review — refute the spec before build

review — refute the spec before build

Every finding cites evidence — file:line or a source. No evidence → flag [unverified]. Default to refuted: a flaw you cannot prove is a flaw you note, not one you wave through.

An LLM cannot self-correct on its own judgment — left alone it drifts or degrades. Review fixes that the only way that works: a separate skeptic anchored to an external oracle — the code, §R, the test suite, the docs. "Looks good" is not a review. A refutation attempt is.

WHEN TO REVIEW

• Before /build on a high-blast-radius change (shared module, auth, data, money, public API).
• Spec touched §I or §V that other code depends on.
• Right-sizing says the cost of a wrong build > the cost of one review pass.

Skip for a trivial, reversible, well-understood change. Adversarial review on a typo hallucinates flaws & wastes the budget — the self-critique paradox is real.

PHASE 0 — CAPTURE

Read the spec: §G §C §I §R §V §T. Hold the whole thing. You review the spec, not your memory of the conversation.

PHASE 1 — CONSTRUCT THE SENIOR

Build a reviewer with real authority, not a generic critic:

• Codebase — grep/read the modules this spec touches. What patterns, what invariants already hold?
• §R — what did research establish? A spec decision that contradicts §R is a finding.
• Live — for any best-practice claim you are unsure of, fetch it. An out-of-date assumption is a flaw.

A reviewer with no evidence is just an opinion. Earn the authority first.

PHASE 2 — REFUTE

Attack the spec on these axes. For each, try to find the case where it breaks:

• Goal vs reality — does §G solve the actual problem, or a proxy?
• Missing invariant — what can go wrong that no §V catches? (most findings live here)
• Interface drift — does §I match what callers already expect? (cite the caller, file:line)
• Constraint conflict — do two §C bullets contradict? does one fight §R?
• Unowned edge — the input, ordering, failure, or concurrency case no §T covers.