Verification Before Completion

Claiming work is complete without verification is dishonesty, not efficiency.

Iron Law: No completion claims without fresh verification evidence.

The Gate

code

BEFORE claiming success/completion:

1. IDENTIFY: What command proves this claim?
2. RUN: Execute the FULL command (fresh, complete)
3. READ: Full output, check exit code, count failures
4. VERIFY: Does output confirm the claim?
   - NO → State actual status with evidence
   - YES → State claim WITH evidence
5. ONLY THEN: Make the claim

Skip any step = lying, not verifying

Common Claims and Requirements

Claim	Requires	Not Sufficient
"Tests pass"	Test command output: 0 failures	Previous run, "should pass"
"Build succeeds"	Build command: exit 0	Linter passing
"Bug fixed"	Test original symptom: passes	"Code changed"
"Linter clean"	Linter output: 0 errors	Partial check
"Requirements met"	Line-by-line checklist	Tests passing
"Agent completed"	VCS diff shows changes	Agent reports "success"

Forbidden Patterns

Using before verification:

•"Should work now"
•"Probably passes"
•"Seems to be working"
•"Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!"
•"I'm confident it works"

Instead: Run verification → read output → state result with evidence.

Verification Patterns

Tests:

code

✅ [Run npm test] "47/47 pass" → "All tests pass"
❌ "Should pass now"

Build:

code

✅ [Run cargo build] "exit 0" → "Build succeeds"
❌ "Linter passed so build should work"

Regression test (TDD):

code

✅ Write test → Run (pass) → Revert fix → Run (MUST FAIL) → Restore → Run (pass)
❌ "I've written a regression test"

Requirements:

code

✅ Re-read plan → Checklist each item → Report with evidence
❌ "Tests pass, must be complete"

Agent delegation:

code

✅ Agent reports → Check VCS diff → Verify changes exist → Report actual state
❌ Trust agent report blindly

Common Rationalizations

Excuse	Reality
"Should work now"	RUN the verification
"I'm confident"	Confidence ≠ evidence
"Just this once"	No exceptions
"Partial check is enough"	Partial proves nothing
"Agent said success"	Verify independently
"I'm tired"	Exhaustion ≠ excuse

When to Apply

Always before:

•Any success/completion claim
•Any expression of satisfaction
•Committing, PR creation, task completion
•Moving to next task
•Trusting agent delegation results

Integration

•tdd skill: Verify RED-GREEN cycle
•debugging skill: Verify fix actually works
•implement skill: Verify each task completion
•code-review skill: Verify fixes before claiming done