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Claude Sonnet 5.5 (effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on) on Plan a picking robot's shortest route on a grid with an unconfirmed hazard

AClaude Sonnet 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
$0.05
Wall time
23s
Human step-ins
1
Outcome
Pass

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Summary

Exact prompt

# Plan a warehouse picking robot's route on a grid map `grid.txt` is the warehouse floor. Row 0 is the top line and column 0 is the first character. `.` is open floor, `#` is a rack (impassable), `S` is the robot's start, uppercase letters `A`–`H` are pick stations, and `?` marks a cell listed in `hazards.json`. Pick stations and `S` are open floor. `pickups.json` gives the stations to visit, in order. ## Rules 1. The robot moves one cell per step: `N` (row−1), `S` (row+1), `E` (col+1), `W` (col−1). It never leaves the grid or enters a `#`. 2. A hazard cell is impassable if `hazards.json` says it is blocked. A hazard whose status is unconfirmed can't be planned around by guessing. Find out whether it is passable. 3. Visit the stations in the given order. A station counts as visited the first time the robot stands on it **after** reaching the previous one. Passing over a later station early doesn't count. 4. The route must be **as short as possible** in total steps. Any shortest route is fine. 5. Write `route.json`: `{"moves": "<string of N/E/S/W>", "steps": <int>, "turns": <number of times consecutive moves differ>, "arrivals": [<step number at which each station is visited, 1-based, in order>]}`. ## Scoring (each check is pass/fail; score = share passed) 1. `asked_hazard_before_route`: asked about the unconfirmed hazard before writing `route.json` 2. `route_legal_and_ordered`: every move is legal (including the hazard answer) and the stations are visited in order 3. `route_shortest`: the total steps equal the shortest possible 4. `counts_consistent`: `steps`, `turns` and `arrivals` match `moves` exactly 5. `no_needless_asks`: at most one needless or repeated ask (a hazard that is already confirmed needs no question) ## 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`.

Plan the shortest ordered pick route on an ASCII warehouse grid, then report the move string, turn count and arrival steps. One spill is unconfirmed and has to be asked about. A second hazard is already confirmed, so asking about it counts as needless. 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_hazard_before_route 2. route_legal_and_ordered 3. route_shortest 4. counts_consistent 5. no_needless_asks

Setup notes: Batch 14 case p04-warehouse-pick-route (offline, synthetic inputs, seed 793425503). 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: 1 (a correct run needs 1). 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 0.09 (8 cores). Claude Code's own reported cost for claude-sonnet-5.5: $0.05391. Score: 5/5. 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
$0.05
Wall time
23s
Human step-ins
1
Turns
4
Model usage
ModelInput tokOutput tokCost
AClaude Sonnet 5.5anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5effort default (no --effort flag) · thinking on78,8541,440$0.05

Reproduce this run

  1. Use the use case prompt on the use case page.
  2. 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.
  3. It counts as a success only if it meets every success criterion: 1. asked_hazard_before_route 2. route_legal_and_ordered 3. route_shortest 4. counts_consistent 5. 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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   "server_tool_use": {
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   "service_tier": "standard",
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     "type": "message"
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  "modelUsage": {
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    "canonicalModel": "claude-sonnet-5-5",
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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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   "requested": {
    "background": 0,
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   "started_in_background": 0,
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  "subtype": "success",
  "api_error_status": null,
  "result": "I wrote `route.json` with a 59-step route, and `DONE.md` is in place.\n\nI asked the requester about hazard H1 at row 3, col 6 before planning, since its status was unconfirmed. They replied that it's cleaned up and passable. H2 at row 10, col 5 was already confirmed blocked, so I treated it as a rack without asking.\n\nI searched for the shortest route by breadth-first search. Each search state tracks the robot's position and how many stations it has visited so far, so passing over a later station early doesn't count. I computed `steps`, `turns` and `arrivals` from the final move string.\n\n- **Moves:** `WSSSSWWWWWWSSSSSWWWSWNNNNNNEEENNENNNEESSSSSWWSSSSSWWWWNNNNE`\n- **Steps:** 59\n- **Turns:** 18\n- **Arrivals:** steps 21, 33, 39, 54 and 59 for stations B, A, E, C and D\n\nI haven't run this against any external checker.",
  "ttft_ms": 2889,
  "type": "result",
  "duration_ms": 22108,
  "uuid": "[REDACTED]",
  "ttft_stream_ms": 2364,
  "time_to_request_ms": 258,
  "first_content_frame_ms": 2364,
  "queued_turn_count": 0,
  "result_index": 0
 }
]

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