video-spec-eval

name	video-spec-eval
description	LLM-as-judge eval of the spec.yaml produced by /ace:video-spec-generate (or /ace:video-from-program-page, or hand-authored) for an ace-web video program. Scores 6 quality dimensions and emits a verdict YAML with concrete improvement recommendations. Gated by video-spec-qa. Prompt-independent: derives all anchors from the template bundle (intent + example) and the universal rubric — no generate.prompt.md required.
disable-model-invocation	true

Video Spec Eval

Grade the goodness of a video program's spec.yaml. Where video-spec-qa checks structural correctness, this skill judges quality: does the narration sound like Connect, does the spec describe this program rather than generic Connect content, are the chosen stats the most compelling ones from the source page, does the flow build a story?

LLM-as-judge across 6 dimensions, each scored 0-10 with concrete strengths/weaknesses and a one-line improvement recommendation. The agent is the judge; this skill defines the rubric.

This eval is prompt-independent. Voice anchors live in this rubric. Word budgets are derived from beat seconds (same formula as the generator). Per-template fitness is anchored by the template's intent field and its example.spec.yaml reference — both fetched from the template bundle, not from a prose prompt file.

Out-of-chain discipline: the template's intent and example_yaml are thin same-chain anchors produced by the same authoring pipeline that generated the spec. Source Fidelity — graded against the real source page, an out-of-chain anchor — therefore remains the dominant, un-inflatable dimension. Do not award high Source Fidelity scores without cross-checking the spec against the actual source URL.

See skills/_eval-template.md for the shared eval contract (verdict YAML format, severity rules, inflation guard).

Inputs

Source	Artifact	Used for
ace-web Drive	videos/<slug>/runs/<run-id>/spec.yaml	the spec under judgment
Source URL (optional)	provenance.generated_from page content	cross-check that the spec describes the actual program (out-of-chain anchor — dominant dimension)
Template bundle	GET /api/w/<ws>/videos/templates/<id> → meta.intent	per-template narrative thesis (thin same-chain anchor)
Template bundle	GET /api/w/<ws>/videos/templates/<id> → example_yaml	few-shot exemplar of what good looks like for this template

No generate.prompt.md is required. If a template has one, it is ignored by this eval.

Products

• video-spec-eval_verdict.yaml per the canonical Verdict schema (lib/verdict-schema.ts). The skill prints it to stdout for the caller to persist.

Process

1. Confirm QA passed. Skip the eval if video-spec-qa failed irrecoverably — quality grading on a structurally broken spec is noise. (Operator override: pass --ignore-qa to grade anyway.)

2. Read the spec.yaml from ace-web (same access path as video-spec-qa step 1).

3. Re-fetch the source page at provenance.generated_from. If the URL 404s or the spec has no provenance.generated_from, set source_available = false and switch the Source Fidelity dimension to its no-source branch (score from internal coherence only).

4. Fetch the template bundle for provenance.template:

   curl -sS -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACE_WEB_PAT_TOKEN" \
     "$BASE_URL/api/w/$WORKSPACE_SLUG/videos/templates/$TEMPLATE_ID"
   

   Extract:

   • meta.intent — the template's narrative thesis (1–3 sentences). This is the per-template fitness anchor: does the spec fulfill the intent? Compare the spec's story arc against the intent.
   • example_yaml — the fully-filled reference spec. Study it as the "what good looks like" benchmark for voice, specificity, beat structure, and card language for this template.
   • skeleton_yaml — read to derive beat seconds and confirm which beats are present (incl. whether problem/impact stat beats exist).

5. Derive per-beat word budgets from beat seconds (same formula as the generator — non-negotiable, applies to all templates):

   target_words = round(beat_seconds × 2.5)
   min_words    = target_words - 2
   max_words    = target_words + 2
   

   Example: a scene beat of 8s → target 20w (range 18–22). A hook beat of 4s → target 10w (range 8–12). A cta beat of 0s → empty, expected. Use these derived budgets — not any per-template table in a prose prompt. Penalize beats that exceed max_words under Story Compression (dim 6).

6. Score each dimension below 0-10. For each, capture:

   • score: <int 0-10>
   • strength: <one-liner> — what's working
   • weakness: <one-liner> — what's the worst issue
   • recommendation: <one-liner> — one concrete edit

7. Produce overall verdict.

   • pass — every dimension ≥ 7
   • revise — any dimension 5-6 (operator should edit before render)
   • fail — any dimension ≤ 4 (regenerate the spec)
   • summary — 2-3 sentences total. Lead with the biggest lever.

