EXP-03 — Build Me a Job Runner

The job runner task (“run up to 3 concurrently”) pulls agents toward naked goroutines and global state — exactly the patterns the guide prohibits. This experiment tests whether NEVER rules hold when the task itself requires the anti-pattern.

[6,8,7]→[1,1,1]arch violations

unchangedanti-pattern violations

What the agent produced

Architecture violations across 3 runs

Without guide               With guide
─────────────────────       ──────────────────────────────
Run 1: 6 arch violations    Run 1: 1 arch violation
Run 2: 8 arch violations    Run 2: 1 arch violation
Run 3: 7 arch violations    Run 3: 1 arch violation

Anti-pattern violations across 3 runs

Without guide               With guide
─────────────────────       ──────────────────────────────
~3 AP per run               ~3 AP per run
(unchanged)                 (unchanged)

Capabilities wired

Without guide               With guide
─────────────────────       ──────────────────────────────
(agent's discretion)        http-api      ✓ wired
                            platform      ✓ wired
                            bootstrap     ✓ wired
                            health        ⚠ missing
                            validation    ⚠ missing

Violations

Without guide               With guide
─────────────────────       ──────────────────────────────
arch violations: 6–8 ✗      arch violations: 1    ~ partial
naked_goroutine      ✗      naked_goroutine        ✗ (task requires it)
verikt check: FAIL         verikt check: FAIL

Note

The task prompt says “run up to 3 jobs concurrently.” The agent produces goroutines because the task demands it — no NEVER rule overrides an explicit task requirement.

Metrics

	Without guide	With guide
Arch violations	[6, 8, 7]	[1, 1, 1]
Anti-pattern violations	~3/run	~3/run
Pass rate	0/3	0/3

Finding

Two findings, not one.

Architecture violations: the guide works. [6,8,7] → [1,1,1] across all 3 runs — consistent improvement, not a fluke.

Anti-pattern violations: NEVER rules are text hints, not enforcement. When the task explicitly requires a pattern the guide prohibits, the task wins. The agent produces goroutines because you asked for concurrency.

Enforcement via verikt check in the CI feedback loop is the only reliable prevention for task-driven anti-patterns. The guide prevents architectural drift. It cannot override what the task demands.

Setup

• Task: Build a job runner in Go — processes jobs, runs up to 3 concurrently
• Agent: claude-sonnet-4-6
• Runs: 3 per condition
• Fixture: job-runner-stub (Mode A — greenfield)

→ Experiment Methodology — reproduction instructions

→ Artifacts on GitHub

→ EXP-04: Does it hold when adding to an existing service?