# Claim Verifier > The runnable cite-or-cut gate for FINISHED Nexus copy — walks every checkable factual claim in a completed asset, resolves each to a substantiation record or cuts it, runs the Australian Consumer Law excluded-tactics deny-list, and freezes the Substantiation Ledger before publish. Use as the last gate before any copy asset ships — landing page, service page, ad, email, franchise-recruitment copy. Triggers on "cite-or-cut", "substantiate this copy", "claim check", "can we publish this", "freeze the ledger", "is every claim proven", "ACL check the copy". NOT research (that is `storm`), NOT trust scoring (that is `eeat`). - Skill: `cleanexpo/claim-verifier` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add cleanexpo/claim-verifier` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/cleanexpo/claim-verifier/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Research & Search - Author: cleanexpo (https://skillmd.com/u/cleanexpo) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/cleanexpo/claim-verifier --- # claim-verifier — the cite-or-cut gate The runnable enforcement of the Nexus doctrine's spine: **an unprovable claim cannot physically reach publication.** It takes a *finished* draft plus its substantiation set and returns one of two things — a frozen, ship-ready **Substantiation Ledger**, or a **cut-list + BLOCK**. It executes doctrine gates **3 (cite-or-cut)**, **4 (excluded-tactics)** and **6 (freeze ledger)** as a repeatable audit. The ledger schema and the full Excluded-Tactics list are defined in [`../nexus-copywriter/references/DOCTRINE.md`](../nexus-copywriter/references/DOCTRINE.md); this skill is the *procedure* that runs them. ## Why this is not an existing skill - **`storm`** sources facts *forward* (research → a new cited article) and is explicitly not for marketing copy. This audits finished copy *backward* — each existing claim → its record. storm is doctrine stage 0; this is stages 3/4/6. - **`eeat`** *scores* trust signals holistically ("does this look credible") and **advises, does not gate**. It never walks each claim to a record, never *cuts* the unprovable, and enforces no claim law. This is a hard, per-claim gate with Australian Consumer Law inside it. - **`specialist-council` / `boardroom`** deliberate and triangulate *decisions*; neither checks a claim against evidence. - **`marketing-copywriter`** writes the words; this verifies them. ## When to use - The final step before any Nexus copy asset ships, once craft + eeat are done. - Any time a claim's basis may have lapsed (review count, SLA, certificate, price history) and the frozen ledger must be re-verified. ## When NOT to use - Before facts exist — source them first via `storm` (doctrine stage 0). This gate assumes a substantiation set is already on file. - Pure trust/authorship polish → `eeat`. Pure wording → `marketing-copywriter`. ## Inputs - **draft** — the finished copy. Ideally claim-tagged from doctrine stage 2; if untagged, this gate tags it in step 1. - **substantiation set** — the records on file: invoice/dispatch-log exports, review exports, certificates, test results, dated price history, licence numbers, credential docs (storm output + client records). A record is a URL or document ID, **never a memory**. ## Method ### 1. Extract & tag every checkable claim Read the draft sentence by sentence. Give every sentence that asserts a **checkable fact** a `Claim-ID`. Mark obvious subjective opinion as **puffery** (untagged, legal, but never counted as proof). Flag **forward-looking** claims ("we'll save you X", "on-site within 60 min") — they need reasonable grounds *held at publish time*, not just a past record. - **Completion:** no factual sentence is untagged; every non-puffery sentence has a Claim-ID. ### 2. Cite-or-cut — resolve each Claim-ID to a record Walk every Claim-ID against the substantiation set. Each resolves to exactly one outcome: - **has a concrete record** → keep, cite inline, carry the record into the ledger; - **no record, or only round-number/"trust-me"/legend** → **cut** (delete) or **demote to puffery** if a subjective rephrase is honest. No "verify later", no "probably". Superlatives ("best / #1 / fastest / most trusted") need *dated, provable* evidence or they are cut on sight. - **Completion:** every Claim-ID is either recorded or on the cut-list. Zero unresolved. ### 3. Excluded-tactics / ACL deny-list pass A claim can be truthfully *sourced* yet *deployed* illegally. Run the draft against the Excluded Tactics + quick-deny list in [`../nexus-copywriter/references/DOCTRINE.md`](../nexus-copywriter/references/DOCTRINE.md) — invented urgency / resetting timers / phantom scarcity; "was/now" without a genuine prior sale period; fake, connected-undisclosed, or incentivised-undisclosed reviews; unqualified green/"Australian Made" claims; non-Code-compliant franchise earnings implications; material silence that changes the overall impression (s18 needs no intent). Any hit is a **hard stop** — the tactic is removed, not softened. - **Completion:** no deny-list hit survives in the draft. ### 4. Set expiry / review dates Substantiation decays. Assign each shipping claim a **review/expiry date** — reviews +90d, SLAs and response-time promises per current ops, certificates per their expiry, price history per the next price change. - **Completion:** every shipping claim carries an expiry. ### 5. Freeze the ledger & emit the verdict Produce the **Substantiation Ledger** (`Claim-ID | claim text | record/basis-at-time | expiry`) and a verdict: - **SHIP-READY** — every claim recorded, deny-list clean, ledger frozen and attached to travel with the asset for its life. - **BLOCK** — a cut-list of every claim removed/demoted and every deny-list hit, with what record or rewrite would clear it. The asset does not ship until re-run clean. Apply the **skeptic test**: a skeptical regulator, journalist, and customer each fact-check the piece line by line. If any claim can't survive all three, it is not SHIP-READY. - **Completion:** ledger frozen or cut-list returned; a verdict is emitted. ## Hard rules - A claim with no ledger row does not appear in the copy. Full stop. - The gate cannot be waived by deadline, client pressure, or a good-sounding line. - A record is a source URL or document ID — never a memory, never a round number. - This gate *verifies*; it never writes new claims or invents records. Missing facts go back to `storm`, not into the ledger.