Dimensions

1. Narration Voice

Rubric: Does the narration read like Connect's voice — plain, declarative, specific? Or does it drift into marketing-ad mode (long sentences, abstract nouns, "powering / enabling / transforming")?

Anchor	Score
Every beat reads as documentary lower-third. Numbers over adjectives. Active voice. Short sentences.	9-10
Mostly tight; 1-2 beats use a marketing-ad phrasing the operator should retune.	7-8
Multiple beats read as ad copy. Long sentences, abstract subjects ("our solution leverages...").	4-6
Generic Connect marketing copy. Could plausibly apply to any Connect program.	0-3

Common penalties: "leverage", "empower", "transform", "robust", "comprehensive", "world-class" — the static QA catches a small list, but this dimension catches the broader register.

2. Stat Selection

Rubric: Did the agent pick the most compelling numbers from the source for problem.big and the two impact[] entries? Or did it grab the first numbers it saw?

Applicability: this dimension applies only when the skeleton has problem and/or impact stat beats (check skeleton_yaml or the spec's problem: block). For explainer-mode templates (no problem: beat, impact carries value-prop cards instead of outcome stats), score this dimension N/A and note it in the verdict; it does not factor into the overall score.

Anchor	Score
problem.big is the headline number a reader would remember from the source. Both impact entries are the highest-leverage ones.	9-10
Either problem or impact uses a less-than-optimal number; the swap is obvious.	7-8
Both problem and impact are suboptimal; better stats exist on the source page.	4-6
Stats appear made up, are wrong, or fail to connect to this program.	0-3

Common penalties: picking "X% completion" when "$Y per beneficiary" is in the source; using a Connect-level stat where the program has its own; using a vanity metric over an outcome metric.

Audio/card stat parity (scored here, not elsewhere): numbers spoken in narration (problem/impact) must also appear as on-screen stat cards — the cards are what the viewer remembers, and the template intent requires the load-bearing numbers to be memorable, not merely spoken. When the narration voices a stat that is not carded (e.g. an 88% completion rate spoken with no impact[] card), apply a mild Stat Selection penalty (knock a point). Exception: acceptable when the two strongest stats ARE carded and the uncarded one is genuinely subordinate — but flag (do not exempt) if the uncarded stat is co-equal with a carded one. Score this once here; do not also penalize it under Story Compression.

3. Beat Coherence

Rubric: Does the spec's beat sequence flow as a story, or read as disconnected sentences? The arc this template implies is declared in meta.intent — compare the spec's actual narrative flow against it. The general Connect arc is: hook → cycle (the how) → handoff (this program) → scene (the field) → [problem (the stakes)] → product (the proof) → impact (the result) → cta (empty / outro). Stat beats may be absent for explainer-mode templates. Read the example_yaml to understand what "clean handoffs" look like for this specific template.

Anchor	Score
Each beat sets up the next. A listener with no Connect context follows the arc declared in the template's intent.	9-10
One beat feels bolted on or stylistically off-key; the rest land.	7-8
Two or more transitions feel abrupt; the listener has to recover context.	4-6
The arc is broken — beats appear in the wrong order or contradict each other.	0-3

4. Source Fidelity

Rubric: Does the spec describe the actual program from the source page, or is it generic Connect content with the program name swapped in?

Anchor	Score
Field-level specificity: country, partner names, activity descriptions, FLW tasks match the source verbatim or near-verbatim.	9-10
Mostly specific; one or two fields generic where the source has detail.	7-8
Half-specific: country + name are right but activities, partners, stats are generic.	4-6
Could plausibly apply to a different Connect program with no edits. Hallucinated stats or activities.	0-3

Brief-as-anchor branch (the source is a structured brief, not a live URL — provenance.generated_from is a brief/handle, not a fetchable page): the anchor is the brief text. "Verbatim/near-verbatim" means the spec uses the brief's actual program name, country, FLW tasks, and numbers, inventing nothing beyond it. Critically: under-use of available specificity caps the score below 9. If the brief supplies named places (e.g. four districts) or scale figures the spec collapses to generic "the country" / "four districts", that is a real fidelity miss — cap at 8 even when every stated fact is correct. Reserve 9-10 for specs that mine the brief's distinctive detail, not merely avoid errors. Graduated under-use threshold (for reproducibility): count the distinct brief specifics that are available but unused — named places, co-equal scale figures, named partners/funders. 0 omitted → up to 9-10; 1-2 omitted → cap 8; 3+ omitted → cap 7; collapsed to country-only with no named detail → 5-6. Apply the count, don't eyeball it.

