VERIFICATION-GATES — Depth Verification Engine (Premium)

Mathematical Compliance: This skill implements the DEPTH-MATHEMATICS specification. It computes and outputs the final ADS, CEI, SI, EC, OV, and Depth . It runs all V1-V6 gates plus ungameable components. It is the final quality gate — no answer ships without passing.

Research Basis:

• Yao et al. (2023) "Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Models" (arXiv:2305.10601) — deliberate decision making with self-evaluation
• Liu et al. (2023) "Examining LLMs' Uncertainty Expression Towards Questions Outside Parametric Knowledge" (arXiv:2311.09731) — UnknownBench for calibration
• Shinn et al. (2023) "Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learning" (arXiv:2303.11366) — self-correction with feedback

Every skill claims to verify something. DEEP-THINK verifies assumptions. ADVERSARY verifies opposition. PROVENANCE verifies evidence. But who verifies the verifiers?

This skill centralizes all verification. It runs after the full orchestration. It checks every gate with machine-checkable criteria. It runs ungameable components (human eval, held-out tasks, ensemble critic). It red-teams the gates themselves to detect gaming. It produces the **Depth ** — the single verifiable artifact of depth quality.

The Failure Mode You Must Recognize

You are about to deliver an answer that:

• Passed all skill-internal gates (but those gates were self-graded)
• Has beautiful cognitive traces (but they might be cargo cult)
• Claims high ADS (but the phase activations were self-reported)
• Has a Depth (but it wasn't independently verified)

This is verification theater — the appearance of rigor without the substance. Skills grade their own homework. Gates are checked by the same model that wants to pass them.

This skill breaks the cycle. It is the independent auditor. It re-runs gates with strict criteria. It runs ungameable components. It red-teams the verification itself. If it doesn't pass, the answer doesn't ship.

The Protocol

0 — PARAMETERIZE: Read Thinking Parameters

Read thinking_parameters:

• require_human_eval (default false) — require human evaluation on held-out tasks
• require_held_out (default true) — require held-out task benchmark
• require_ensemble (default true) — require different-model ensemble critique
• red_team_attempts (default 3) — attempts to game the gates

1 — COLLECT EVIDENCE (from All Skills)

Gather all artifacts from the orchestration:

EVIDENCE COLLECTION
────────────────────────────────────────
Task: [description]
Skills Executed: [list with versions]
Orchestration Log: [full log from CONDUCTOR]

For each skill:
  Skill: [name] v[version]
  Phase: [N]
  Phase Activation: [0.XX]
  CEI: [0.XX]
  SI: [N]
  EC: [0.XX]
  OV: [0.XX] (if TEMPORAL ran)
  Cognitive Traces: [list]
  Gates Self-Reported: [V1-V6 PASS/FAIL]
  Interference Provided: [what]
  Interference Received: [what]
  Artifacts: [list with completeness scores]

Aggregated Metrics:
  ADS (weighted): [computed from phase activations]
  CEI (total): [sum of CEI components]
  SI (total): [sum of SI components]
  EC (from PROVENANCE): [value]
  OV (from TEMPORAL): [value]
  ADS/CEI Ratio: [value]
────────────────────────────────────────

Artifact: evidence_collection — the raw data for verification.

2 — VERIFY GATES V1-V6 (Machine-Checkable)

Re-verify each gate with strict, machine-checkable criteria. Do not trust self-reported results.

GATE V1: Assumption Coverage

Input: Problem statement + Final answer + All assumptions (from DEEP-THINK/EXCAVATE)
Check: ∀ claim ∈ Answer: ∃ assumption ∈ Assumptions supporting claim
Method: 
  1. Extract all claims from answer (using CONTRADICT's claim extraction)
  2. For each claim, search assumptions for supporting statement
  3. Compute coverage = matched_claims / total_claims
Pass: Coverage ≥ 90%
Evidence: [list of unmatched claims if any]

GATE V2: Alternative Independence

Input: DIVERGE paths (with embeddings)
Check: CIM(paths) ≥ 0.5
Method:
  1. Get embeddings for each path (from DIVERGE artifacts)
  2. Compute pairwise cosine similarities
  3. CIM = 1 - (2/(n(n-1))) × Σ similarities
Pass: CIM ≥ 0.5
Evidence: [pairwise similarity matrix, CIM value]

