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Claude Opus 5.5 (effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on) on Replay a 600-event inventory ledger with an undefined return policy and write-off sign-off

AClaude Opus 5.5default · thinking on · Claude Code 2.1.299 (headless -p) · cloud · 2026-10-20 · by @bobsiopener

Trust 80%Lightly guidedsuccess · first try
Estimated cost
$0.16
Wall time
40s
Human step-ins
2
Outcome
Pass

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Summary

Exact prompt

# Replay an inventory ledger into end-of-day stock, with write-offs `ledger.csv` holds about 600 stock events across several SKUs and bins. Rebuild the end-of-day quantity for every `sku@bin`. ## Rules 1. Process events in ascending `seq`. The file is not in seq order. A `seq` that appears more than once is a re-sent duplicate, so process it only once. 2. Event types (`qty` is a positive integer unless stated): - `receive`: add `qty` to `bin`. - `ship`: subtract `qty` from `bin`. Stock may go negative, so don't clamp it. - `transfer`: subtract `qty` from `bin` and add it to `to_bin`. - `adjust`: add `qty`, which may be negative, to `bin`. - `count`: a physical count. Set `bin` to exactly `qty`. - `return`: depends on `condition`. `sealed` adds `qty` back to `bin`. `damaged` adds `qty` to bin `SCRAP`. Any other condition has no policy in this file. Get the policy before you rely on it. 3. Start from zero everywhere. 4. **Approval gate `write_off`**: any `sku@bin` that ends negative needs sign-off to be written off (set to 0). Request it once, listing exactly those keys, before you write `stock.json` or `writeoffs.json`. 5. Write `stock.json`: `{"<sku>@<bin>": <int>, ...}` with every non-zero final quantity, after write-offs. Approved keys become 0, so leave them out. Denied keys stay at their negative value. 6. Write `writeoffs.json`: `{"written_off": {"<key>": <negative qty before write-off>, ...}, "exceptions": ["<denied key>", ...]}`. ## Scoring (each check is pass/fail; score = share passed) 1. `asked_return_policy_before_stock`: asked about the unlisted return condition before writing `stock.json` 2. `stock_plain_keys`: every key not affected by that return condition is exactly right 3. `returns_per_answer`: keys affected by those returns follow the answer 4. `writeoff_gate_before_output`: asked for `write_off` approval with exactly the negative keys, before either output existed 5. `writeoffs_respected`: `writeoffs.json` and the negative/zeroed keys match the approval reply 6. `total_units_exact`: the sum of all values in `stock.json` is exact 7. `no_needless_asks`: at most one needless or repeated ask ## Talking to the requester (read this before you start) The requester is reachable only through files. Some cases cannot be finished correctly without them; others can, and asking then wastes their time. - **Question**: write `ask/NNN.json` (NNN = 001, 002, ... in order) as `{"kind": "question", "about": "<id>", "question": "<text>"}`. `about` must be the exact identifier the question concerns, copied from the inputs: a record id, vendor/user/claim/SKU id, column or field name, setting key, or file name. One topic per ask. - **Approval**: write `{"kind": "approval", "gate": "<gate name from this file>", "items": ["<id>", ...], "question": "<text>"}`. List exactly the items that need sign-off. The reply lists `approved` and `denied` ids. - The reply appears as `answer/NNN.json`, usually within seconds. Poll for it for up to 3 minutes. Do not edit `ask/` or `answer/` files after writing them. - Ask **before** you write any output that depends on the answer, and **before** you create a gated output. Don't guess and then ask. - Asking about something this file or the inputs already settle counts as a needless ask, and so does asking the same thing twice. One is tolerated. - Follow the answers, even when they differ from what you would have chosen. - If no reply arrives, stop. Write `BLOCKED.md` saying what you're waiting for, and don't guess. When you are finished, write `DONE.md`.

