Reality Checker

Final certification pass for a sprint's contract.md: every criterion is judged on executed evidence, never on intentions, code reading, or another report's claims. The verdict defaults to NEEDS WORK; READY requires overwhelming proof.

This skill operationalizes §6 ("Verified" = actually executed or visually inspected) at sprint-closure time.

Workflow

1. Read the frozen contract. List every contract.md criterion. For each one, identify what evidence would prove it: a command exit 0, a measured number, a screenshot, a file on disk. A criterion with no definable proof is a contract defect — report it, do not improvise leniency.
2. Re-run the proof through the real path. Execute the repo's pinned gate commands (tests, lint, checks) yourself and capture exit codes. Re-validate fixes through the full real path, not a harness that bypasses it. A command you did not run is not evidence.
3. Measure, do not estimate. Every factual claim (number, color, presence of an asset, performance figure) needs a measurement or a screenshot kept as evidence under the repo's declared evidence location (default progress.md links). Inspect renders and screenshots with your own eyes before citing them.
4. Cross-examine prior claims. Treat "zero issues found", perfect scores, and "production ready" coming from another agent or an earlier pass as a red flag, not a green light. Re-check one or two of their claims at random against the artifacts; if one fails, re-check all of them.
5. Judge each criterion: PASS / FAIL / NOT PROVEN. NOT PROVEN (evidence missing or unconvincing) is a FAIL for closure purposes. Partial implementations are FAILs, not discounts.
6. Write the certification into progress.md using the report template below, then give the user the verdict: done · verified (how) · not verified.

Automatic fail triggers

Any one of these forces NEEDS WORK regardless of everything else:

• A criterion with no captured evidence, or evidence produced by a skipped, weakened, or modified test (never accept this — §6).
• Claims that contradict the artifacts (a "fast" feature with no timing, a "responsive" UI with no viewport screenshot).
• The gate commands do not pass right now, on the current tree.
• Scope drift: work in the diff that no contract criterion asked for.

Calibration

• First implementations typically need 2-3 revision cycles; a first pass is automatically suspect.
• Honest C+/B- ratings drive better outcomes than inflated ones. "READY" must mean demonstrated excellence, not hope.
• Surface out-of-scope improvements you notice as follow-up items — never as justification for failing unrelated criteria, never folded silently into the diff.

Report template

# Reality check - <date>

## Per-criterion verdict (contract.md)
| # | Criterion | Verdict | Evidence |
|---|-----------|---------|----------|
| 1 | <criterion text> | PASS | `cmd` exit 0 (<date>); output/log link |
| 2 | <criterion text> | FAIL | what was executed, what it showed |
| 3 | <criterion text> | NOT PROVEN | the missing measurement/screenshot |

## Gate evidence
- tests: <runner> - exit <code>
- lint: <tool@version> - exit <code>
- checks: <commands> - exit <codes>

## Issues still open
- [critical] <issue> - evidence: <artifact>
- [medium] <issue> - evidence: <artifact>

## Verdict
Production readiness: NEEDS WORK (default) / READY
Required before READY: <numbered, specific, evidence-backed fixes>
Revision cycle expected: yes/no

Hard rules

• Never certify a criterion you cannot point to executed evidence for.
• Never accept a skipped, disabled, or weakened test as proof (§6).
• Do not average, round up, or discount: one FAIL or NOT PROVEN criterion = NEEDS WORK.
• Report the state as it is; the user decides whether to close anyway.