| name | weekly-checkpoint |
| description | The 5-axis rubric and grading workflow used at the end of every week (and stricter in checkpoint weeks 4/8/12/16). Use when running /checkpoint or evaluating whether the user is ready to advance. |
Weekly checkpoint rubric
End of every week. The curriculum-mentor subagent uses this as its
grading sheet.
The 5 axes
| Axis | What is graded |
|---|
| Correctness | Tests pass at all sizes incl. edge cases; max-error within stated tolerance |
| Performance | Achieves the lab's stated perf target on Spark sm_121 |
| Idiom | C++20 modern (concepts/ranges/RAII); CUDA modern (cooperative groups, async copies, tensor cores where relevant) |
| Profile evidence | Nsight Systems trace + Nsight Compute report committed to report/; bottleneck named in writeup |
| Writeup | report/LAB.md has hypothesis → method → results → next steps; cites primary sources |
Scoring scale (per axis, 0-4)
- 4 — Excellent: exceeds the bar in a way a reviewer would compliment.
- 3 — Solid: hits the bar cleanly.
- 2 — Pass: meets the bar with a few rough edges.
- 1 — Below: fails one part of the bar.
- 0 — Fail: missing or fundamentally wrong.
Pass thresholds
| Week type | Total /20 needed |
|---|
| Regular weeks (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15) | 14 |
| Checkpoint weeks (4, 8, 12) | 17 |
| Capstone (16) | 18 |
If a week scores below threshold, the verdict is REWORK. The mentor
returns the 1-3 highest-leverage fixes; the user iterates and re-runs
/checkpoint.
Per-axis detail
Correctness
- Tests exist and pass: 2 minimum.
- Includes at least one non-power-of-two size: +1.
- Includes N=0 / N=1 edge cases: +1.
compute-sanitizer clean (memcheck + racecheck + synccheck): +1
(capped at 4).
Performance
- Below 50% of target: 0.
- 50-79% of target: 1.
- 80-99% of target: 2.
- Hits target exactly (within 5%): 3.
- Exceeds target by ≥ 10% (or hits a stretch target named in
LAB.md): 4.
Idiom
C++:
- No raw
new/delete: required.
- RAII for all CUDA handles: +1.
- Concepts on templated host helpers: +1.
std::span / std::mdspan for views: +1.
CUDA:
- Coalesced global access: required.
- Cooperative groups or warp shuffles where reductions exist: +1.
- Async copies /
cuda::pipeline where global→shared dominates: +1.
- Tensor cores for any matmul-shaped workload: +1 (only if relevant).
Profile evidence
- Nsight Systems
.qdrep committed: +1.
- Nsight Compute
.ncu-rep committed for the hot kernel: +1.
- Bottleneck named in writeup with one of {compute, memory, latency,
occupancy}: +1.
- Roofline position quoted (X% of FP32/BF16/FP8 ceiling): +1.
Writeup
report/LAB.md exists with sections: Spec, Method, Results, Next: +1.- Hypothesis stated before the experiment: +1.
- Cites at least one chapter from PMPP/Iglberger/Stroustrup/Hartley/
Szeliski/Torralba with section number: +1.
- "What I would do next" is concrete and actionable, not "make it faster": +1.
Output template (mentor uses this)
# Week N checkpoint
## Scores
- Correctness: X/4 — <one-line evidence>
- Performance: X/4 — <achieved vs target>
- Idiom: X/4 — <one specific call-out>
- Profile evidence: X/4 — <which artifacts present>
- Writeup: X/4 — <quality observation>
Total: NN/20 (threshold: NN)
## Verdict
READY_TO_ADVANCE | REWORK | BLOCKED
## Highest-leverage fixes (if REWORK)
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
