Verification Before Completion

Indexed Reference Map

• @[SKILL.md#L1-L95] Frontmatter, trigger rules, SOP, output contract.
• @[references/INDEX.md#L1-L17] Reading order and reference inventory.
• @[references/verification-ladder.md#L1-L10] Levels of acceptable verification.
• @[references/completion-claims.md#L1-L11] How to phrase completion claims safely.
• @[references/evidence-minimum.md#L1-L10] Minimum evidence required before claiming done.
• @[references/examples.md#L1-L16] Example completion verdicts.

Scope

• In-scope:
  • Final verification before saying fixed/done/pass.
  • Turning raw command output into a bounded completion verdict.
  • Recording unverified residual risks explicitly.
• Out-of-scope:
  • Blindly trusting code changes without execution or evidence.
  • Inflating confidence beyond what checks support.
  • Treating “should work” as equivalent to verified.

KB Mode Notes

• Reading order:
  1. references/INDEX.md
  2. references/verification-ladder.md
  3. references/completion-claims.md
  4. references/evidence-minimum.md
  5. references/examples.md
• Coverage Matrix:
  • Verification depth -> verification-ladder.md
  • Safe wording -> completion-claims.md
  • Evidence floor -> evidence-minimum.md
  • Example verdicts -> examples.md
• Portability note:
  • “Verification” means grounded evidence from actual checks, not confidence language or inferred success.

Trigger Rules

• Positive:
  • User asks whether something is done, fixed, verified, or safe to conclude.
  • The assistant is about to report completion after edits/config/runtime changes.
  • Prompt contains intent like: double-check before done, verify this, can we claim fixed, are we ready, final check.
• Negative:
  • Work is still in planning/brainstorming stage.
  • No relevant verification action is possible yet.
  • User explicitly asks for speculative design only.
• Escalation:
  • If evidence is weak, downgrade the claim instead of upgrading the confidence.
  • If key checks cannot be run, state that completion is partial/unverified.

SOP

1. List the completion claim
   • What exactly is being claimed: built, fixed, enabled, deployed, passing, etc.
2. Map claim to checks
   • Choose the commands/artifacts that would actually prove it.
3. Run or inspect evidence
   • Prefer direct output over assumptions.
   • For plugin shadow claims, evidence must include the resolved install/discovery path, not just profile/config isolation.
4. Evaluate verification depth
   • Smoke test, targeted verification, or end-to-end proof.
   • --profile by itself is not end-to-end proof of plugin filesystem isolation.
   • Confidence, persona, and polished wording must remain subordinate to evidence; if evidence is incomplete, state uncertainty explicitly instead of compressing to a decisive completion claim.
5. Record remaining gaps
   • Anything not checked stays explicit.
6. Mid-flight reporting for state-changing work (mandatory)
   • After any state-changing cluster (config/file/service), if full verification is still running or blocked, immediately send a PARTIAL status instead of staying silent.
   • PARTIAL must include: completed mutations, evidence already collected, exact next verification checks, rollback path, and current risk.
   • When verification finishes, send a follow-up final verdict (PASS|PARTIAL|FAIL) tied to evidence.
7. Phrase verdict precisely
   • Match wording to evidence strength.
8. Only then claim completion
   • No “done” before evidence exists.

Error Handling

• No executable verification path:
  • say the change is prepared, not verified.
• Output ambiguous or partial:
  • downgrade to partial/pass-with-risk.
• Check failed:
  • do not claim completion; report failure class.
• Verification too expensive/risky now:
  • state what was skipped and why.

Output Contract

• Deliverable:
  • Claim: exact thing being asserted.
  • Checks Run: commands/artifacts inspected.
  • Observed Evidence: real outputs/findings.
  • Remaining Gaps: anything not verified.
  • Completion Verdict: PASS / PARTIAL / FAIL.
• Validation:
  • A completion claim must be traceable to evidence.
• Compliance Verdict:
  • PASS when wording matches evidence depth; otherwise PARTIAL or FAIL.