Final integration check

Purpose

Audit the assembled article as one reader package and prepare portable Markdown and metadata, or an exact CMS draft payload when that is the requested destination. Confirm that text, media, captions, metadata, and publication boundary preserve the chief-editor meaning lock.

This is an integration check, not another open-ended editing pass.

Responsibility

final-integration-check:

• compares final reader Markdown with the chief-editor lock;
• verifies real integrated assets against the media manifest;
• aligns claims across text, image, caption, and alt;
• checks markers, links, privacy, accessibility, and mobile behavior;
• validates trust surface and the proposed CMS payload;
• returns a ready integration handoff and minimal reader-surface package for cold-reader-review, or a precise owner and blocker.

It does not change the reader promise, argument, section order, or claim without cause; create a missing visual; substitute illustration for proof; read or mutate CMS; create a draft; change a Suggested Topic; or publish.

Inputs and priority

Use:

1. ready chief-editor decision log and lockedMeaning;
2. locked reader Markdown and snapshot;
3. Article Brief and claim permissions;
4. visual-storytelling handoff with annotated draft, media manifest, production status, and deferred visuals;
5. real local assets or verifiable URLs;
6. captions, alt, source-of-truth, and privacy decisions;
7. author and publisher metadata snapshot and byline intent;
8. deliveryTarget: portable | flexim_draft, with portable metadata or a proposed CMS draft payload including the H1 decision;
9. mode: text-only, integrated, or automatic.

Priority: explicit user correction, chief-editor lock and Article Brief, verified source or real asset, claim permissions and product state, visual handoff, proposed payload, model assumption.

Return a changed media claim or payload to the correct owner. Never update the lock silently.

Modes

• text-only: check a package without new visual assets. Return ready only when the user explicitly deferred visuals or all required visual roles are fulfilled by editable Markdown or HTML artifacts.
• integrated: check final Markdown with every real integrated asset.
• automatic: ask no questions; defer optional missing visuals, block on missing required proof, and never create assets or mutate CMS.

Infer mode from production status and integrated assets when unspecified.

Use deliveryTarget: portable when no CMS destination has been chosen. A Flexim draft request uses flexim_draft; do not downgrade a blocked draft payload to portable and call the requested draft ready.

Process

1. Verify the lock

Compare title, useful action, reader, scope, product role, and section order with lockedMeaning. Compare snapshot or enumerate post-lock deltas. Allow only typo, format, and integration changes that do not alter meaning. Require a chief-editor amendment and affected reruns for a semantic delta.

Do not use final integration to improve the opening or reorder sections by preference.

2. Build final inventory

Count and record H1, H2, H3, prose paragraphs, lists and items, Markdown or HTML tables, blockquotes, code fences, reader links and destinations, media references, captions, alt, internal markers, and reader-facing key phrase placements. Keep reader scope separate from service sections and handoff.

3. Verify the media manifest

For every visual ID confirm:

• placement exists in final Markdown;
• the asset exists and uniquely matches the manifest;
• role, format, and authenticity match;
• source of truth is available;
• current and future product states are honest;
• caption carries the takeaway and qualification;
• alt provides a semantic equivalent rather than duplicating the caption;
• privacy and permissions pass;
• desktop and mobile variants or responsive behavior have been checked;
• filename, format, size, and path are suitable for handoff.

Only a real source may be proof. Mockups, stock, and generated illustrations never receive that status.

4. Handle deferred visuals

Classify:

• required: without it, the reader promise or evidence fails;
• optional: it improves explanation or pace, but text stands alone;
• deferred_by_user: the user explicitly postponed production.

A missing required asset blocks ready. An optional or user-deferred visual does not block a text-only package when reader Markdown contains no [MEDIA: ...] marker and its production brief remains outside copy.

5. Run cross-surface claim checks

Compare every claim repeated in body copy, in-image text or UI, caption, alt, description, and SEO metadata. Number, qualification, time state, causal direction, and commercial disclosure must agree. Return any stronger unsourced visual claim to visual integration.

6. Verify reader cleanliness

Final reader Markdown must contain no [VERIFY: ...], [EVIDENCE NEEDED: ...], [MEDIA: ...], audit IDs, decision comments, service headings, target query as a production object, CMS schema or status instructions, or production-story narration without an independent reader purpose.

Do not perform the final cold-reader review inside this skill. Prepare its package from reader-visible material only: title, reader Markdown or rendered page, visible author and publisher surface, inline media, captions, alt, and reader-facing links. Exclude the Article Brief, sources, claim permissions, author profile, state, audit reports, decision log, IDs, expected verdict, and fixes. Do not reopen locked prose without an integration reason.

