kyle-sexton · Nov 12, 2026 · Nov 11, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026
diff --git a/.changes/evals/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-a37f0c58.md b/.changes/evals/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-a37f0c58.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+bump: patch
+---
+
+### Changed
+
+- Pointer records no longer carry an as-of date or recheck trigger; stored values keep theirs.
diff --git a/.changes/planning/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-1e6d9b43.md b/.changes/planning/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-1e6d9b43.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+bump: patch
+---
+
+### Changed
+
+- Pointer records no longer carry an as-of date or recheck trigger; stored values keep theirs.
diff --git a/.changes/session-flow/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-5b7d3e21.md b/.changes/session-flow/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-5b7d3e21.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+bump: patch
+---
+
+### Changed
+
+- Pointer records no longer carry an as-of date or recheck trigger; stored values keep theirs.
diff --git a/.changes/source-control/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-8c2a4f90.md b/.changes/source-control/docs-drop-pointer-stamps-batch5-8c2a4f90.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+bump: patch
+---
+
+### Changed
+
+- Pointer records no longer carry an as-of date or recheck trigger; stored values keep theirs.
diff --git a/plugins/evals/README.md b/plugins/evals/README.md
@@ -31,12 +31,10 @@ cookbook (`anthropics/claude-cookbooks` `misc/building_evals.ipynb`), fetched 20
 
 `claude plugin eval` is what runs and scores a plugin's eval cases. For what one run does and what
 it reports, read
-[How an eval run works](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#how-an-eval-run-works) live
-(as of 2026-11-03; recheck when that section changes how a run is graded or reported). It needs a
-recent Claude Code; for the minimum version, see
-[Requirements](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#requirements) (as of 2026-10-11;
-recheck when that section's version floor changes). Every run and every judge grader is a metered
-model call on your own account.
+[How an eval run works](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#how-an-eval-run-works) live.
+It needs a recent Claude Code; for the minimum version, see
+[Requirements](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#requirements). Every run and every
+judge grader is a metered model call on your own account.
 
 This plugin is the practice around that command rather than a second runner. `/evals:plugin-eval`
 preflights the machine and the target, validates the case files, prices the suite before it spends,
@@ -45,8 +43,8 @@ work.
 
 Here `/evals:design` writes a skill's cases and `claude plugin eval init` a whole plugin's, both in
 the suite layout the CLI reads, and `/evals:validate` checks them. For that layout, read
-[Write a case manually](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#write-a-case-manually) live
-(as of 2026-11-03; recheck when that section changes the case layout). This repository converts
+[Write a case manually](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#write-a-case-manually) live.
+This repository converts
 `skill-creator` `evals.json` cases into the suite rather than keeping both:
 `skills/plugin-eval/scripts/convert-evals-json.py <plugin-dir>` converts one plugin's `evals.json`
 cases into its `evals/` suite and removes the converted files.
@@ -112,8 +110,7 @@ Eight `userConfig` keys. Two set the run's cost ceiling, read by `/evals:plugin-
 - **`max_cost_usd`** (number, default `5`): the ceiling passed to the CLI as `--max-cost-usd`.
   Raise it for a suite whose estimate is higher. For what the ceiling bounds and what a run that
   reaches it returns, read the `--max-cost-usd` row of
-  [Command options](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#command-options) live (as of
-  2026-11-03; recheck when that row changes).
+  [Command options](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#command-options) live.
 - **`unlimited_cost`** (boolean, default `false`): removes the ceiling and nothing else. The
   estimate still prints before the run, so an expensive suite is still visible before it starts.
 

diff --git a/plugins/evals/skills/design/SKILL.md b/plugins/evals/skills/design/SKILL.md
@@ -195,9 +195,6 @@ convert it; the overwrite rule below applies.
 - **Pointer**: for the eval directory, the case layout and the `case.yaml` required fields, see
   [Eval suite reference](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#eval-suite-reference) and
   [case.yaml fields](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals#case-yaml-fields).
-- **As of**: 2026-10-31
-- **Recheck trigger**: either section changes the default eval directory, the files a case
-  directory holds, or the fields `case.yaml` requires.
 
 `claude plugin eval` runs each case with the plugin and again without it. The with arm answers
 "does the output meet these expectations"; the with/without delta answers a comparative claim (the
@@ -206,9 +203,9 @@ agents and hooks together). `/evals:plugin-eval` reads that delta. Whether the s
 delta question: the no-plugin arm has no skill to invoke, so read it from the with-arm
 `tool_used: Skill` indicator, which is unscored.
 
