# Source Verification > Source Verification - Skill: `handsomeboy990/source-verification` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add handsomeboy990/source-verification` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/handsomeboy990/source-verification/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Research & Search - Author: Handsomeboy990 (https://skillmd.com/u/handsomeboy990) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/handsomeboy990/source-verification --- # Source Verification A claim repeated by a hundred sources can trace to one source that made it up. Verification is the pass that follows a claim to its origin and asks whether the origin holds. It is the difference between a fact and a rumour with good distribution. Not every claim needs it. The ones that carry a decision do. ## 1. Which claims to verify ``` verify a claim that a decision rests on verify a surprising claim, a claim that fits the desired conclusion too well, a claim with a precise statistic and a vague source verify a claim repeated everywhere in identical wording, which suggests one origin, not many witnesses skip a claim that is uncontested, low-stakes, and consistent with primaries already read ``` ## 2. Trace the claim to its origin ``` follow each source's citation back, rung by rung, to where the claim first appears origin the first source that states it as its own finding, not as a citation test does the origin actually support the claim, or has the claim drifted from what the origin said as it was repeated drift a number that gained precision, a hedge that was dropped, a "may" that became "does", a correlation that became a cause ``` The most common failure: a careful primary said "associated with, in this sample, under these conditions", and the hundredth repetition says "causes". ## 3. Test the origin ``` authority is the origin actually in a position to know the claim independence is the origin independent of an interest in the claim being true method for an empirical claim, does the origin's method support its conclusion, or is the conclusion larger than the method recency is the origin current, or superseded by something later retraction has the origin been corrected, retracted, or contradicted by its own author since ``` ## 4. Cross-check ``` independent is the claim supported by a source that does not trace back to the same origin? Three sources citing one origin are one source. converging independent sources reaching the claim by different routes raise confidence; the same wording everywhere lowers it absence if a claim that should be widely documented appears in only one place, that absence is a warning ``` ## 5. The verdict ``` verified traced to a sound origin, supported, cross-checked; report as fact partly the origin supports a narrower version than the claim; report the narrower version unverified could not be traced to a sound origin; report as unverified, do not launder it into a fact contradicted a sound source contradicts it; report the contradiction circular many sources, one unverified origin; report that, which is itself a finding ``` ## 6. Prohibitions - Never accept a claim by the count of sources repeating it; trace it to origin. - Never report a claim as verified without an independent cross-check. - Never let a claim keep the precision or certainty it gained in repetition past what its origin supports. - Never treat sources that all cite one origin as independent corroboration. - Never upgrade an unverified claim to a fact because it is convenient. - Never skip verification on the claim the decision most depends on. ## 7. Protocol 1. Select the claims that carry weight; skip the uncontested and low-stakes. 2. Trace each to its origin, rung by rung, noting any drift in the repetition. 3. Test the origin: authority, independence, method, recency, retraction. 4. Cross-check against genuinely independent sources. 5. Detect circular citation where many sources share one origin. 6. Issue a verdict per claim: verified, partly, unverified, contradicted, circular. 7. Report the narrower supported version where the claim overreached its origin. ## 8. Auto-critique Score from 0 to 5: weighty claims selected for verification, each traced to origin, drift in repetition detected, origin tested for authority and independence and method and recency, cross-checked against genuinely independent sources, circular citation caught, verdict honest including unverified and contradicted. Threshold: no axis below 3, average at least 4. Reporting a claim as verified that traces to a single unchecked origin, or laundering an unverified claim into a fact, caps the score until fixed. ## 9. Interfaces - Upstream: `research-core` for the evidence standard, `source-research` supplies the claims and their sources. - Downstream: `synthesis-reporting` uses the verdicts and confidence ratings, `competitive-analysis` and the business and career skills rely on verified claims before a decision. - Lateral: `self-critique` for the skeptic role, `report-writing` states the confidence in the delivered document. ## 10. Live sources Verification reads the origin directly whenever the runtime can reach it, rather than trusting the chain of repetition. When the origin is unreachable, the verdict is unverified with the obstacle named, never a verified rating inferred from the repetition alone.