# Verifying By Consensus

> Dispatch N independent review agents, collate by consensus ratio, cross-check exclusive findings Use when this capability is needed.

- Skill: `tomevault-io/verifying-by-consensus` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/verifying-by-consensus`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/verifying-by-consensus/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/verifying-by-consensus

---


# Verifying by Consensus

## Overview

Dispatch N agents to independently review the same subject. Collate findings:
- **Common (N/N):** All agents found → act immediately
- **Exclusive (<N/N):** Some agents found → cross-check validates

## Agent Count Heuristics

| Scope | Default N | Rationale |
|-------|-----------|-----------|
| Single file change | 2 | Focused review, two perspectives sufficient |
| Multi-file feature | 2-3 | More surface area benefits from diversity |
| Architecture change | 3 | Different perspectives valuable |
| Security-sensitive | 3+ | Higher stakes warrant more eyes |

**Override via args:** `--count 3` or `--agents "Explore,Plan,code-agent"`

## Agent Selection

1. **Explicit args:** If user provides `--agents`, use those
2. **Available plugins:** Check for specialized agents (cipherpowers code-review-agent, etc.)
3. **Built-in agents:** Use Claude's Explore, Plan agents with review prompts
4. **Fallback:** N instances of same agent with different perspective prompts

## Process

**Announce:** "I'm using the verifying-by-consensus skill to verify [subject]."

### Phase 1: Dispatch

1. Determine N (default 2, or from args)
2. Select agents (from args, plugins, or built-ins)
3. Start workflow: `rundown run runbooks/verify.runbook.md`
4. Dispatch agents with StepId prefix in description:
   ```
   Agent(description="1.1 - Review [subject]", prompt="...", subagent_type="...")
   Agent(description="1.2 - Review [subject]", prompt="...", subagent_type="...")
   ```

**Hooks automate step binding:**

| Manual command | Hook trigger | When |
|----------------|--------------|------|
| `rundown run --step 1.1` | PostToolUse (Agent/Step) | StepId detected in description |
| `rundown run --agent {id}` | SubagentStart | Agent spawns |

**Subagent protocol:**
- Write findings to `.work/{date}-verify-{agentId}.md`
- Use `rd pass` or `rd fail` to report the result

### Phase 2: Collate

After all agents complete, dispatch collation:
- Read all N review files
- Compare findings across agents
- Categorize by consensus:
  - **Common (N/N):** All agents found this issue
  - **Exclusive:** Subcategorize by ratio (e.g., 2/3, 1/3)
- Write collation to `.work/{date}-verify-collated.md`

**Present immediately:**
```
Collation complete.

## Common (N/N)
[Issues all agents found - can implement now]

## Exclusive
### (N-1)/N
[Issues most agents found]
### 1/N
[Issues one agent found]

Cross-check starting for exclusive findings...
```

### Phase 3: Cross-Check

Dispatch cross-check agent to validate ALL exclusive findings:
- For each exclusive issue, verify against ground truth
- Mark as: VALIDATED | INVALIDATED | UNCERTAIN
- Write to `.work/{date}-verify-crosscheck.md`

**Present when complete:**
```
Cross-check complete.

VALIDATED: X issues (should address)
INVALIDATED: X issues (can skip)
UNCERTAIN: X issues (user decides)
```

### Phase 4: Complete

```bash
rundown complete
```

## Output Files

All files saved to `.work/`:
- `{date}-verify-{agentId}.md` - Individual reviews
- `{date}-verify-collated.md` - Collation report
- `{date}-verify-crosscheck.md` - Cross-check results

## Templates

Review template: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/verify-review.md`
Collation template: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/verify-collation.md`

---
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<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-11 -->