gate skill

Verification Before Completion

Core Principle

NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE.
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
Build succeeds	Build command: exit 0	Linter passing
Bug fixed	Test original symptom: passes	Code changed, assumed fixed
Requirements met	Line-by-line checklist	Tests passing

Red Flags - STOP

• Using "should", "probably", "seems to"
• Expressing satisfaction before verification
• About to commit/push/PR without verification
• Trusting agent success reports
• Relying on partial verification
• Thinking "just this once"

Key Patterns

Tests:

[RUN test command] [SEE: 34/34 pass] "All tests pass"

Build:

[RUN build] [SEE: exit 0] "Build passes"

Requirements:

Re-read plan → Create checklist → Verify each → Report gaps or completion

Quick Reference

Dimension	Key point
Role	Rigid iron law, the mandatory gate after implementation
Five steps	IDENTIFY → RUN → READ → VERIFY → CLAIM
Forbidden	"should" / "probably" / "seems" = not verified
After pass	Show menu for user to choose the next flow (4 options)
Freshness	Previous runs don't count — must be fresh evidence from this message

When To Apply

ALWAYS before:

• ANY variation of success/completion claims
• ANY expression of satisfaction
• Committing, PR creation, task completion
• Moving to next task
• Delegating to agents

The Bottom Line

No shortcuts for verification.

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

This is non-negotiable.

Next Step

When done:

• Verification failed → return to the current skill, fix issues, re-run verification
• Verification passed → present the following menu for the user to choose the next flow:

## Verification Passed ✓

How would you like to proceed?

1. Full verification — audit → inspect → ship → vault (recommended: production code, critical features)
2. Standard flow — audit → ship → vault (suitable for: internal projects, routine features)
3. Quick commit — ship → vault (suitable for: small changes, prototypes, informal projects)
4. Verify only — audit (just check the code is correct, don't commit yet)

Choose (1-4):

Execute the chosen flow:

• Option 1 → tn:audit → tn:inspect → tn:ship → tn:vault
• Option 2 → tn:audit → tn:ship → tn:vault
• Option 3 → tn:ship → tn:vault
• Option 4 → tn:audit (finish after done, don't auto-flow)

User requests stop → end the current flow

Guardrails

• ALWAYS run verification before claiming completion — no exceptions
• "Should", "probably", "seems to" = not verified
• Previous runs don't count — must be fresh evidence from this message
• Partial verification is not verification
• Trusting agent reports without reading output is lying
• Violating the letter of this rule is violating the spirit of this rule