Verify Changes

Verifying MOOSE Changes

Use the smallest set of checks that establishes whether the changed behavior works. This skill owns verification execution and evidence; it does not decide whether a PR is ready, assess test SQA metadata, modify review conversations, or publish anything.

Use the run-tests skill for run_tests/TestHarness mechanics - locating it, scoping to a subset of tests, and reading failure types (DIFF, CRASH, EXODIFF, CSVDIFF, etc.).

Step 1 - Establish the verification scope

1. Find the repository root and read the applicable AGENTS.md files for the changed paths, bounded by the repository root.
2. Identify the changed behavior, affected targets, and the tests or executables that directly exercise it. Use repository test manifests and nearby tests; use CodeGraph when available if callers or impact are unclear.
3. Map each changed behavior to at least one planned check. Prefer focused checks, expanding to broader suites only when the blast radius or user request warrants it.
4. State the planned build and test commands, working directories, and what each check establishes.

Verification does not authorize edits to source, tests, gold files, or configuration, and it never authorizes Git operations.

Step 2 - Pass the environment gate

Before building or performing verification, including running run_tests or invoking a pre-existing MOOSE executable, ask whether the user's MOOSE stack uses conda unless the conversation already establishes it. If it does, ask which conda environment to activate and wait for the answer. Activate that environment for every verification command.

Do not inspect or run an existing binary, rely on the current shell state, or use an earlier result as a shortcut around this gate. If the user declines or cannot provide a required environment, mark the affected checks as not run and return that limitation to the calling workflow. Never imply that they passed.

Step 3 - Build the code under test

When changed source must be compiled, build the required target in the selected environment before running it. The presence or timestamp of a pre-existing binary is not proof that it contains the current changes. It is acceptable for the build system, after the environment gate, to establish that the target is up to date.

Do not broaden the build merely for completeness. If the necessary target cannot be identified or built, report the verification as blocked instead of substituting a different binary.

Step 4 - Run and interpret the checks

Run the planned focused checks and record:

• The exact command and working directory.
• The source revision or working-tree state tested.
• Pass, fail, blocked, or not-run status.
• The relevant output and what behavior the result covers.

Do not hide a failure through repeated retries, narrower filters, relaxed tolerances, or updated expected output. Diagnose enough to distinguish a code failure from an environment or infrastructure problem when the evidence supports that distinction. Any proposed repair is a separate change and requires the authorization appropriate to the calling task.

Step 5 - Return verification evidence

Return a concise check-by-check result with failures and unrun checks first. State what remains unverified and avoid a blanket success claim when the focused checks cover only part of the change.

Leave PR-readiness decisions, review-thread state, and publication decisions to the workflow that invoked this skill.