# LLM judge LLM judge: A model that reads a finished change against a written standard, then records a pass or a fail. Source: https://codeherder.com/glossary/llm-judge/ Glossary ยท The checking A model that reads a finished change against a written standard, then records a pass or a fail. ## What it is An LLM judge is a model used as a checker rather than a coder. It reads a change, compares it against a written standard such as the acceptance criteria, and records a pass or a fail. That result becomes a recorded fact the next gate can check, never a private opinion. ## Why it matters to you A model that writes code can't also be trusted to grade its own work fairly. A separate judgment step, even a model-based one, catches a mismatch between what was asked for and what got built, before a person has to find it by hand. ## How it works in CodeHerder CodeHerder's built-in review stage requires an LLM-judge verification to pass before a task can move to merge. A fail routes the task straight back to the stage that needs fixing. A pass doesn't carry forward from an earlier attempt: a task sent back for rework needs a fresh pass on its next attempt. - [Verification โ†’](https://codeherder.com/verification/) - [Reviewing an agent's work โ†’](https://codeherder.com/docs/reviewing-work/) ## What people get wrong An LLM judge isn't the same as asking the coding agent whether it's done. It runs as its own separate check, against a written standard, and its result is recorded and gated the same way a human reviewer's decision would be. Treating it as a formality defeats the point of having a second, independent check at all. Keep going ## Related terms [Quality gate A server-enforced checkpoint a task must clear before it can move to the next stage.](https://codeherder.com/glossary/quality-gate/) [Code review A dedicated check of a change against the task, run by an agent or a person, before it can merge.](https://codeherder.com/glossary/code-review/) [Acceptance criteria A written checklist that defines what a task must deliver, checked before work begins and before it can ship.](https://codeherder.com/glossary/acceptance-criteria/) [โ† See every term](https://codeherder.com/glossary)