Verification Before Completion

Overview

Claiming work is complete without verification is dishonesty, not efficiency.

Core principle: Evidence before claims, always.

Violating the letter of this rule is violating the spirit of this rule.

The Iron Law

NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE

If the verification command has not been run in the current message, the result cannot be claimed.

The Gate Function

BEFORE claiming any status or expressing satisfaction:

1. IDENTIFY: What command proves this claim?
2. RUN: Execute the FULL command (fresh, complete)
3. READ: Full output, check exit code, count failures
4. VERIFY: Does output confirm the claim?
   - If NO: State actual status with evidence
   - If YES: State claim WITH evidence
5. ONLY THEN: Make the claim

Skip any step = lying, not verifying

Scope of Verification

Match the verification scope to the claim scope:

• Narrow claim (e.g., "this test passes"): Run the specific test.
• Broad claim (e.g., "task complete", "ready to commit"): Run the full verification pipeline — formatting, linting, all tests, and build. If the project defines a single gate command (e.g., make verify), run that.

A narrow verification does not support a broad claim. Running make test alone does not justify "task complete." Running the linter alone does not justify "ready to commit." The verification scope must be equal to or broader than the claim scope.

If in doubt, run the full pipeline. Over-verification wastes minutes. Under-verification wastes hours.

Passing pipeline != meeting requirements. A green build proves the code compiles, lints, and passes existing tests. It does not prove the implementation matches the requirements. For "task complete" or "requirements met" claims, also verify the deliverables against the original specification — line by line, not by assumption.

Common Failures

Claim	Requires	Not Sufficient
Tests pass	Test command output: 0 failures	Previous run, "should pass"
Linter clean	Linter output: 0 errors	Partial check, extrapolation
Build succeeds	Build command: exit 0	Linter passing, logs look good
Bug fixed	Test original symptom: passes	Code changed, assumed fixed
Regression test works	Red-green cycle verified	Test passes once
Agent completed	VCS diff shows changes	Agent reports "success"
Requirements met	Line-by-line checklist	Tests passing

Red Flags

• Using "should", "probably", or "seems to"
• Expressing satisfaction before verification
• About to commit, push, or open a PR without verification
• Trusting another agent's success report
• Relying on partial verification
• Thinking "just this once"
• Any wording that implies success without current evidence

Rationalization Prevention

Excuse	Reality
"Should work now"	Run the verification
"I'm confident"	Confidence ≠ evidence
"Just this once"	No exceptions
"Linter passed"	Linter ≠ compiler
"Agent said success"	Verify independently
"I'm tired"	Exhaustion ≠ excuse
"Partial check is enough"	Partial proves nothing
"Different words so rule doesn't apply"	Spirit over letter

When To Apply

Apply this skill before:

• any success or completion claim
• any expression of satisfaction with the implementation state
• any commit or PR creation
• any handoff that implies correctness
• moving to the next task based on completion

Pre-Commit and Pre-PR Gate

Commits and PRs are permanent artifacts. They require the highest verification standard.

Before git commit:

1. Run the full verification pipeline (e.g., make verify). Not a subset. The full pipeline.
2. Confirm zero errors, zero warnings, zero test failures in the output.
3. Produce a Verification Report (see template below) with verdict PASS.
4. Only then run git commit.

Before creating a PR:

1. All of the above, plus:
2. Verify the diff matches the intended changes (git diff review).
3. Confirm no unrelated files are staged.

If the full pipeline has not passed in this session after the last code change, the commit or PR must not proceed.

Verification Report Template

Verification is not complete until the agent cites actual command output in their response. "I ran it and it passed" is not evidence. If the verification output is not shown, the verification did not happen.

Every verification must be reported using this structure. Do not deviate.

VERIFICATION REPORT
-------------------
Claim: [What is being claimed — e.g., "tests pass", "build succeeds", "task complete"]
Command: [Exact command run — e.g., `make verify`]
Executed: [Timestamp or "just now, after all changes"]
Exit code: [0 or non-zero]
Output summary: [Key lines from output — pass count, error count, build result]
Warnings: [Any warnings, or "none"]
Errors: [Any errors, or "none"]
Verdict: PASS or FAIL

If the verdict is FAIL, do not use completion language. State what failed and what remains.

If the verdict is PASS, the claim may proceed — but only the specific claim supported by the evidence. "Tests pass" does not mean "build succeeds."

When Verification Fails

Verification failure is not a dead end. It is information. Follow this protocol:

1. Read the failure. Identify the exact error: which command failed, which test, which lint rule, which build error. Quote the relevant output lines.
2. Diagnose the root cause. Do not guess. Read the error message. Trace it to the source. If multiple things failed, address them one at a time starting with the first failure.
3. Fix the root cause. Apply the minimal change that addresses the actual error. Do not apply workarounds, suppress warnings, or skip checks.
4. Re-verify from scratch. Run the full verification command again. Do not assume the fix worked. Do not run only the previously-failing subset.
5. Report with evidence. Use the Verification Report Template. If it passes now, the claim may proceed. If it fails again, return to step 1.

Never:

• Claim partial success ("3 of 4 checks pass, close enough")
• Skip re-verification after a fix ("I fixed the error, so it should pass now")
• Blame the tooling ("the linter is wrong") without evidence of a false positive
• Move on to the next task while verification is still failing

If the correct verification command is unclear, identify it before making any completion claim. If only partial verification is available, state that limitation explicitly and avoid completion language.