0; no args, --keep 0, and an unknown option each exit 2; missing SRC exits 3. 3. Archive created as backup-<BACKUP_NOW>.tar.gz; it contains './sub dir/my file.txt' and './a/keep.log' and no *.tmp or .cache entries. 4. --dry-run --keep 3 changes nothing on disk, prints the exact CREATE line and exactly 5 DELETE lines. 5. Real run with --keep 3 leaves exactly the 3 newest pattern-matching backups. 6. Non-matching files (notes.txt, 'backup-old copy.tar.gz') are never deleted. 7. Destination path with a space works; without BACKUP_NOW a correctly-named timestamped archive is created.
- 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.
Was this useful?
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": 29272,
"stop_reason": "end_turn",
"session_id": "[REDACTED]",
"total_cost_usd": 0.087036,
"usage": {
"input_tokens": 4,
"cache_creation_input_tokens": 10005,
"cache_read_input_tokens": 30880,
"output_tokens": 4392,
"output_tokens_details": {
"thinking_tokens": 1080
},
"server_tool_use": {
"web_search_requests": 0,
"web_fetch_requests": 0
},
"service_tier": "standard",
"cache_creation": {
"ephemeral_1h_input_tokens": 10005,
"ephemeral_5m_input_tokens": 0
},
"inference_geo": "global",
"iterations": [
{
"input_tokens": 2,
"output_tokens": 661,
"cache_read_input_tokens": 18341,
"cache_creation_input_tokens": 4203,
"cache_creation": {
"ephemeral_5m_input_tokens": 0,
"ephemeral_1h_input_tokens": 4203
},
"type": "message"
}
],
"speed": "standard",
"fallback_credit": null
},
"modelUsage": {
"claude-sonnet-5-5": {
"inputTokens": 4,
"outputTokens": 4392,
"cacheReadInputTokens": 30880,
"cacheCreationInputTokens": 10005,
"webSearchRequests": 0,
"costUSD": 0.087036,
"contextWindow": 1000000,
"maxOutputTokens": 128000,
"thinkingTokens": 1080,
"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": 3,
"subtype": "success",
"api_error_status": null,
"result": "I wrote `rotate.sh` in the working directory and made it executable. I ran it against a scratch directory, and the behaviour matched the spec in every case I tried. I only tested one real-timestamp dry run, and `--keep=N` was not tested.\n\n- **Rotation:** four backups with `--keep 3` left the three newest, and `other.txt` in `DEST_DIR` was untouched. A dry run with `--keep 2` printed one `CREATE` and two `DELETE` lines and changed nothing.\n- **Archive contents:** a source tree with spaces in names, a `*.tmp` file and `.cache` directories at two depths archived as `./a b/f 1` and `./keep` only, with none of the excluded items.\n- **Exit codes:** `--keep 0` and an unknown option exited 2, and a missing source directory exited 3. `--help` printed usage and exited 0.\n\nBehaviours to know about:\n- **Date stamp:** an invalid `BACKUP_NOW` is treated as a usage error (exit 2).\n- **Backup name match:** retention only counts and deletes names where the timestamp parts are digits. A file like `backup-aaaaaaaa-bbbbbb.tar.gz` is never deleted, which is slightly stricter than the literal `?` pattern.\n- **Same-name backup:** if a backup with the same name already exists, it is overwritten.\n- **Older-than-keep stamp:** if `BACKUP_NOW` is older than the kept backups, the new archive is created and then deleted straight away. A dry run shows both lines.\n- **Exclusion scope:** `*.tmp` also excludes any directory whose name ends in `.tmp`.\n- **Safe writes:** the archive is written to a temporary file in `DEST_DIR` and renamed into place, so a failed run leaves no partial backup.\n- **Nested `DEST_DIR`:** if `DEST_DIR` is inside `SRC_DIR`, it is excluded from the archive.",
"ttft_ms": 10271,
"type": "result",
"duration_ms": 29663,
"uuid": "[REDACTED]",
"ttft_stream_ms": 1090,
"time_to_request_ms": 223,
"first_content_frame_ms": 1091,
"queued_turn_count": 0,
"result_index": 0
}
]