new-objective

name	new-objective
description	Implement a new objective for jolt-eval
argument-hint	<objective-name>

Implement a new objective for the jolt-eval optimization framework. An objective is a measurable quantity that the AI optimizer tries to minimize — either a static analysis metric or a performance benchmark.

This skill handles all the boilerplate: creating the objective struct, implementing the Objective trait, registering it in the appropriate enum, creating a const key, adding an ObjectiveFunction, creating a Criterion benchmark, and running sync_targets.sh.

<Execution_Policy>

• The user must provide an objective name (lowercase with underscores, e.g. cyclomatic_complexity).
• Ask the user what is being measured and whether it's a static analysis or performance objective.
• Follow existing patterns exactly — study lloc.rs (static analysis) and binding.rs (performance) as models.
• Always run clippy and tests before reporting success. </Execution_Policy>

Phase 1: Gather Requirements

1. Validate the argument {{ARGUMENTS}}: must be a valid Rust identifier (lowercase alphanumeric + underscores). Reject otherwise.
2. Ask the user:
   • What is being measured? (becomes the description())
   • Is this a static analysis objective or a performance objective?
     • Static analysis: computes a metric by analyzing source code (e.g. lines of code, complexity). Overrides collect_measurement(), uses Setup = ().
     • Performance: computes a metric by running/profiling some computation (e.g. wall-clock time, max RSS). Overrides setup() and run().
   • What are the units? (e.g. "lines", "s", "bugs")
   • What files/directories does this objective measure? (used for diff_paths() scoping)

Phase 2: Explore Context

1. Read jolt-eval/src/objective/mod.rs to understand the current enums and dispatch methods.
2. Read jolt-eval/src/objective/objective_fn/mod.rs to understand objective function registration.
3. Read an existing objective for reference:
   • Static analysis: jolt-eval/src/objective/code_quality/lloc.rs
   • Performance: jolt-eval/src/objective/performance/binding.rs
4. If the objective measures jolt-prover-legacy functionality, explore the relevant modules.

Phase 3: Implement

For Static Analysis Objectives

Create jolt-eval/src/objective/code_quality/<objective_name>.rs:

use std::path::Path;
use crate::objective::{
    MeasurementError, Objective, OptimizationObjective, StaticAnalysisObjective,
};

pub const <UPPER_NAME>: OptimizationObjective =
    OptimizationObjective::StaticAnalysis(StaticAnalysisObjective::<VariantName>(<Name>Objective {
        target_dir: "<target_directory>",
    }));

#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
pub struct <Name>Objective {
    pub(crate) target_dir: &'static str,
}

impl <Name>Objective {
    pub fn collect_measurement_in(&self, repo_root: &Path) -> Result<f64, MeasurementError> {
        let src_dir = repo_root.join(self.target_dir);
        // Implement measurement logic
        todo!()
    }
}

impl Objective for <Name>Objective {
    type Setup = ();

    fn name(&self) -> &str { "<objective_name>" }

    fn description(&self) -> String {
        format!("Description of measurement in {}", self.target_dir)
    }

    fn setup(&self) {}

    fn collect_measurement(&self) -> Result<f64, MeasurementError> {
        let repo_root = Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR")).parent().unwrap();
        self.collect_measurement_in(repo_root)
    }

    fn units(&self) -> Option<&str> { Some("units") }
}

For Performance Objectives

Create jolt-eval/src/objective/performance/<objective_name>.rs:

use crate::objective::Objective;

pub const <UPPER_NAME>: OptimizationObjective =
    OptimizationObjective::Performance(PerformanceObjective::<VariantName>(<Name>Objective));

pub struct <Name>Setup {
    // Pre-computed data for each iteration
}

#[derive(Clone, Copy, Default, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
pub struct <Name>Objective;

impl Objective for <Name>Objective {
    type Setup = <Name>Setup;

    fn name(&self) -> &str { "<objective_name>" }

    fn description(&self) -> String {
        "What is being benchmarked and at what scale".to_string()
    }

    fn setup(&self) -> <Name>Setup {
        // Use thread_local! { static SHARED: ... } pattern for expensive one-time init
        // that should be amortized across Criterion iterations.
        // Return a fresh Setup that can be consumed by run().
        todo!()
    }

    fn run(&self, setup: <Name>Setup) {
        // The hot path that Criterion measures.
        // Use std::hint::black_box() to prevent dead-code elimination.
        todo!()
    }

    fn units(&self) -> Option<&str> { Some("s") }
}

Performance objective guidelines:

