Challenge Mode Reviews

Rigorous, critical review patterns. Push beyond first solutions to ensure quality.

Iron Laws - Never Violate These

1. No approval without verification - Don't approve until all concerns addressed
2. Assume bugs exist - Look for edge cases, race conditions, missing handlers
3. Question everything - Even "obvious" code can hide issues
4. Demand proof - Ask for tests, show state transitions, verify behavior

Adversarial Lenses (Apply to ALL Modes)

Before diving into mode-specific checks, apply these four lenses:

1. "What Would Break This?" — Describe realistic scenarios where this code fails catastrophically. Not edge cases — production failure modes under load, during deploys, with unexpected data.
2. "Assumption Stress Test" — List every assumption this code relies on. Which are most fragile? (e.g., "assumes user always has an email", "assumes this query returns < 1000 rows")
3. "Contradictions Finder" — Find contradictions between tests and implementation, docs and behavior, or between different parts of the code changes.
4. "Overcomplicated?" — For every block of code, ask: would a senior engineer say this is overcomplicated? If you write 200 lines and it could be 50, that's a finding.