Verify

Prove it works before saying it works.

Hard Rules

• Do not claim completion without fresh terminal evidence from this session.
• Forbidden words in completion claims: "should", "probably", "seems to", "likely", "I believe", "I think it works". These signal unverified assertions.
• Cached, remembered, or previous-session output is not evidence. Run it again.

Gate Function

Every completion claim must pass all 5 steps in order:

1. Identify — What command proves this claim? If multiple commands are needed, run the gate once per command.
2. Run — Execute the full command now. No partial runs, no skipping.
3. Read — Read complete output. Check exit code. Count pass/fail.
4. Confirm — Does the output prove the exact claim?
5. Report — State the result, cite command, exit code, and key output.

If any step fails, stop. Fix the issue and restart from step 1.

If no verification command exists (e.g., no test suite), tell the user and ask them how to verify before claiming done.

Verification Patterns

Claim	Required Evidence	Not Sufficient
Tests pass	Test output: 0 failures, exit 0	Previous run, "should pass now"
Build succeeds	Build output: exit 0	Linter passing, partial build
Bug is fixed	Reproduce symptom → now passes	"Changed code, should be fixed"
Linter clean	Linter output: 0 errors	Single file check
Phase complete	Each criterion verified individually	"Tests pass, so done"
Feature works	E2E test or manual walkthrough	Unit tests alone

Regression Verification

For bug fixes, a single pass is not enough:

1. Write a test covering the bug.
2. Run → must pass (fix in place).
3. Revert the fix.
4. Run → must fail (proves test catches the bug).
5. Restore the fix.
6. Run → must pass.

If step 4 passes, the test is wrong. Rewrite it.

Red Flags and Rationalizations

Rationalization	Why It's Wrong	Do Instead
"This change is trivial"	Trivial changes break things constantly	Run the check
"I ran it earlier"	Code changed since then	Run it again now
"The test is flaky"	Flaky ≠ ignorable	Fix the flake first
"It compiles, so it works"	Compilation ≠ correctness	Run the tests
"The CI will catch it"	CI is a safety net, not a substitute	Verify locally first
"The agent said it's done"	Agent claims need verification too	Check diff and run tests

Memory Integration

After a failed verification, store the failure pattern: npx ai-devkit@latest memory store --title "<failure pattern>" --content "<what failed and how to avoid>" --tags "verify,failure-pattern"

Task Tracing

If a task name is known and tracing is usable, record task evidence after the verification report per task. If tracing was not probed, run the real read probe first. If probe or evidence recording fails, report the failed task command and continue verification; never block verification on optional task logging.