GATE V3: Opposition Authenticity

Input: ADVERSARY attacks + stated answer
Check: ∀ attack: references_specific_answer_text ∧ cites_external_evidence
Method:
  1. For each attack, verify it quotes specific text from stated answer
  2. Verify it cites external source (citation, tool result, held-out test, different-model)
  3. Count compliant attacks
Pass: 100% compliance (all attacks)
Evidence: [list of non-compliant attacks if any]

GATE V4: Temporal Consistency

Input: TEMPORAL futures + chosen path
Check: Chosen path survives (not catastrophic) in ≥ 2/3 futures
Method:
  1. Get futures from TEMPORAL artifacts
  2. Get chosen path from DIVERGE/THRESHOLD
  3. Evaluate path in each future (THRIVES/SURVIVES/DEGRADES/FAILS/CATASTROPHIC)
  4. Count non-catastrophic futures
Pass: Non-catastrophic ≥ 2/3
Evidence: [evaluation per future]

GATE V5: Evidence Calibration

Input: PROVENANCE ledger + EC score
Check: EC ≥ 0.5 ∧ Fact_ratio ≥ 0.6 ∧ Guess+Spec_ratio ≤ 0.15
Method:
  1. Get EC, Fact_ratio, Guess+Spec_ratio from PROVENANCE artifacts
  2. Verify thresholds
Pass: All three thresholds met
Evidence: [EC value, Fact_ratio, Guess+Spec_ratio]

GATE V6: Recursive Stability

Input: Skill outputs at recursion depths (if recursion used)
Check: RSM > 0.95 for 2 consecutive depths ∧ SI not decreasing
Method:
  1. For each skill with recursion_depth > 1, get outputs at each depth
  2. Compute RSM = 1 - Semantic_Distance(output_d, output_{d-1})
  3. Check SI trend
Pass: All recursive skills converge
Evidence: [RSM values per depth, SI trend]

Artifact: gate_results_v1_v6 with PASS/FAIL for each gate and evidence.

3 — UNGAMEABLE VERIFICATION (External Validation)

These cannot be gamed by the model because they require external resources.

3.1 Held-Out Task Benchmark (if require_held_out = true)

HELD-OUT VERIFICATION
────────────────────────────────────────
Benchmark: [standard held-out task suite — unseen by model]
Tasks: [N tasks from different domains than current task]

For each task:
  Run: [full orchestration with current skill versions]
  Measure: ADS, CEI, Gate Pass Rate
  
Results:
  Mean ADS: [value]
  Mean CEI: [value]
  Gate Pass Rate: [value]
  Transfer Score: [fraction of tasks with ADS ≥ target]

Pass: Transfer Score ≥ 0.6 (skills generalize to unseen tasks)
Evidence: [per-task results]

3.2 Ensemble Critic (if require_ensemble = true)

ENSEMBLE CRITIC
────────────────────────────────────────
Critic Models: [list of different models — e.g., GPT-4, Claude, Gemini]
Task: [current task]

For each critic model:
  Run: [ADVERSARY + CONTRADICT + PROVENANCE on current answer]
  Results: [attacks, conflicts, EC]
  
Agreement Analysis:
  Attack Overlap: [fraction of attacks found by multiple critics]
  Conflict Overlap: [fraction of conflicts found by multiple critics]
  EC Agreement: [correlation of EC scores]
  
Pass: Attack Overlap ≥ 0.5 (independent models find same issues)
Evidence: [per-critic results, overlap metrics]

3.3 Human Evaluation (if require_human_eval = true)

HUMAN EVALUATION
────────────────────────────────────────
Evaluators: [N human experts]
Criteria: [Depth, Correctness, Completeness, Calibration, Actionability]

For each evaluator:
  Score: [1-10 on each criterion]
  
Results:
  Mean Depth Score: [value]
  Mean Correctness: [value]
  Mean Calibration: [value]
  
Pass: Mean Depth Score ≥ 7/10
Evidence: [per-evaluator scores]

Artifact: ungameable_verification with results from all three components.

4 — RED-TEAM THE GATES (Detect Gaming)

NEW IN v1.0 — Actively try to make the gates pass without genuine depth.

