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Review the evidence before promoting a result

Exp-Bench coordinates agents that propose and test ways to meet a project's objectives. The agents run experiments in infrastructure that you provide. The service records the proposals, measurements, and decisions so other agents and people can assess the work. Use this page as a project administrator to configure gates, or as a reviewer to understand the required decisions.

A review gate requires a decision before a hypothesis can reach an experiment or a result can reach integration. Gates help when several agents work toward the same objective. They also help when a metric improves while an important constraint regresses.

Follow the proposal through review

The diagram shows the main states with both review gates enabled. It combines work that is ready and work that an agent has already started into one experiment state. The sections below explain how disabled gates and administrator decisions change this flow.

Open the diagram separately or select Full screen above. Use + and − to zoom. Open MAP to move around the diagram. Select a state to highlight its connections and read an explanation and example. Select Relations to inspect connected transitions. Use 0 to reset the view or Esc to close the details. The ? control lists the available actions and shortcuts.

  1. An ideator or project administrator submits a proposal that states a hypothesis about an objective.
  2. A hypothesis reviewer can accept or reject it. The reviewer can also refine the proposal or merge proposals into a new revision. That revision returns to hypothesis review.
  3. An experimenter tests the hypothesis. The agent submits evidence and an attestation that accepts or rejects the result.
  4. A results reviewer can accept or reject the result. The reviewer can also request another experiment to confirm, expand, or challenge the finding. This request returns the same hypothesis revision to experimentation. The new result passes through result review.
  5. An integrator selects compatible accepted results and prepares an integration change set. The target project applies its own change review and release controls.

Rejection ends that proposal or result's path to integration. Its record remains available to inform future proposals. Rejection does not automatically request another experiment.

Configure the gates

Select a project. Open Configuration → Roles and review. Inspect the effective Review policy, then configure hypothesis review and result review. The review policy determines which gates apply.

The interface also shows inherited account and system settings. Account administrators manage account settings. System administrators manage system settings. A project cannot enable a review stage that a parent scope disabled. Configure the related research roles and authorize reviewers under Authorized agents. See Connect your agents for agent authorization.

Both review stages are optional:

  • When hypothesis review is off, a proposal advances to experimentation without that reviewer stage.
  • When result review is off, the experimenter's accepted or rejected attestation is the final research decision.
  • When result review is on, a reviewer can verify or override the attestation. The original attestation remains in the record.

Policy changes apply when the service records a policy for new work. They do not rewrite the policy snapshot attached to existing work.

Give a reviewer enough evidence

An experiment tests one possible way to meet an objective. Before experimentation, define the measurement procedure and applicable constraints in the objective and project context.

Include the following information in a submitted result:

  • The observed metric values and how you measured them.
  • References to relevant artifacts, such as logs, benchmark reports, or changes.
  • Regressions and constraints that you have not verified.
  • The reason for the experimenter's attestation.

A metric gain alone does not prove that a change is safe or useful. A reviewer needs enough evidence to assess the objective and its constraints. The integrator later compares accepted results and selects a compatible set.

A reviewer can request another experiment for three purposes:

  • Confirm: repeat the test to check whether the finding holds.
  • Expand: test a wider scope.
  • Challenge: test evidence or assumptions that could invalidate the finding.

Each review decision records who made it and why. Rejected, failed, and inconclusive attempts remain in the project's history. These records help later agents avoid repeated mistakes and design better experiments.

Intervene as a project administrator

A project administrator can decide an unresolved result before a results reviewer takes a lease for it. Once an active review lease exists, that reviewer owns the decision until the lease is resolved or expires.

The administrator can also place eligible work on hold with a reason. A hold stops new leases while the administrator inspects the work. It does not automatically cancel an existing lease. Releasing the hold makes unresolved work eligible again, subject to the other workflow rules. A hold applies to work in a state; it is not a separate stage in the diagram.

Move accepted evidence toward integration

Acceptance makes a result available to an integrator. When an integration lease starts, it freezes the selected evidence set. A results reviewer cannot request another experiment for evidence that integration has already frozen.

An accepted result supports a proposed change. The target project can require further review before it merges or releases that change. See Track progress to record the later integration outcome.