verification-before-completion

What this skill does

# Verification Before Completion

## Overview

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

**Core principle:** Evidence before claims, always.

**Violating the letter of this rule is violating the spirit of this rule.**

## The Iron Law

```
NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE
```

If you haven't run the verification command in this message, you cannot claim it passes.

## The Gate Function

```
BEFORE claiming any status or expressing satisfaction:

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?
   - If NO: State actual status with evidence
   - If YES: State claim WITH evidence
5. ONLY THEN: Make the claim

Skip any step = lying, not verifying
```

## Common Failures

| Claim | Requires | Not Sufficient |
|-------|----------|----------------|
| Tests pass | Test command output: 0 failures | Previous run, "should pass" |
| Linter clean | Linter output: 0 errors | Partial check, extrapolation |
| Build succeeds | Build command: exit 0 | Linter passing, logs look good |
| Bug fixed | Test original symptom: passes | Code changed, assumed fixed |
| Regression test works | Red-green cycle verified | Test passes once |
| Agent completed | VCS diff shows changes | Agent reports "success" |
| Requirements met | Line-by-line checklist | Tests passing |

## Red Flags — STOP

- Using "should", "probably", "seems to"
- Expressing satisfaction before verification ("Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!", etc.)
- About to commit/push/PR without verification
- Trusting agent success reports
- Relying on partial verification
- Thinking "just this once"
- **ANY wording implying success without having run verification**

## Rationalization Prevention

| Excuse | Reality |
|--------|---------|
| "Should work now" | RUN the verification |
| "I'm confident" | Confidence ≠ evidence |
| "Just this once" | No exceptions |
| "Linter passed" | Linter ≠ tests |
| "Agent said success" | Verify independently |
| "Partial check is enough" | Partial proves nothing |
| "Different words so rule doesn't apply" | Spirit over letter |

## Key Patterns

**Tests:**
```
RUN: pytest tests/ -v
SEE: 34/34 pass, 0 fail
THEN: "All 34 tests pass"

NEVER: "Should pass now" / "Looks correct"
```

**Regression tests (TDD Red-Green):**
```
RUN: Write test → Run (pass) → Revert fix → Run (MUST FAIL) → Restore → Run (pass)
NEVER: "I've written a regression test" (without red-green verification)
```

**Build:**
```
RUN: python -m py_compile src/module.py
SEE: exit 0, no output
THEN: "Build passes"

NEVER: "Linter passed" (linter doesn't check all compilation)
```

**Requirements:**
```
RUN: Re-read plan → Create checklist → Verify each → Report gaps or completion
NEVER: "Tests pass, phase complete"
```

**Agent delegation:**
```
RUN: Agent reports success → Check git diff → Verify changes → Report actual state
NEVER: Trust agent report blindly
```

## When To Apply

**ALWAYS before:**
- ANY variation of success/completion claims
- ANY expression of satisfaction
- ANY positive statement about work state
- Committing, PR creation, task completion
- Moving to next task
- Delegating to agents

## Requirements Integration

When this skill completes, it auto-satisfies the `verification_evidence` requirement. This integrates with the `handle-stop.py` hook — if `verification_evidence` is enabled, the framework will block session completion until fresh verification has been run.

## The Bottom Line

**No shortcuts for verification.**

Run the command. Read the output. THEN claim the result.

This is non-negotiable.