RED-TEAM REPORT
────────────────────────────────────────
Attempts: [red_team_attempts]

Attempt 1: [Strategy — e.g., "Generate verbose artifacts without genuine search"]
  Method: [how — e.g., "Copy-paste template artifacts, fill with plausible text"]
  Result: [Gates Passed: V1,V2,V3 / Gates Failed: V4,V5,V6]
  Detected: [YES/NO — did verification catch it?]

Attempt 2: [Strategy — e.g., "Mount fake attacks that cite fake evidence"]
  Method: [how]
  Result: [Gates Passed/Failed]
  Detected: [YES/NO]

Attempt 3: [Strategy — e.g., "Report high phase activations without doing work"]
  Method: [how]
  Result: [Gates Passed/Failed]
  Detected: [YES/NO]

Gaming Detection Rate: [fraction of attempts detected]
Gate Robustness: [which gates are most/least gameable]
Recommendations: [gate hardening needed]
────────────────────────────────────────

Artifact: red_team_report — proves gates resist gaming.

5 — DEPTH GENERATION

If ALL gates (V1-V6 + ungameable) PASS, generate the Depth .

DEPTH 
────────────────────────────────────────
 ID: dc_<timestamp>_<sha256(task+model+skills)>
Timestamp: [ISO 8601]
Task: [description]
Task Hash: sha256(task_description)
Model: [model identifier]
Skills Executed: 
  - [name] v[version] (plugin: [core/premium]) — Phase [N] — Activation: 0.XX

Metrics:
  ADS: 0.XX (Target: 0.XX) — [PASS/FAIL]
  CEI: 0.XX
  SI: N
  EC: 0.XX (ECE: 0.XX)
  OV: 0.XX (if TEMPORAL)
  ADS/CEI Ratio: 0.XX

Gates:
  V1 Assumption Coverage: [PASS/FAIL] — Coverage: 0.XX
  V2 Alternative Independence: [PASS/FAIL] — CIM: 0.XX
  V3 Opposition Authenticity: [PASS/FAIL] — Compliance: 0.XX
  V4 Temporal Consistency: [PASS/FAIL] — Survival: N/3
  V5 Evidence Calibration: [PASS/FAIL] — EC: 0.XX, Fact: 0.XX, Guess: 0.XX
  V6 Recursive Stability: [PASS/FAIL] — RSM: 0.XX

Ungameable Gates:
  Held-Out Benchmark: [PASS/FAIL/NOT_RUN] — Transfer: 0.XX
  Ensemble Critic: [PASS/FAIL/NOT_RUN] — Overlap: 0.XX
  Human Evaluation: [PASS/FAIL/NOT_RUN] — Score: 0.XX

Red-Team: [PASS/FAIL] — Detection Rate: 0.XX

Interference Validation: [PASS/FAIL] — All required interferences met
CIM: 0.XX (if DIVERGE ran)
Recursive Stability: 0.XX (if recursion used)

Threshold: [CATEGORY_1/2/3/4]
Verdict: [CERTIFIED / CONDITIONAL / REJECTED]

Limitations: [list any known limitations from skills]
Conditions: [if CONDITIONAL — what must be addressed]

Reproducibility:
  Seed: [value]
  Temperature: [value]
  Skill Versions: {skill: version}
  Thinking Parameters: {...}

Signature: [cryptographic signature of ]
────────────────────────────────────────

Artifact: depth_ — the final verifiable output.

6 — CERTIFICATION VERDICT

CERTIFICATION VERDICT
────────────────────────────────────────
Overall: [CERTIFIED / CONDITIONAL / REJECTED]

If CERTIFIED:
  All gates PASS. Answer ships with .

If CONDITIONAL:
  [List specific conditions — e.g., "G4 FAIL: add temporal analysis", "Held-out NOT_RUN: run before production"]
  Answer ships with  marked CONDITIONAL.

If REJECTED:
  [List fatal failures — e.g., "V1 FAIL: 60% assumption coverage", "V3 FAIL: 40% attacks lack grounding"]
  Answer DOES NOT SHIP. Return to CONDUCTOR for re-orchestration.

Appeal Process: [if REJECTED — what specific fixes would change verdict]
────────────────────────────────────────

Artifact: certification_verdict — the go/no-go decision.

