Verification before completion skill for AI agents

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When your agent uses it

• About to claim work is complete, fixed, or passing, before committing or creating PRs
• About to report a test, build, or fix as passing without having run the command and read its output

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Install

npx -y summer-engine@latest skills install verification-before-completion --agent claude-code

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The skill

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Overview

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The Iron Law

NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE

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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

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Common Failures

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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

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Rationalization Prevention

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Key Patterns

Good: [Run test command] [See: 34/34 pass] "All tests pass"
Bad: "Should pass now" / "Looks correct"

Good: Write → Run (pass) → Revert fix → Run (MUST FAIL) → Restore → Run (pass)
Bad: "I've written a regression test" (without red-green verification)

Good: [Run build] [See: exit 0] "Build passes"
Bad: "Linter passed" (linter doesn't check compilation)

Good: Re-read plan → Create checklist → Verify each → Report gaps or completion
Bad: "Tests pass, phase complete"

Good: Agent reports success → Check VCS diff → Verify changes → Report actual state
Bad: Trust agent report

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Why This Matters

• The user stops believing your reports.
• Undefined functions ship and crash.
• Missing requirements ship as incomplete features.
• Time goes to redirecting and rework.

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When To Apply

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

• Exact phrases
• Paraphrases and synonyms
• Implications of success
• ANY communication suggesting completion/correctness

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The Bottom Line