1# Pairwise Skill Revision Rubric
2 
3Use this rubric when comparing two candidate revisions of the same skill or two competing new-skill drafts.
4 
5## Preconditions
6 
7- Both candidates use the same source evidence.
8- Both candidates target the same activation scenario.
9- Both candidates pass deterministic structure checks.
10- Neither candidate changes the rubric used to compare it.
11 
12## Dimensions
13 
14Score each candidate independently from 0 to 2, then compare.
15 
16| Dimension | Weight | Score 2 |
17| --- | --- | --- |
18| Behavioral Improvement | 35% | The candidate gives future agents clearer actions, decisions, or recovery paths |
19| Evidence Fidelity | 20% | Claims are grounded in retrieved sources and do not overstate evidence |
20| Activation Clarity | 15% | The description and When to Activate section route the skill cleanly |
21| Corpus Fit | 15% | The candidate avoids duplication and respects related skill boundaries |
22| Simplicity | 15% | The candidate achieves the improvement with fewer concepts, fewer lines, and less maintenance burden |
23 
24## Tie Breakers
25 
26If totals are within 0.1:
27 
281. Prefer the simpler candidate.
292. Prefer the candidate with fewer volatile claims in `SKILL.md`.
303. Prefer the candidate that updates an existing skill over adding a new one.
314. Prefer the candidate with clearer gotchas.
325. Route to human review if the tie remains.
33 
34## Required Output
35 
36```yaml
37candidate_a:
38  path: ""
39  weighted_total: 0.0
40  strengths: []
41  risks: []
42candidate_b:
43  path: ""
44  weighted_total: 0.0
45  strengths: []
46  risks: []
47winner: "A | B | tie | human_review"
48tie_breaker_used: ""
49decision_rationale: ""
50```
51 
52## Failure Modes
53 
541. **Verbose candidate wins by judge bias**: Penalize irrelevant detail under Simplicity.
552. **Evidence drift**: Reject claims that do not map back to retrieved sources.
563. **False novelty**: Compare against existing skills before scoring either candidate.
574. **Prompt-only comparison**: Run deterministic structure checks before rubric scoring.
58