7 — METRICS: Compute and Output Depth Metrics

7.1 Phase Activation (for ADS)

{
  "phase": 5,
  "skill": "verification-gates",
  "artifact_completeness": 0.XX,
  "gate_pass_rate": 0.XX,
  "external_validity": 0.XX,
  "human_eval": 0.XX,
  "phase_activation": 0.XX
}

7.2 CEI Components

{
  "cei_components": {
    "evidence_collection": 2.0,
    "gate_verification_v1_v6": 4.0,
    "ungameable_verification": 5.0,
    "red_team": 4.0,
    "_generation": 2.0,
    "total_complexity_weight": 17.0,
    "output_tokens": N,
    "wall_time_seconds": T,
    "cei": 0.XX
  }
}

7.3 SI Components

{
  "si_components": {
    "c2_c3_count": 0,
    "contrarian_viable": false,
    "fatal_attacks": 0,
    "boundary_violations": 0,
    "assumption_reversals": 0,
    "si_total": 0
  }
}

7.4 Cognitive Traces

Gate Results Visualization:

{
  "type": "gate_results",
  "gates": [
    {"gate": "V1", "name": "Assumption Coverage", "pass": true, "value": 0.95, "threshold": 0.90},
    {"gate": "V2", "name": "Alternative Independence", "pass": true, "value": 0.62, "threshold": 0.50},
    {"gate": "V3", "name": "Opposition Authenticity", "pass": true, "value": 1.00, "threshold": 1.00},
    {"gate": "V4", "name": "Temporal Consistency", "pass": true, "value": 3, "threshold": 2},
    {"gate": "V5", "name": "Evidence Calibration", "pass": true, "value": 0.71, "threshold": 0.50},
    {"gate": "V6", "name": "Recursive Stability", "pass": true, "value": 0.97, "threshold": 0.95}
  ],
  "ungameable": [
    {"gate": "Held-Out", "pass": true, "value": 0.75, "threshold": 0.60},
    {"gate": "Ensemble", "pass": true, "value": 0.68, "threshold": 0.50},
    {"gate": "Human", "pass": false, "value": null, "threshold": 7.0}
  ],
  "red_team": {"detection_rate": 1.0, "attempts": 3}
}

7.5 Depth Contribution

{
  "skill": "verification-gates",
  "version": "1.0",
  "metrics": {"ads_contribution": 0.XX, "cei": 0.XX, "si": 0, "ec": 0.XX},
  "gates_verified": {"V1": true, "V2": true, "V3": true, "V4": true, "V5": true, "V6": true},
  "limitations": ["..."]
}

8 — GATES: Verify Before Delivery

MANDATORY — This skill verifies ITSELF:

9 — INTERFERENCE: Final Report to CONDUCTOR

This skill runs LAST. It provides the final certification to CONDUCTOR.

Artifact: interference_provided — the final verdict.

The Deeper Purpose

Verification is not a step. It's the foundation. Every other skill produces claims about its own quality. This skill is the independent auditor that checks those claims with machine-checkable criteria, ungameable external validation, and active red-teaming.

Without this skill, the premium architecture is self-certified — meaningless. With it, the Depth is a verifiable, auditable, cryptographically signed artifact that proves genuine cognitive depth occurred.

This is what makes "premium" real.

MATHEMATICS COMPLIANCE

Phase Activation Output

This skill contributes to Phase 5 (runs last). It outputs:

{
  "phase": 5,
  "skill": "verification-gates",
  "artifact_completeness": 0.XX,
  "gate_pass_rate": 0.XX,
  "external_validity": 0.XX,
  "human_eval": 0.XX,
  "phase_activation": 0.XX
}

CEI Components

• Artifacts produced: evidence_collection (2.0), gate_verification_v1_v6 (4.0), ungameable_verification (5.0), red_team (4.0), _generation (2.0)
• Total complexity weight: 17.0

SI Components

• C2/C3 assumptions: 0
• Contrarian viable: false
• Fatal attacks: 0
• Boundary violations: 0
• Assumption reversals: 0

Cognitive Traces Produced

• Gate Results Visualization
• Red-Team Report
• Depth
• Decision Landscape

Gates Verified

• V1 [x] V2 [x] V3 [x] V4 [x] V5 [x] V6
• Held-Out [x] Ensemble [ ] Human (optional)
• Red-Team

Required Interferences

• From ALL SKILLS: All artifacts → evidence collection
• From CONDUCTOR: Orchestration log → interference validation