schlenks/verification-before-completion

Verification Before Completion

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 you haven't run the verification command in this message, you cannot claim it passes.

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

Visual Verification (Frontend)

When frontend code is modified and browser tools are available, visual verification is part of the gate function. Triggers when: browser tools exist, frontend files changed (.tsx, .jsx, .vue, .svelte, .css), dev server running. Skip silently if not applicable.

See references/visual-verification.md for full protocol.

Gap Closure Loop

When verification fails, don't just report — fix and re-verify:

IF verification fails:
  1. CREATE gap-fix task
  2. CREATE re-verification task (blocked by fix)
  3. WAIT for gap fix completion
  4. RUN re-verification
  5. IF still fails AND attempt < 3: → Increment attempt, GOTO step 1
  6. IF still fails AND attempt >= 3: → ESCALATE to human

See references/gap-closure-protocol.md for TaskCreate blocks and attempt tracking.

Verification Task Enforcement

Before making ANY completion claim, create a verification task:

TaskCreate: "Verify: [specific claim]"
  description: "Evidence required: [verification command]. Must capture command output and exit code."
  activeForm: "Verifying [claim]"

ENFORCEMENT:

• Task description MUST specify the verification command
• Task CANNOT be marked completed without evidence in the conversation
• Evidence = actual command output showing pass/fail
• Subsequent completion claims blocked until verification task completed

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 | | UI renders correctly | Visual smoke test: page loads, no console errors | "Code looks right", build passes |

Red Flags — STOP

Using "should", "probably", "seems to". Expressing satisfaction before verification ("Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!"). About to commit/push/PR without verification. Trusting agent success reports. Relying on partial verification. Thinking "just this once". ANY wording implying success without having run verification.

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 |

Reference Files

• references/visual-verification.md: Full visual/frontend verification protocol
• references/gap-closure-protocol.md: Gap-fix → re-verify → escalate enforcement
• references/key-patterns-examples.md: Verification patterns with examples
• references/why-this-matters.md: Context from failure memories
• references/when-to-apply.md: When verification is required
• references/SKILL.test.md: Pressure test scenarios

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