Santa Method

┌─────────────┐
│  GENERATOR   │  Phase 1: Make a List
│  (Agent A)   │  Produce the deliverable
└──────┬───────┘
       │ output
       ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│     DUAL INDEPENDENT REVIEW   │  Phase 2: Check It Twice
│                                │
│  ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐  │  Two agents, same rubric,
│  │ Reviewer B │ │ Reviewer C │  │  no shared context
│  └─────┬─────┘ └─────┬─────┘  │
│        │              │        │
└────────┼──────────────┼────────┘
         │              │
         ▼              ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│        VERDICT GATE           │  Phase 3: Naughty or Nice
│                                │
│  B passes AND C passes → NICE  │  Both must pass.
│  Otherwise → NAUGHTY           │  No exceptions.
└──────┬──────────────┬─────────┘
       │              │
    NICE           NAUGHTY
       │              │
       ▼              ▼
   [ SHIP ]    ┌─────────────┐
               │  FIX CYCLE   │  Phase 4: Fix Until Nice
               │              │
               │ iteration++  │  Collect all flags.
               │ if i > MAX:  │  Fix all issues.
               │   escalate   │  Re-run both reviewers.
               │ else:        │  Loop until convergence.
               │   goto Ph.2  │
               └──────────────┘

# The generator runs as normal
output = generate(task_spec)

REVIEWER_PROMPT = """
You are an independent quality reviewer. You have NOT seen any other review of this output.

## Task Specification
{task_spec}

## Output Under Review
{output}

## Evaluation Rubric
{rubric}

## Instructions
Evaluate the output against EACH rubric criterion. For each:
- PASS: criterion fully met, no issues
- FAIL: specific issue found (cite the exact problem)

Return your assessment as structured JSON:
{
  "verdict": "PASS" | "FAIL",
  "checks": [
    {"criterion": "...", "result": "PASS|FAIL", "detail": "..."}
  ],
  "critical_issues": ["..."],   // blockers that must be fixed
  "suggestions": ["..."]         // non-blocking improvements
}

Be rigorous. Your job is to find problems, not to approve.
"""

# Spawn reviewers in parallel (Claude Code subagents)
review_b = Agent(prompt=REVIEWER_PROMPT.format(...), description="Santa Reviewer B")
review_c = Agent(prompt=REVIEWER_PROMPT.format(...), description="Santa Reviewer C")

# Both run concurrently — neither sees the other

def santa_verdict(review_b, review_c):
    """Both reviewers must pass. No partial credit."""
    if review_b.verdict == "PASS" and review_c.verdict == "PASS":
        return "NICE"  # Ship it

    # Merge flags from both reviewers, deduplicate
    all_issues = dedupe(review_b.critical_issues + review_c.critical_issues)
    all_suggestions = dedupe(review_b.suggestions + review_c.suggestions)

    return "NAUGHTY", all_issues, all_suggestions

MAX_ITERATIONS = 3

for iteration in range(MAX_ITERATIONS):
    verdict, issues, suggestions = santa_verdict(review_b, review_c)

    if verdict == "NICE":
        log_santa_result(output, iteration, "passed")
        return ship(output)

    # Fix all critical issues (suggestions are optional)
    output = fix_agent.execute(
        output=output,
        issues=issues,
        instruction="Fix ONLY the flagged issues. Do not refactor or add unrequested changes."
    )

    # Re-run BOTH reviewers on fixed output (fresh agents, no memory of previous round)
    review_b = Agent(prompt=REVIEWER_PROMPT.format(output=output, ...))
    review_c = Agent(prompt=REVIEWER_PROMPT.format(output=output, ...))

# Exhausted iterations — escalate
log_santa_result(output, MAX_ITERATIONS, "escalated")
escalate_to_human(output, issues)

# In a Claude Code session, use the Agent tool to spawn reviewers
# Both agents run in parallel for speed

# Pseudocode for Agent tool invocation
reviewer_b = Agent(
    description="Santa Review B",
    prompt=f"Review this output for quality...\n\nRUBRIC:\n{rubric}\n\nOUTPUT:\n{output}"
)
reviewer_c = Agent(
    description="Santa Review C",
    prompt=f"Review this output for quality...\n\nRUBRIC:\n{rubric}\n\nOUTPUT:\n{output}"
)