2026-05-19: huge-N #000057 control sweep (f63b00d → 9dc02e4) burned
our Opus quota. Disable judge.py by default so a stray re-run can't
re-burn — every call short-circuits to JUDGE_ERROR with rationale
'disabled — set ARBORIST_JUDGE_ENABLE=1 ...' and zero subprocess
spawn (0ms in the disabled path, smoke-tested).
Why a gate, not a model swap:
- judge.py uses Opus deliberately as EXTERNAL SOTA outside both arms;
swapping the judge to Hermes/Qwen would corrupt the experiment
(Hermes is itself an arm under test). The hygiene comment at
judge.py:26-29 already names same-family-judging as the live threat
to validity at Opus level; downgrading further changes the science.
- Gating instead preserves the science when fox re-enables, and gives
us the data-first workflow he asked for: deterministic tool
pre-filters (verifier / NLI / recall@k) up front, judge only on
residue worth Opus tokens, with explicit go.
Behaviour:
- control_sweep.py + control_ab.py already treat JUDGE_ERROR
non-fatally (counted as JE in _bucket); disabled runs degrade to
100% JE in the tally and surface the disable reason in rationale —
the loudest possible 'judge did not run here' signal.
- Re-enable per-run: ARBORIST_JUDGE_ENABLE=1 python -m bench.control_sweep ...
- self_test() will report 4× JUDGE_ERROR when gated — intentional;
if the instrument is off, the self-test must NOT silently pass.
Smoke-test (without flag): label='JUDGE_ERROR' rationale='disabled — ...'
dt=0.0ms · no claude subprocess spawned.
Cross-referenced from CLAUDE.md '## Live endpoints' /
'Budget discipline' subsection added in 2365bd1.
russell@unturf.com
1cabfe6850