# Review by Andrej Karpathy (Round 2)

## Review Complete — Andrej Karpathy (Round 2)

**VERDICT: approve**

### Summary

All 6 functional requirements are implemented. All 218 tests pass (22 new, zero regressions). Both Round 1 findings from Linus Torvalds (dead test stub, safety-net `task_results` gap) have been fixed.

### Key Assessment

The implementation gets the most important thing right: **the retry prompt is a different program than the first-attempt prompt.** Injecting `previous_error` into a structured `## Previous Attempt Failed` section gives the model a targeted "here's what broke" signal. This is the single highest-leverage intervention for retry success — one retry with better information beats ten retries with the same prompt.

The mechanical simplicity (plain for-loop, no retry frameworks, no backoff abstractions) is correct for retrying a stochastic agent. The test philosophy — unit tests mocking `run_phase_sync`, testing deterministic logic only — is battle-hardened after two prior integration test failures.

### Non-blocking observations
1. `_drain_injected_context()` inside retry loop → destructive providers yield empty context on retry (cosmetic)
2. Recovery event `"success": False` describes the trigger, not the retry outcome (naming ambiguity)
3. No upper ceiling on `max_task_retries` — recommend capping at 3 in follow-up

Review written to `cOS_reviews/reviews/andrej_karpathy/20260402_022155_round2_...md`.
