Browser Verify

Precondition. Tool of dept-qa (supporting dept-frontend). If that department skill is not loaded in this conversation, load it first and use its brief (what, why, where, how) as the input of this skill. Skip only for L0 edits.

Approach

A passing test suite says the code compiles and the units behave; only a rendered page says the user can do the job. This skill turns the brief's acceptance criteria into observations in a real browser and returns evidence, not opinions.

• Look before you touch. Every interaction starts with a fresh view of the page (accessibility tree, text or screenshot). Selectors and coordinates come from what is rendered now, never from guessing at the source.
• Wait for readiness, not for time. Wait for the server to answer and for the page to settle (network quiet, target element present). Fixed sleeps are a last resort and always short.
• Use what the session already has. Prefer browser tools already wired into the session over installing anything.
• Local only, never credentials. Verify against localhost, 127.0.0.1, [::1], *.localhost or *.test, under the user already logged in on the platform: Waymark creates no test users or profiles and signs in nowhere. The one other host is a design-reference URL the user writes in the request, read-only. Never a production URL.
• Every criterion gets a verdict. Pass, fail, or not verified with a reason. Silence is not a pass.

Guardrails

• MUST recon before every interaction sequence; re-read after navigation or a re-render.
• MUST stay on local development hosts; refuse production or third-party URLs for interaction.
• MUST NOT type passwords, tokens, card or ID numbers anywhere: the user's own open session is the only login, and a screen that needs another is Ojos: no (<why>).
• MUST NOT install browsers or packages without an explicit yes.
• MUST stop servers you started and leave the user's running.
• SHOULD keep scripts throwaway in the scratchpad; promote to a committed e2e test only when dept-qa asks for one.

Provider order

Decide once per session, top to bottom; stop at the first that works. Say which one was used in the output.

Server lifecycle

Starting, reusing or stopping the dev server → references/server-lifecycle.md.

Inputs

Output contract

Always return to the department:

Browser verify · provider: <ego-browser | built-in pane | chrome MCP | playwright-node | playwright-python> · url: <local url> · server: <started by me / reused>
Criteria
- ✔ <criterion> — <what was observed>
- ✘ <criterion> — <observed vs expected> — <screenshot ref>
- not verified: <criterion> — <reason>
Console / network: <none new> | <level · message · source> | <failed request · status>
Screenshots: <paths or inline step refs>
Server: stopped / left running (not mine)

Pattern library (grows with use)

• Before building, list patterns/ and read the matching file, if any (patterns/README.md explains the format).
• After verifying a reusable flow that has no pattern yet (login with a seed user, a CRUD form, a modal, a paginated table, a theme toggle), write patterns/<pattern>.md from ../waymark/templates/pattern.template.md: intent, anatomy of the check, states to cover, a11y checks, pitfalls, one adapter per provider used. Project-specific routes and accounts go to project memory, not here.
• Update an existing pattern only with new, verified information (novelty check, waymark references/learning.md).

Modes

Read only the mode the task needs (one file); never load all modes.

Pick the smallest mode that proves the brief. dept-qa browser verification for any UI change = smoke + the relevant parts of states + evidence.

• smoke — any UI change; golden path of the changed feature. → modes/smoke.md
• states — new or restyled components, screens with async data, responsive or theming work. → modes/states.md
• regression — a previously reported bug was fixed, or a change touches code near a known bug. → modes/regression.md
• evidence — closing an L1+ UI task, or the user asks for screenshots or console output. → modes/evidence.md
• eyes — the end of every L2/L3 task that changes something seen, and of an L1 CSS/HTML change with no spec: automatic, the hook blocks the Cierre without it (ADR 0047). → modes/eyes.md

Stack adapters

Stack-specific notes → references/stack-adapters.md (read only the project's stack row).

Learned notes

Grows with use (waymark references/learning.md). Dated, non-obvious notes about using this tool. When there are more than ~10, fold them into the body above and clear this list.