ScaffoldBench

RunSonnet 5.5repeat 2

Plan-execute-verify on NIST SP 800-63B password rules, current revision

claude-sonnet-5-5__plan-execute-verify__research-nist-password-rules__r2

Score

1.000

passed
design ran as designed
Cost
$0.122
Latency
37.4s
setup 0.0s, grading 0.0s
Turns
15
Tool calls
10
Subagents
0
Tokens in / out
62k / 4.6k
40,202 read from cache

Did the design run?

every check held
  • Run completed: heldharness.run-completedThe environment was built, the architecture returned and grading finished, none of them throwing.
  • No API failures: heldharness.apiNo model call failed at the API.
  • Every call ended: heldharness.calls-endedEvery call ended with a result, or was stopped by the run's own limits.
  • No harness tool denied: heldharness.harness-toolsThe sandbox guard never denied a harness tool, nor a tool the session itself offered.
  • Tool servers connected: heldharness.mcp-connectedEvery tool server the harness gave a call was connected when the session started.
  • No foreign tool servers: heldharness.mcp-hermeticNo call loaded a tool server the harness did not give it.
  • Builtin tools: heldharness.builtin-toolsA check recorded with the run.
  • Structured replies arrived: heldharness.structured-outputEvery call that asked for structured output and ran to the end got it.
  • No silent fallbacks: heldharness.not-degradedNo phase fell back on a default (an empty plan, a default winner) instead of its output.
  • The plan was a plan: heldplan-execute-verify.planThe planner’s reply was read through its schema and held at least one step.
  • Every verdict was read: heldplan-execute-verify.verdictsEvery review round ended with a verdict read from the schema reply, not a default.
  • The loop did what its verdicts said: heldplan-execute-verify.loopEvery verdict that called for a revision got one, and nothing was revised without such a verdict.
  • Each call was shown the right tools: heldplan-execute-verify.toolsThe planner was shown no tools, the verifier the read-only ones, and the executor and reviser the full toolset.

Phases

Plan: 0.0s to 12.7s, finished, 0 tool calls, $0.018
Execute: 12.7s to 30.4s, finished, 7 tool calls, $0.067
Verify: 30.4s to 37.4s, finished, 3 tool calls, $0.037

Drawn from the phase records: timing and cost per call, no tool calls or messages.

PhaseDurationCostTurnsToolsModel
Plan12.7s$0.01820claude-sonnet-5-5
Execute17.8s$0.06787claude-sonnet-5-5
Verify7.0s$0.03753claude-sonnet-5-5

The call-by-call replay is not published for this run. Traces are large, so the repository keeps 9 of this run set’s 900 and leaves the rest out; the score, phases and final answer on this page come from the committed run record.

Runs you can replay

Record this cell yourself: npm run bench -- run --strategies plan-execute-verify --tasks research-nist-password-rules --models claude-sonnet-5-5 --repeats 1

Score breakdown

  • passtopic single-factor-minimum-length: minimum length of a password used as the only authentication factor (characters)
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic maximum-length: the maximum password length verifiers permit (characters)
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic composition-rules: imposing composition rules, such as requiring a mix of character types
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic periodic-change: requiring subscribers to change their passwords periodically
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic password-hints: letting subscribers store a password hint that unauthenticated claimants can see
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic security-questions: prompting for knowledge-based authentication or security questions when a password is chosen
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic blocklist: checking a new password against a blocklist of commonly used, expected or compromised passwords
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic password-managers: allowing password managers and autofill
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic salt-length: the length of the salt used when storing passwords (bits)
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

  • passtopic hashing-scheme: using an approved password hashing scheme from the latest revision of SP 800-132
    1.00weight 0.10

    quote verified in nist-sp800-63b-4

Penalties

No penalties were applied.

