LLM Tells — Final Pass

Final-pass checklist for generic repo (derived from kernel-readability but project-agnostic). Run after self-review-gate Gate1 before finishing.

Scope: text your patch adds/changes. Pre-existing prose out of scope — rewriting it inflates diff and collides with later patches touching same lines. Fix in own commit.

Verification — never invent

• Every number/quote/date/perf/hash/claim sourced this session (file, git log/show, cmd output, benchmark, crash dump, public tracker).
• If don't know, TODO — not plausible fill.
• Hashes exist in git log (git show <hash>) when trailer claims Fixes: <hash>.
• Links public and resolve — no private scheme (file://, local report path).
• Scope matches diff stat — no claims about untouched files.

Changelog

• Opens with "This patch …" or fix → rewrite to open with problem/current behavior in present tense.
• Bugfix doesn't lead with real-world symptom (who hits, what breaks / how observed) → add it; race: CPU0/CPU1 ladder or sequence.
• Vague justification ("improves performance", "more efficient") — replace with number + named workload + repro, or concrete reasoning. Don't invent numbers; if none say so.
• Marketing adjectives: robust, powerful, seamless, comprehensive, elegant, gracefully — cut.
• Hedging filler: "Note that", "Importantly", "It's worth noting" — cut, state fact directly.
• Double negative ("not X, not Y") — rewrite as positive condition it describes.
• Recap/"In summary" at end — cut; end on effect or trailer.
• Bulleted lists where prose fits — convert to paras; keep bullets only for genuinely parallel items or pasted data.
• No Fixes:/Link:/Closes: where warranted by project CONTRIBUTING — add if project uses.
• Doesn't say what change does NOT do / limits — add if non-trivial (but phrased positively: "Scope: X, Y. Follow-up: Z" not "This is not ...").

Positive framing — defines by negation (new)

• Tagline / first paragraph / skill description defines by what repo/thing isn't ("kernel-free", "not X", "no Y", "non-Z") → rewrite to what it IS and provides (capability, installable via, outcome). History / exclusion belongs in CONTRIBUTING provenance or docs/references/<example>.md as worked example, not in README tagline or normative skill description.
• Doc contains "This is not ...", "This repo is ...-free" in first 3 paragraphs → fix.
• On fix, link to generic-principles "Positive framing" where rule encoded.

Why: reader via search needs decide in 5 sec what they get. Defining by negation leaks internal history not actionable.

Comments

• Comment restates code ("/* increment counter */") — delete.
• Doc scaffolding on private helper — downgrade to plain WHY or delete; reserve full doc for exported public APIs.
• Doc comment left describing wrong function after helper inserted — still compiles.
• Multi-para essay / numbered "plan" comment — compress to 2-8 line WHY.
• Comment now contradicted by code change — rewrite in same diff.
• Subtle logic (locking, ordering, lifetime, invariant) with NO WHY — add.
• Comment defines by negation only ("Not kernel code") → rewrite to contract.

Code

• Function over ~40 logical lines — 40-line rule; extract intent-named helpers.
• Bare { } scoping blocks — declare at function top or helper.
• goto-ladder where early returns read better — flatten.
• Drive-by changes mixed with logic change — split separate commit.
• Pre-existing code newly redundant (call turned no-op by new code, branch now unreachable) — remove, don't let comment explain dead step as if required. Check failure paths too: call unreachable on success may be only thing on early exit.
• bool helper action-named (drain, claim, flush returning bool) — should use should_/is_/needs_/can_/has_/try_ predicate naming.
• Missing rollback/cleanup on irreversible step flagged by plan-iteration (c).

Verification cmd

# Generic slop markers (placeholder check — adjust)
rg -n "robust|seamless|comprehensive|elegant" src/ 2>/dev/null | head
# Positive framing quick scan (first 3 paragraphs of docs/)
sed -n '1,10p' README.md | grep -i "not.*\|free\|non-" && echo "REVIEW: defines by negation?" || echo "OK"