• Use thread_local! with a Shared struct for expensive setup (random data generation, etc.) that should be amortized
• The setup() method is called per-iteration by Criterion — keep it cheap (clone from shared state)
• The run() method is what Criterion measures — this is the hot path
• Use std::hint::black_box() on the result to prevent the compiler from optimizing away the computation

Phase 4: Register in Enums

4a. Add module declaration

Edit the appropriate mod.rs:

• Static analysis: jolt-eval/src/objective/code_quality/mod.rs — add pub mod <objective_name>;
• Performance: jolt-eval/src/objective/performance/mod.rs — add pub mod <objective_name>;

4b. Add enum variant and dispatch

Edit jolt-eval/src/objective/mod.rs:

For static analysis, add to StaticAnalysisObjective:

1. New variant in the enum
2. Entry in all() with the target_dir field
3. Match arm in every dispatch method: name(), description(), collect_measurement(), collect_measurement_in(), units()

For performance, add to PerformanceObjective:

1. New variant in the enum
2. Entry in all()
3. Match arm in every dispatch method: name(), units(), description()
4. Match arm in diff_paths() — return the appropriate path slice

4c. Add const re-export

Add a pub use line in jolt-eval/src/objective/mod.rs:

pub use <submodule>::<objective_name>::<UPPER_NAME>;

Phase 5: Add Objective Function

Edit jolt-eval/src/objective/objective_fn/mod.rs:

1. Import the const key:

   use super::{..., <UPPER_NAME>};
   

2. Add a const ObjectiveFunction:

   pub const MINIMIZE_<UPPER_NAME>: ObjectiveFunction = ObjectiveFunction {
       name: "minimize_<objective_name>",
       inputs: &[<UPPER_NAME>],
       evaluate: |m, _| m.get(&<UPPER_NAME>).copied().unwrap_or(f64::INFINITY),
   };
   

3. Add it to ObjectiveFunction::all().

Phase 6: Create Criterion Benchmark (performance objectives only)

Create jolt-eval/benches/<objective_name>.rs:

use jolt_eval::objective::performance::<objective_name>::<Name>Objective;
jolt_eval::bench_objective!(<Name>Objective);

Then run ./jolt-eval/sync_targets.sh to update Cargo.toml with the new [[bench]] entry.

Phase 7: Validate

Run these commands (all must pass):

# Format
cargo fmt -q

# Lint
cargo clippy -p jolt-eval -q --all-targets -- -D warnings

# Run tests
cargo nextest run -p jolt-eval --cargo-quiet

# For static analysis objectives, verify the measurement works
cargo run -p jolt-eval --bin measure-objectives -- --objective <objective_name>

# For performance objectives, verify the benchmark compiles
cargo bench -p jolt-eval --bench <objective_name> -- --test

If any step fails, fix the issue and re-run.

User: "/new-objective cyclomatic_complexity" Action: Asks whether static or performance, creates the objective file, registers in all enums, adds objective function, runs tests. Why good: Full pipeline — every enum, dispatch method, and test count is updated. User: "/new-objective my-objective" Action: Accepts the name with a hyphen. Why bad: Rust identifiers use underscores, not hyphens. Should reject and suggest `my_objective`. User: "/new-objective bind_compact" Action: Creates a performance objective but doesn't create the Criterion benchmark file. Why bad: Performance objectives are measured via Criterion — without the bench file, `cargo bench` won't find it and the optimization harness can't measure it.

Task: Implement a new objective for jolt-eval. {{ARGUMENTS}}