Verification Before Completion
Claiming work is complete without verification is dishonesty, not efficiency.
When to Use
ALWAYS before:
- ANY variation of success/completion claims
- ANY expression of satisfaction about work state
- Committing, PR creation, task completion
- Moving to next task
- Delegating to other agents
The Iron Law
NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCEIf you haven't run the verification command in this response, 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 verifyingCommon Verification Requirements
| Claim | Requires | Not Sufficient |
|---|---|---|
| Tests pass | Test command output: 0 failures | Previous run, "should pass" |
| Linter clean | Linter output: 0 errors | Partial check, extrapolation |
| Build succeeds | Build command: exit 0 | Linter passing, logs look good |
| Bug fixed | Test original symptom: passes | Code changed, assumed fixed |
| Regression test works | Red-green cycle verified | Test passes once |
| Agent completed | VCS diff shows changes | Agent reports "success" |
| Requirements met | Line-by-line checklist | Tests passing |
| Clippy passes | cargo clippy with 0 warnings | cargo build succeeds |
| Format correct | cargo fmt --check exit 0 | Code looks right |
Red Flags - STOP
- Using "should", "probably", "seems to"
- Expressing satisfaction before verification ("Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!")
- About to commit/push/PR without verification
- Trusting agent success reports without checking
- Relying on partial verification
- Thinking "just this once"
- ANY wording implying success without having run verification
Rationalization Prevention
| Excuse | Reality |
|---|---|
| "Should work now" | RUN the verification |
| "I'm confident" | Confidence ≠ evidence |
| "Just this once" | No exceptions |
| "Linter passed" | Linter ≠ compiler ≠ tests |
| "Agent said success" | Verify independently |
| "Partial check is enough" | Partial proves nothing |
| "Different words so rule doesn't apply" | Spirit over letter |
Key Patterns
Tests
✅ [Run test command] [See: 34/34 pass] "All tests pass"
❌ "Should pass now" / "Looks correct"Build (Rust)
✅ cargo build --release && echo "Build passes: exit 0"
❌ "Linter passed" (linter doesn't check compilation)Clippy Pedantic
✅ cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings -W clippy::pedantic
[See: 0 warnings] "Clippy pedantic clean"
❌ "Fixed the warning" (without re-running)Requirements
✅ Re-read plan → Create checklist → Verify each → Report gaps or completion
❌ "Tests pass, phase complete"Agent Delegation
✅ Agent reports success → Check VCS diff → Verify changes → Report actual state
❌ Trust agent reportCTO Platform Verification Checklist
Before marking any task complete:
Code Quality
cargo fmt --all --check- exit 0cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings -W clippy::pedantic- 0 warningscargo test- all pass
Pre-Commit
pre-commit run --all-files- all hooks pass
GitOps (if applicable)
make -C infra/gitops validate- passes
Why This Matters
From failure analysis:
- Trust broken when claims don't match reality
- Undefined functions shipped would crash production
- Missing requirements shipped = incomplete features
- Time wasted: false completion → redirect → rework
The Bottom Line
No shortcuts for verification.
Run the command. Read the output. THEN claim the result.
This is non-negotiable.