Verifying Acceptance Criteria

Use this skill when readiness depends on evidence rather than optimism. It helps compare the stated contract of a feature with what the implementation actually proves today.

When to Use

• verify a feature against acceptance criteria before sign-off
• review a build, PR, or live environment for readiness
• separate met requirements from partial or missing behavior
• expose criteria that are too vague to verify honestly
• prepare a QA-ready verification matrix for release or handoff

Verification Rules

• Source of truth must be explicit - story, AC list, PRD slice, or ticket text.
• Do not fill requirement gaps silently - unclear criteria become Untestable, not invented behavior.
• One criterion, one verdict - split compound criteria into atomic items before judging them.
• Evidence beats intuition - every verdict should point to observable code, UI, API behavior, logs, or test evidence.
• Partial is a valid status - it is better than pretending a near-miss is complete.

Workflow

Phase 0: Gather both sides of the comparison

Collect:

• the acceptance criteria or equivalent source of truth
• implementation evidence such as code changes, screenshots, API responses, a running URL, or exploratory notes
• the environment or build under review

If either side is missing, ask for it before continuing.

Phase 1: Normalize the criteria

Convert the input into atomic criteria with stable IDs such as AC-001, AC-002, and AC-003.

If a criterion mixes multiple expectations, split it. If a criterion is vague, keep it but mark it as a likely Untestable candidate until evidence proves otherwise.

Phase 2: Verify each criterion

Use these verdicts:

Status	Meaning
Met	The implementation clearly satisfies the criterion
Partial	Some of the criterion is implemented, but not all of it
Not Met	No convincing evidence of implementation exists
Untestable	The criterion is too vague or ambiguous to verify honestly

For every criterion, capture:

• the verdict
• the evidence
• any assumptions, blockers, or follow-up questions

Phase 3: Summarize readiness

Group the result into:

• Ready - criteria clearly met
• Needs follow-up - partial or not met
• Needs clarification - untestable or ambiguous

Do not collapse these into a single optimistic conclusion. If there are meaningful gaps, call them out plainly.

Phase 4: Recommend the next move

Depending on what the matrix shows:

• fix missing behavior
• clarify the criteria upstream
• add or adjust tests
• re-run verification after evidence improves

Use ./resources/ac-verification-template.md when possible.

Common Failure Modes

• verifying against a fuzzy paraphrase instead of the real acceptance criteria
• treating partial implementation as complete
• hiding ambiguity in prose instead of using an explicit status
• failing to cite evidence for the verdict
• collapsing multiple criteria into one vague pass/fail judgment

Resource Map

• ./resources/ac-verification-template.md - structure for the verification matrix and readiness summary

Related Skills

• analyzing-regression-scope - when change impact needs tactical retest planning
• designing-functional-tests - when unmet criteria need new scenarios or manual cases
• requirements-test-coverage-mapper - when full traceability across test levels is required
• reporting-bugs - when a failed criterion should become a defect ticket

Definition of Done

This skill is complete when:

• every meaningful criterion has a stable ID
• each criterion has an explicit status
• every verdict points to evidence or a clearly stated gap
• ambiguity is visible instead of hidden
• the summary makes sign-off risk obvious