validator-requirements crashes with error_max_structured_output_retries due to complex nested JSON schema

[EivMeyer]

Problem

The validator-requirements agent in full-workflow.json consistently crashes with:

error_max_structured_output_retries
"errors": ["Failed to provide valid structured output after 5 attempts"]

Meanwhile, validator-code (which has a simpler schema) works fine.

Root Cause

Claude CLI's --json-schema feature struggles with deeply nested objects inside arrays combined with enum constraints.

validator-code schema (works):

{
  "approved": { "type": "boolean" },
  "summary": { "type": "string" },
  "errors": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }
}

validator-requirements schema (crashes):

{
  "approved": { "type": "boolean" },
  "summary": { "type": "string" },
  "criteriaResults": {
    "type": "array",
    "items": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "id": { "type": "string" },
        "status": { "enum": ["PASS", "FAIL", "SKIPPED", "CANNOT_VALIDATE"] },
        "evidence": {
          "type": "object",  // <-- nested object inside array
          "properties": { "command", "exitCode", "output" }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The model makes small mistakes (wrong enum case, missing nested field), Claude CLI rejects, retries 5 times internally, then gives up.

Proposed Fix

Simplify criteriaResults from complex nested array → simple string:

"jsonSchema": {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "approved": { "type": "boolean" },
    "summary": { "type": "string" },
    "errors": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
    "criteriaResults": { "type": "string" }
  },
  "required": ["approved", "summary"]
}

Before (crashes):

{
  "criteriaResults": [
    { "id": "AC1", "status": "PASS", "evidence": { "command": "npm test", "exitCode": 0, "output": "..." } }
  ]
}

After (works):

{
  "criteriaResults": "AC1 PASS: npm test → 15 tests passed\nAC2 FAIL: grep null → not found"
}

Same information, model just outputs formatted text instead of brittle nested JSON.

Files to Change

• cluster-templates/base-templates/full-workflow.json - simplify validator-requirements jsonSchema
• Update prompt to reflect new output format

Evidence

Cluster flying-quasar-25 burned $5.44 with validator-requirements failing 3 times while validator-code completed successfully on first try.