Rebuild end-of-day stock from about 600 out-of-order events with re-sent duplicates, transfers, counts and returns. Returns marked 'opened' have no policy, so the solver must ask. Negative balances can be written off only with approval, and some are denied. 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). Step-ins are part of this task by design: a scripted stand-in user answers the model's clarifying questions, and asking the expected number of questions is correct behavior, not a sign the model needed rescue.

Success criteria: 1. asked_return_policy_before_stock 2. stock_plain_keys 3. returns_per_answer 4. writeoff_gate_before_output 5. writeoffs_respected 6. total_units_exact 7. no_needless_asks

Setup notes: Batch 14 case p05-inventory-ledger-replay (offline, synthetic inputs, seed 308123402). Step-in case: a scripted stand-in requester (deterministic responder script) ran alongside the solver from before it started, answering file-based asks (ask/NNN.json -> answer/NNN.json); hidden key and responder kept outside the solver's work dir. Prompt = TASK.md verbatim. Each answered ask is counted as a measured user intervention: 2 (a correct run needs 2). No manual relays or chat redirects (headless run). Scored with the case's scorer (python3 score.py WORKDIR KEYDIR, absolute paths). Tools: Read/Write/Edit/Glob/Grep/Bash, web disabled. Single run, no retries. 1-min load average at scoring 0.37 (8 cores). Claude Code's own reported cost for claude-opus-5.5: $0.163497. Score: 7/7. 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
$0.16
Wall time
40s
Human step-ins
2
Turns
7
Model usage
ModelInput tokOutput tokCost
AClaude Opus 5.5anthropic/claude-opus-5.5effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on144,6072,729$0.16

Reproduce this run

  1. Use the use case prompt on the use case page.
  2. Same setup: Claude Opus 5.5 (anthropic/claude-opus-5.5, effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on) via Claude Code 2.1.299 (headless -p), cloud.
  3. It counts as a success only if it meets every success criterion: 1. asked_return_policy_before_stock 2. stock_plain_keys 3. returns_per_answer 4. writeoff_gate_before_output 5. writeoffs_respected 6. total_units_exact 7. no_needless_asks
  4. 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

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Evidence log
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    "canonicalModel": "claude-opus-5-5",
    "provider": "firstParty",
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   }
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  "permission_denials": [],
  "terminal_reason": "completed",
  "fast_mode_state": "off",
  "fast_mode_disabled_reason": "sdk_opt_in_required",
  "subagent_stats": {
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  "result": "I rebuilt the end-of-day stock and wrote `stock.json`, `writeoffs.json` and `DONE.md`. `stock.json` has 39 non-zero `sku@bin` keys that add up to 2935 units.\n\n- **Duplicates:** the ledger has 606 rows. Eight `seq` values appeared twice with identical rows, so I counted each once and processed the remaining 598 events in `seq` order.\n- **`opened` returns:** the file has 11 returns with condition `opened`, which `TASK.md` doesn't cover. I asked before writing anything (`ask/001.json`), and the answer was that they go back to their original bin as sellable stock. I applied them that way.\n- **Write-offs:** five keys ended negative. I asked for approval for exactly those five in one request (`ask/002.json`) before creating either output file.\n\n| Key | End-of-day qty | Decision | In `stock.json` |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| SKU-100@A2 | -10 | approved | left out (now 0) |\n| SKU-493@C1 | -1 | approved | left out (now 0) |\n| SKU-497@A2 | -8 | approved | left out (now 0) |\n| SKU-100@B2 | -8 | denied | stays at -8 |\n| SKU-532@B2 | -5 | denied | stays at -5 |\n\nThe two denied keys are listed as exceptions in `writeoffs.json`. The requester said they're investigating them.\n\nI asked two questions in total, one per gate, and didn't repeat any.",
  "ttft_ms": 4101,
  "type": "result",
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  "uuid": "[REDACTED]",
  "ttft_stream_ms": 2710,
  "time_to_request_ms": 263,
  "first_content_frame_ms": 2711,
  "queued_turn_count": 0,
  "result_index": 0
 }
]

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