Universal Rule of 5 Review

Review this [CODE/PLAN/RESEARCH/ISSUE/SPEC/DOCUMENT] using Steve Yegge's Rule of 5 - five stages of iterative editorial refinement until convergence.

Work to Review

[PASTE YOUR WORK OR SPECIFY FILE PATH]

Core Philosophy

"Breadth-first exploration, then editorial passes"

Don't aim for perfection in early stages. Each stage builds on insights from previous stages.

Stage 1: DRAFT - Get the shape right

Question: Is the overall approach sound?

Focus on:

• Overall structure and organization
• Major architectural or conceptual issues
• Is this solving the right problem?
• Are the main components/sections present?
• Is the scope appropriate?
• Don't sweat the details yet - focus on the big picture

For Code: Architecture, design patterns, major functions/classes For Plans: Phase structure, dependencies, overall approach For Research: Sections, flow, research questions coverage For Issues: Title appropriateness, basic description presence For Specs: Requirements structure, completeness at high level

Output:

STAGE 1: DRAFT

Assessment: [1-2 sentences on overall shape]

Major Issues:
[DRAFT-001] [CRITICAL|HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW] - [Location]
Description: [What's wrong structurally]
Recommendation: [How to fix]

[DRAFT-002] ...

Shape Quality: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]

Stage 2: CORRECTNESS - Is the logic sound?

Question: Are there errors, bugs, or logical flaws?

Focus on:

• Building on Stage 1 assessment
• Factual accuracy and logical consistency
• Errors, bugs, or incorrect assumptions
• Internal contradictions
• Misinterpretation or misunderstanding
• Does it actually work/make sense?

For Code: Syntax errors, logic bugs, algorithm correctness, data structure usage For Plans: Feasibility issues, impossible dependencies, resource misestimates For Research: Factual errors, incorrect citations, wrong conclusions from data For Issues: Impossible scope, contradictory requirements, technical impossibilities For Specs: Contradictory requirements, infeasible features, wrong assumptions

Output:

STAGE 2: CORRECTNESS

Issues Found:
[CORR-001] [CRITICAL|HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW] - [Location]
Description: [What's incorrect]
Evidence: [Why this is wrong]
Recommendation: [How to fix with specifics]

[CORR-002] ...

Correctness Quality: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]

Convergence Check (after Stage 2):

New CRITICAL issues: [count]
Total new issues: [count]
Status: [CONVERGED | CONTINUE]

Stage 3: CLARITY - Can someone else understand this?

Question: Is this comprehensible to the intended audience?

Focus on:

• Building on corrected work from Stage 2
• Readability and comprehensibility
• Unclear or ambiguous language
• Jargon without explanation
• Poor naming or labeling
• Missing context or explanation
• Flow and organization

For Code: Variable/function names, comments, code organization, complexity For Plans: Phase descriptions, success criteria clarity, instruction specificity For Research: Term definitions, logical flow, transitions, accessibility For Issues: Description clarity, actionability, context sufficiency For Specs: Requirement clarity, unambiguous language, examples provided

Output:

STAGE 3: CLARITY

Issues Found:
[CLAR-001] [HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW] - [Location]
Description: [What's unclear]
Impact: [Why this matters]
Recommendation: [How to improve clarity]

[CLAR-002] ...

Clarity Quality: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]

Convergence Check (after Stage 3):

New CRITICAL issues: [count]
Total new issues: [count]
New issues vs Stage 2: [percentage change]
Status: [CONVERGED | CONTINUE]

Stage 4: EDGE CASES - What could go wrong?

Question: Are boundary conditions and unusual scenarios handled?

Focus on:

• Building on clarified work from Stage 3
• Edge cases and boundary conditions
• Error handling and failure modes
• Unusual inputs or scenarios
• Gaps in coverage
• "What if..." scenarios
• Assumptions that might not hold

For Code: Null checks, empty arrays, max values, error handling, race conditions For Plans: Rollback strategies, blocked scenarios, resource unavailability, assumption failures For Research: Alternative explanations, conflicting evidence, unanswered questions, limitations For Issues: Acceptance criteria gaps, unclear done conditions, edge scenarios For Specs: Corner cases, conflicting requirements, missing scenarios, error states

Output:

STAGE 4: EDGE CASES

Issues Found:
[EDGE-001] [CRITICAL|HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW] - [Location]
Description: [What edge case is unhandled]
Scenario: [When this could happen]
Impact: [What goes wrong]
Recommendation: [How to handle it]

[EDGE-002] ...