Scorer metadata

corpus
{"version":2,"snapshot":"2026-10-01","hash":"0786c624b04f6c85e2ed8a55d4acedd99e4cf2c18632a0ebc22ee969fb3e2263","documents":4}
opened documents
["nist-sp800-63b-4"]
opened by role
{"primary":["nist-sp800-63b-4"]}
displayed share
{"nist-sp800-63b-4":0.0413,"nist-sp800-63b-3":0.0014,"owasp-authentication":0.0072,"owasp-password-storage":0.0129}
cited count
1
verified count
1
hallucinated count
0
citation integrity
1
hallucinated urls
[]
answer block
true
answer block repaired
false
items answered
10
item count
10
field accuracy
1
grounded items
10
field misses
{}

Final answer

In the current revision (Rev. 4), SP 800-63B sets requirements for all ten topics. I read them on the official NIST page, https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html. The relevant text is in §3.1.1.1 (Password Authenticators) and §3.1.1.2 (Password Verifiers). I did not open Rev. 3, so I haven't compared it with the earlier text.

  • Minimum length: Passwords used as the only factor SHALL be at least 15 characters. Passwords used only as part of multi-factor authentication MAY be shorter, but SHALL be at least 8 characters.
  • Maximum length: Verifiers SHOULD permit at least 64 characters. This is a SHOULD, not a SHALL.
  • Composition rules, periodic change, hints and security questions: All four are SHALL NOT. The one exception is that a verifier SHALL force a change if the authenticator may be compromised.
  • Blocklist: Verifiers SHALL compare a new password against a blocklist of commonly used, expected or compromised passwords.
  • Password managers: Verifiers SHALL allow password managers and autofill.
  • Salt: The salt SHALL be at least 32 bits.
  • Hashing scheme: This is only a SHOULD. The page says an approved scheme from the latest revision of SP 800-132 "SHOULD be used". Separately, passwords SHALL be salted and hashed with a suitable password hashing scheme.
{"answers":[
{"topic":"single-factor-minimum-length","keyword":"SHALL","value":"15","quote":"Verifiers and CSPs SHALL require passwords that are used as a single-factor authentication mechanism to be a minimum of 15 characters in length.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"maximum-length","keyword":"SHOULD","value":"64","quote":"Verifiers and CSPs SHOULD permit a maximum password length of at least 64 characters.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"composition-rules","keyword":"SHALL NOT","value":null,"quote":"Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT impose other composition rules (e.g., requiring mixtures of different character types) for passwords.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"periodic-change","keyword":"SHALL NOT","value":null,"quote":"Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT require subscribers to change passwords periodically.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"password-hints","keyword":"SHALL NOT","value":null,"quote":"Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT permit the subscriber to store a hint (e.g., a reminder of how the password was created) that is accessible to an unauthenticated claimant.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"security-questions","keyword":"SHALL NOT","value":null,"quote":"Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT prompt subscribers to use knowledge-based authentication (KBA) (e.g., “What was the name of your first pet?”) or security questions when choosing passwords.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"blocklist","keyword":"SHALL","value":null,"quote":"When processing a request to establish or change a password, verifiers SHALL compare the prospective secret against a blocklist that contains known commonly used, expected, or compromised passwords.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"password-managers","keyword":"SHALL","value":null,"quote":"Verifiers SHALL allow the use of password managers and autofill functionality.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"salt-length","keyword":"SHALL","value":"32","quote":"The salt SHALL be at least 32 bits in length and chosen to minimize salt value collisions among stored hashes","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"},
{"topic":"hashing-scheme","keyword":"SHOULD","value":null,"quote":"An approved password hashing scheme published in the latest revision of [SP800-132] or updated NIST guidelines on password hashing schemes SHOULD be used.","url":"https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html"}
]}

Provenance of the numbers on this page

run set
scaffold-or-scale-v1
models
Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 5.5, Opus 5.5
effort
high
repeats
2
fixtures
replay
runs
900 / 900
strategy cost
$354.44
judge cost
$9.19
wall clock
9h 48m
git
fce5807b2d

Cost excludes judge calls, which are tracked separately so a scoring model never flatters or penalises an architecture. Every figure on this site is read from results/ at build time.