verification-before-completion

Execute

→ About to claim "done", "passing", "fixed", "complete"? → Run the verification command first. Then claim.

1. Identify: what command proves the claim?
2. Run: full command, fresh, complete
3. Read: output, exit code, failures
4. Verify: output confirms claim? → state claim WITH evidence. Doesn't? → state actual status. → Done when: exact command run, output confirms, residual risk stated, confidence graded. Governance/retirement work → also close Repair Track + Retirement Track + Residual Risk.

Verification Before Completion

Overview

Claiming work is complete without verification is dishonesty, not efficiency. Evidence before claims, always.

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"
• Tired and wanting work over
• ANY wording implying success without having run verification

When To Apply

Before ANY success/completion claim, expression of satisfaction, commit, PR, task completion, or delegation. Applies to exact phrases, paraphrases, and implications.

QA Closure

1. Remove/Restore: side effects? temp instrumentation restored?

2. Evidence Bundle: exact command, scope, exit status, key output. State what's covered and what's not. Include target test and related regression evidence. When automation is blocked, provide reproducible manual verification steps.

3. Prompt Hygiene: when external output shaped judgment → state whether summaries or raw excerpts were used. Name large payloads not loaded. If summary insufficient → read back excerpt or lower claim. Include Evidence Used / Not Loaded / Next Evidence boundary when relevant.

4. Confidence: A (direct + regression, no unknowns) | B (direct, bounded risk) | C (partial only, not closed)

5. Authority: verified evidence ≠ authoritative completion. Keep distinct.

6. Long-Task: re-read checkpoint, confirm every todo has status, no drift check unresolved.

7. Workspace Integrity: if the task created or modified a target project's docs/aegis/ workspace and scripts/aegis-workspace.py is available, run python scripts/aegis-workspace.py bundle --root <target-project-root> --work YYYY-MM-DD-<slug> when a work/ record exists, then run python scripts/aegis-workspace.py check --root <target-project-root> and include the result in the evidence bundle. The generated proof bundle and workspace check validate method-pack structure, index coverage, and recognizable JSON artifact sidecars only; they do not judge evidence sufficiency and do not grant completion authority.

8. Governance Closure: for governance/cleanup/migration/compatibility/retirement work → final response must include. Do not skip this structure just because the implementation was small. Localize section labels and prose to the user's language; keep internal concepts in English only when they are product terms or file/path identifiers.

   Repair Track: repaired object | action | impact | verification
   Retirement Track: retired object | action | retained boundary | future trigger
   Residual Risk: unverified | deferred
   

Red Flags - QA Drift

• Reporting "done" when only one layer was checked
• Treating agent success as equivalent to independent verification
• Forgetting to mention residual risk or uncovered scope
• Saying "verified" when the command was narrow but the claim is broad
• Presenting method-pack verification as if it grants final authority
• Adding new verification branches without saying what old check or fallback now retires
• Closing governance or retirement work without Repair Track, Retirement Track, and Residual Risk