7. Verify trust surface

From supplied metadata check author relation and display name, intended byline, required bio or disclosure, commercial relationship with a recommended product, honest publish and update dates, and required publisher, contact, or methodology surfaces.

Before CMS handoff, validate the relation payload only. Do not claim rendered byline or page layout has been checked before a private preview exists. Keep it as a post-handoff human check.

8. Prepare the delivery package

For portable, return the actual final reader Markdown, title, description, and approved author/SEO/media metadata, preserving the existing H1. Leave unknown or destination-specific values unset. Set cmsDraftPayload: null and qa.cmsPayloadDraftOnly: null (not applicable). A missing collection, schema, slug policy, relation ID, or CMS connection does not block the portable article. Keep the selected topic's source provenance outside the reader package.

For flexim_draft, prepare the CMS draft payload below. If the user chooses Flexim later, validate its actual schema mapping in a new integration pass before mutation; a prior portable result is not proof of draft-payload readiness.

Use approved inputs only:

• collection;
• name;
• status: draft;
• content and contentIncludesH1;
• description;
• author, category, and tag relations;
• approved real media IDs;
• SEO component;
• fields that must remain unset;
• Suggested Topic ID and expected current status.

Never guess slug, canonical URL, publish date, keywords, or image IDs. Do not duplicate H1 or remove it without a verified presentation decision.

9. Assign blocker ownership

• semantic or contract drift → chief_editor_review;
• evidence or claim gap → audit_eeat or research;
• missing or wrong asset → visual_storytelling or media production;
• caption, alt, privacy, or mobile defect → visual_storytelling;
• payload or schema uncertainty → read-only preflight in cms_draft_handoff;
• preview typography or byline rendering → post-handoff human_review.

Never repair another layer silently.

Readiness gates

Return ready only when the final package matches the meaning lock; inventory is complete and markers are absent; all required assets are real and verified or omitted under an approved text-only contract; captions, alt, privacy, and available-scope mobile behavior pass; claims align across surfaces; trust metadata is honest; the portable package is complete or the requested CMS payload is complete, draft-only, and contains no model guesses; a clean cold-reader dispatch package is complete; no publication occurred; and nextStage is cold_reader_review.

Return blocked when semantic drift, required proof, privacy, inaccessible assets, unresolved markers, or payload conflict cannot be repaired within integration scope.

Output

status: ready | blocked
mode: text-only | integrated | automatic
deliveryTarget: portable | flexim_draft
lock:
  sourceSnapshot: "..."
  finalSnapshot: "..."
  semanticMatch: true | false
inventory:
  h1: 0
  h2: 0
  h3: 0
  paragraphs: 0
  lists: 0
  tables: 0
  codeFences: 0
  links: 0
  media: 0
visuals:
  productionStatus: complete | partial | deferred_by_user | not_needed
  requiredReady: true | false
  manifest: []
  deferred: []
qa:
  claimsAligned: true | false
  markersRemoved: true | false
  linksValid: true | false
  captionsReady: true | false
  altReady: true | false
  privacySafe: true | false
  mobileCheckedInAvailableScope: true | false
  trustPayloadReady: true | false
  cmsPayloadDraftOnly: true | false | null
portablePackage:
  readerMarkdownRef: "..."
  metadata: {}
cmsDraftPayload:
  collection: "..."
  fields: {}
  contentIncludesH1: true | false
  expectedUnsetFields: []
  suggestedTopicId: null
coldReaderDispatch:
  title: "reader-visible title only"
  readerMarkdown: "reader-visible Markdown only"
  visibleAuthorPublisher: []
  mediaCaptionsAlt: []
  readerLinks: []
  forbiddenProductionInputsOmitted: true | false
postHandoffHumanChecks: []
warnings: []
blockers: []
nextStage: cold_reader_review | chief_editor_review | visual_storytelling | research | blocked

Return reader Markdown, media manifest, and human-readable report beside the package.

Do not

• Perform new editorial work without a semantic or integration cause.
• Call a planned or missing asset integrated.
• Treat a generated visual as proof.
• Leave production markers in the CMS payload.
• Invent metadata or publication fields.
• Claim private-preview rendering was checked before draft creation.
• Run the independent cold-reader review in this context or leak production inputs into its dispatch package.
• Read or mutate CMS, change Suggested Topic, or publish.