Tranhieutt Software Development Department Software Development Department

name: verification-before-completion type: workflow description: "Requires fresh verification evidence before claiming work is complete, fixed, passing, safe, ready, merged, or clean. Use before completion claims, commits, PRs, merge readiness, or moving to the next task." argument-hint: "[claim-or-task-being-completed]" user-invocable: true allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep, Bash context: main effort: 2 agent: qa-engineer when_to_use: "Use before any completion or success claim, before committing, before opening or updating a PR, before marking a task done, and before moving from one implementation task to the next."

Verification Before Completion

Purpose

Prevent false completion claims. A task is not done because the code looks right, an agent reported success, or a previous command passed. A task is done only when fresh evidence verifies the exact claim being made.

This is a completion gate, not an implementation workflow. It runs after the relevant work and before any statement that implies success.

Iron Law

No completion claim without fresh verification evidence.

Do not say the work is done, fixed, passing, safe, ready, merged, clean, or complete unless the current turn contains evidence from the relevant command, file check, diff review, or manual verification note.

Trigger Phrases

Use this skill before saying or implying:

• "done", "complete", "finished"
• "fixed", "resolved", "working"
• "tests pass", "build passes", "lint is clean"
• "ready", "safe", "clean", "merge-ready"
• "implemented", "task complete", "all set"
• "the agent completed it"
• "I can commit", "I opened the PR", "ready to merge"

If the wording suggests success, this gate applies.

Workflow

1. Identify the Claim

Write the claim as a concrete sentence:

Claim: <specific completion or success statement>

Examples:

• Claim: Task 2 satisfies all approved acceptance criteria.
• Claim: The regression test proves the checkout hydration bug is fixed.
• Claim: The skill metadata validates with zero required failures.

2. Choose the Proof

Map the claim to the smallest sufficient proof:

When multiple claims are being made, verify each claim or narrow the final statement to only the verified claim.

3. Run or Inspect Fresh Evidence

Run the full command when a command is available. Read the output. Check the exit code and failure count. Do not rely on memory, prior sessions, subagent reports, or partial output.

If the proof is a file or diff check, inspect the relevant file or diff in the current turn.

If verification requires credentials, network access, a running service, a GUI, or user-only context, do not assume success. State the blocked verification plainly.

4. Compare Against the Claim

Before reporting, decide:

• VERIFIED: evidence proves the claim.
• PARTIAL: evidence proves only part of the claim.
• NOT VERIFIED: evidence is missing, blocked, stale, or failed.
• FAILED: evidence contradicts the claim.

If the result is not VERIFIED, change the final wording so it does not imply more success than the evidence supports.

5. Report With Evidence

Use this output shape:

## Verification Before Completion

**Claim:** [specific claim]
**Evidence:** [command/check and key result]
**Verdict:** VERIFIED | PARTIAL | NOT VERIFIED | FAILED
**Limits:** [anything not checked, or "None"]

For normal final responses, keep this compact. The important requirement is that the success claim and the evidence appear together.

Completion Gate Matrix

Anti-Rationalizations

Red Flags

Stop and verify before proceeding if:

• You are about to use "done", "fixed", "passing", "ready", or similar wording.
• You are about to commit, push, open a PR, merge, or mark a task complete.
• A subagent reports DONE but you have not inspected changed files.
• Verification failed but the wording still sounds successful.
• The command output contains warnings, skipped tests, or partial failures you have not accounted for.

Integration

• using-sdd routes completion claims to this skill.
• test-driven-development provides RED/GREEN evidence for implementation claims.
• subagent-driven-development uses this gate before marking each task complete and again after cross-task verification.
• commit, pr-writer, code-review, gate-check, release-checklist, and launch-checklist should use this gate before success or readiness claims.
• style-review supplies optional evidence for claims about prose clarity, citation discipline, or documentation polish.

Source: tranhieutt/software_development_department — distributed by TomeVault.