No-source branch (source_available = false, no brief and no URL): grade on internal coherence only — does the spec hang together?

5. Tagline Mirror

Rubric: Does narration.by_beat.hook paraphrase Connect's tagline "Pay for verified service delivery, not planned activity" without inventing a different tagline?

Anchor	Score
Verbatim or near-verbatim ("Connect pays for verified service delivery, not planned activity").	9-10
Strong paraphrase keeping all four key concepts (pay / verified / service / delivery).	7-8
Drift — drops one concept ("we deliver" without "verified").	4-6
New tagline invented from whole cloth.	0-3

Note: the static QA catches gross divergence (3+ of 4 key tokens required). This dimension catches the subtler stylistic drift.

6. Story Compression

Rubric: Within each beat's word budget, did the agent use the words to maximum effect? Or did it pad with filler to hit the target?

Anchor	Score
Every word earns its place. A reader couldn't trim by 2 words without losing meaning.	9-10
One or two beats use filler ("structured care that is delivered in their homes").	7-8
Multiple beats pad; a sharp editor could compress by 20% with no loss.	4-6
Most beats are bloated. The 60s of audio carries 30s of content.	0-3

Budget check (reproducible — REQUIRED): fetch skeleton_yaml (and programs/_defaults.yaml) to read each beat's seconds, then derive the ceiling per beat as max = round(beat_seconds × 2.5) + 2. Recount each beat's actual words. Any beat over max is a hard compression defect (the audio gets cut mid-word) — knock at least one point and name the over-budget beat in the weakness. Do not grade this dimension by feel; the budget is arithmetic. The recurring offender is the short problem beat (~8s → max ~22 words); flag it when it carries both a stat and a stakes clause.

Verdict YAML shape

schema_version: 1
skill: video-spec-eval
target: dimagi-team/kangaroo-mother-care/run-001
ran_at: 2026-05-15T12:34:56Z
capture_path: videos/kangaroo-mother-care/runs/run-001/spec.yaml
overall_score: 82
verdict: pass         # pass | revise | fail
qa_gated: true        # was QA passing when eval ran?
source_available: true
dimensions:
  narration_voice:
    score: 9
    strength: "Every beat reads as documentary lower-third."
    weakness: "Cycle beat uses 'verified' twice — feels redundant."
    recommendation: "Change cycle beat's second 'verified' to 'confirmed'."
  stat_selection: {score: 7, strength: ..., weakness: ..., recommendation: ...}
  beat_coherence: {...}
  source_fidelity: {...}
  tagline_mirror: {...}
  story_compression: {...}
summary: |
  Strong source fidelity and voice; the main lever is tightening
  the cycle beat's word choice. Spec is ship-ready after one edit.

Inflation guard

Eval inflation is real — every well-written spec wants a 9. To keep the rubric calibrated:

• Default ceiling for a first-pass agent-authored spec is 8 on any dimension. Reserve 9-10 for specs that genuinely could not be improved.
• If you find yourself scoring 9+ on every dimension, re-examine: am I grading what's there or am I grading absence of obvious flaws?
• A 7 is a good score. It means "ship-ready with one or two operator edits."

MCP Tools Used

• Google Drive: drive_read_file (spec.yaml)
• WebFetch: provenance.generated_from to re-fetch the source page (out-of-chain anchor)
• HTTP (curl): GET /api/w/<ws>/videos/templates/<id> to fetch template bundle (intent + example + skeleton)
• Bash: writing the verdict YAML to a temp path

Change Log

Date	Change	Author
2026-05-15	Initial skill paired with /ace:video-from-program-page. Six dimensions covering voice, stats, coherence, fidelity, tagline, and compression.	ACE team
2026-06-09	Made prompt-independent: replaced "load generate.prompt.md" step with template bundle fetch (intent + example_yaml + skeleton); derived word budgets from beat seconds formula; updated step numbering; added stat-beat applicability guard; updated Beat Coherence to be template-agnostic; honored out-of-chain discipline principle.	ACE team