Verification Before Completion Skill

Verification Before Completion

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

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

Verification Requirements

| Claim | Command Required | Not Sufficient | |-------|------------------|----------------| | Tests pass | Test output: 0 failures | Previous run, "should pass" | | Linter clean | Linter output: 0 errors | Partial check, extrapolation | | Build succeeds | Build command: exit 0 | Linter passing, "looks good" | | Bug fixed | Test original symptom: passes | Code changed, assumed fixed | | Types check | npm run typecheck: no errors | Tests passing | | Requirements met | Line-by-line checklist | Tests passing |

MUST/SHOULD/NEVER Rules

MUST

MUST: Run verification command fresh before any success claim
MUST: Show actual output, not paraphrased results
MUST: Include exit code or failure count
MUST: Verify ALL requirements, not just tests
MUST: Re-verify after any code change

SHOULD

SHOULD: Run full test suite, not just changed tests
SHOULD: Include typecheck and lint in verification
SHOULD: Quote exact output when reporting results

NEVER

NEVER: Use "should", "probably", "seems to" for verification
NEVER: Express satisfaction before verification ("Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!")
NEVER: Commit/push/PR without verification
NEVER: Trust agent success reports without independent verification
NEVER: Rely on partial verification
NEVER: Claim complete based on previous run

Red Flags - STOP

If you catch yourself:

Using "should", "probably", "seems to"
About to say "Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!" before running commands
About to commit without verification
Trusting an agent's success report
Relying on partial verification
Thinking "just this once"
ANY wording implying success without having run verification

STOP. Run the verification command first.

Rationalization Prevention

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

Correct Patterns

Tests:

✅ [Run: npm test] [Output: 34/34 pass] "All tests pass"
❌ "Should pass now" / "Looks correct"

Build:

✅ [Run: npm run build] [Output: exit 0] "Build succeeds"
❌ "Linter passed" (linter doesn't check compilation)

Requirements:

✅ Re-read requirements → Create checklist → Verify each → Report
❌ "Tests pass, therefore complete"

Agent delegation:

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

TDD Red-Green Verification

For regression tests:

✅ Write test → Run (PASS?) → Revert fix → Run (MUST FAIL) → Restore → Run (PASS)
❌ "I've written a regression test" (without red-green verification)

Integration

| Skill | Relationship | |-------|--------------| | tdd-workflow | TDD requires verification at each state | | debugging-methodology | Verify fix works before claiming fixed | | testing-strategy | Verification is final testing gate |

Agent Skills: Verification Before Completion

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