-Verified 2026-09-11 against <https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals.md> and
-`claude plugin eval --help` (recorded in `docs/native-surfaces.md`, the `plugin eval` entry).
-Recheck when a Claude Code release changes `--ablation`'s default or which graders it excludes from scoring.
+For how the arms run and which graders are scored, read
+<https://code.claude.com/docs/en/plugin-evals.md> and `claude plugin eval --help` (recorded in
+`docs/native-surfaces.md`, the `plugin eval` entry) live.
 
 ## Phase 3: grading hygiene gate
 

diff --git a/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/SKILL.md b/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/SKILL.md
@@ -82,8 +82,6 @@ The target-number and rewrite rules are this repository's reading of the Achieva
 
 - **Pointer**: for what grounds a target, see
   <https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/test-and-evaluate/develop-tests#define-your-success-criteria>.
-- **As of**: 2026-10-02
-- **Recheck trigger**: that section changes what it names as grounds for a target.
 
 ## Agent evals: grader hygiene
 
@@ -100,9 +98,6 @@ When the thing under test is an agent that acts over many turns and changes an e
 - **Pointer**: Anthropic's "Demystifying evals for AI agents" (2026-01-09)
   <https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/demystifying-evals-for-ai-agents>. Read through a fetch
   summary with quoted sentences, not a raw-text check.
-- **As of**: 2026-10-06
-- **Recheck trigger**: the post is revised, or the develop-tests page above starts covering agent
-  evals; then the pointer moves there.
 
 ## Route by repository kind
 

diff --git a/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/reference/eval-design.md b/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/reference/eval-design.md
@@ -54,8 +54,7 @@ prompt and leave `max_tokens` headroom rather than fencing the answer with a tig
 
 - **Pointer**: when sizing `max_tokens` for a model that thinks, fetch
   [Budget rules and tuning](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/build-with-claude/extended-thinking#budget-rules-and-tuning)
-  live. **As of**: 2026-11-03. **Recheck trigger**: that section changes how thinking tokens count
-  against `max_tokens`.
+  live.
 
 ## Effort as an eval axis
 
@@ -65,8 +64,7 @@ suite, a flat cost-performance curve across levels means the task is not bound b
 compute, and higher effort buys cost without score; a steep curve locates the cheapest level
 that holds the target. Sweep model and effort together, since a stronger model at low effort can
 beat a weaker one at high effort on both axes (basis:
-`platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/models/optimizing-for-cost-and-intelligence#tune-effort`,
-verified 2026-09-09; recheck on that section changing).
+`platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/models/optimizing-for-cost-and-intelligence#tune-effort`).
 
 When the bundled `claude-api` skill resolves in this session, its `hillclimb` subcommand
 automates this search over a suite; this repository's step map for it is

diff --git a/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/reference/hillclimb.md b/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/reference/hillclimb.md
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@ approval to change the target.
 
 - **Pointer**: for how a subcommand workflow is started, see
   <https://code.claude.com/docs/en/skills#work-on-claude-api-projects>.
-- **As of**: 2026-10-01
-- **Recheck trigger**: a docs page states whether the model may start a `/claude-api` subcommand
-  workflow.
 
 ## Whether it can drive a `claude plugin eval` suite
 

diff --git a/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/reference/local-decisions.md b/plugins/evals/skills/methodology/reference/local-decisions.md
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ Default: a judge rubric is a list of checkable pass/fail claims. The 1-to-5 reci
   [eval-audit.md, When the grader is an LLM judge](https://github.com/anthropics/skills/blob/8a1541c4a3ffa5a20a5a91de0dcf3f0bab1d1ef4/skills/claude-api/shared/evals/eval-audit.md#when-the-grader-is-an-llm-judge)
   disagree on rubric form.
 - Correlate with <https://claude.dev/blog/automating-eval-design-and-hillclimbing#validating-the-grader>,
-  which departs from the platform page on rubric form as of 2026-10-01.
+  which departs from the platform page on rubric form.
 - **As of**: 2026-10-01
 - **Recheck trigger**: the platform page changes its Example evals section, or a commit to
   `anthropics/skills` changes the LLM-judge section of `eval-audit.md`.