Edge Case Coverage: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]

Convergence Check (after Stage 4):

New CRITICAL issues: [count]
Total new issues: [count]
New issues vs Stage 3: [percentage change]
Estimated false positive rate: [percentage]
Status: [CONVERGED | CONTINUE]

Stage 5: EXCELLENCE - Ready to ship?

Question: Would you be proud to ship this?

Focus on:

• Final polish based on all previous stages
• Production quality assessment
• Best practices adherence
• Professional standards
• Performance and efficiency
• Completeness and thoroughness
• Overall quality for intended purpose

For Code: Performance, style, documentation, test coverage, maintainability For Plans: Implementability, completeness, TDD approach, verification steps For Research: Actionability, recommendations, references, presentation quality For Issues: Executability, priority, labels, handoff readiness For Specs: Testability, completeness, stakeholder readiness, sign-off criteria

Output:

STAGE 5: EXCELLENCE

Final Polish Issues:
[EXCL-001] [HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW] - [Location]
Description: [What could be better]
Recommendation: [How to achieve excellence]

[EXCL-002] ...

Excellence Assessment:
- Structure: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]
- Correctness: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]
- Clarity: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]
- Edge Cases: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]
- Overall: [EXCELLENT|GOOD|FAIR|POOR]

Production Ready: [YES|NO|WITH_NOTES]

Convergence Check (after Stage 5):

New CRITICAL issues: [count]
Total new issues: [count]
New issues vs Stage 4: [percentage change]
Estimated false positive rate: [percentage]
Status: [CONVERGED | NEEDS_ITERATION | ESCALATE_TO_HUMAN]

Convergence Criteria

CONVERGED if:

• No new CRITICAL issues AND
• New issue rate < 10% vs previous stage AND
• False positive rate < 20%

CONTINUE if:

• New issues found that need addressing

ESCALATE_TO_HUMAN if:

• After 5 stages, still finding CRITICAL issues OR
• Uncertain about severity or correctness OR
• False positive rate > 30%

If converged before Stage 5: Stop and report. Don't continue unnecessarily.

Final Report

After convergence or completing Stage 5:

# Rule of 5 Review - Final Report

**Work Reviewed:** [type] - [path/identifier]
**Convergence:** Stage [N]

## Summary

Total Issues by Severity:
- CRITICAL: [count] - Must fix before proceeding
- HIGH: [count] - Should fix before proceeding
- MEDIUM: [count] - Consider addressing
- LOW: [count] - Nice to have

## Top 3 Critical Findings

1. [ID] [Description] - [Location]
   Impact: [Why this matters]
   Fix: [What to do]

2. [ID] [Description] - [Location]
   Impact: [Why this matters]
   Fix: [What to do]

3. [ID] [Description] - [Location]
   Impact: [Why this matters]
   Fix: [What to do]

## Stage-by-Stage Quality

- Stage 1 (Draft): [Quality assessment]
- Stage 2 (Correctness): [Quality assessment]
- Stage 3 (Clarity): [Quality assessment]
- Stage 4 (Edge Cases): [Quality assessment]
- Stage 5 (Excellence): [Quality assessment]

## Recommended Actions

1. [Action 1 - specific and actionable]
2. [Action 2 - specific and actionable]
3. [Action 3 - specific and actionable]

## Verdict

[READY | NEEDS_REVISION | NEEDS_REWORK | NOT_READY]

**Rationale:** [1-2 sentences explaining the verdict]

Rules for All Stages

1. Build progressively - Each stage builds on work from previous stages
2. Be specific - Reference exact locations (file:line, section, paragraph)
3. Provide actionable fixes - Don't just identify problems, suggest solutions
4. Validate claims - Don't flag potential issues, confirm they exist
5. Prioritize correctly:
   • CRITICAL: Blocks use/deployment, fundamentally broken
   • HIGH: Significantly impacts quality or usability
   • MEDIUM: Should be addressed but not blocking
   • LOW: Minor improvements
6. Check convergence - Stop when new issues drop below threshold
7. Don't force 5 stages - If converged earlier, report and stop