Verification Before Completion

Overview

Claiming work is complete without verification is dishonesty, not efficiency.

Core principle: Evidence before claims, always.

Violating the letter of this rule is violating the spirit of this rule.

The Iron Law

NO COMPLETION CLAIM WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE

If you haven't run the verification command in this message, you cannot claim it passes.

The Gate Function

Before claiming any status or expressing satisfaction:

1. IDENTIFY the command that proves the claim.
2. RUN it fresh and in full (for this project, the gate is mix precommit — compile warnings-as-errors, format, credo --strict, sobelow, deps.audit, full test suite).
3. READ the full output; check the exit status; count failures.
4. VERIFY the output actually confirms the claim.
5. ONLY THEN make the claim — and state it with the evidence.

Skip any step = lying, not verifying.

Common Failures

Claim	Requires	Not sufficient
Tests pass	Test output: 0 failures	A previous run, "should pass"
Precommit clean	mix precommit exit 0	"the focused test passed"
Bug fixed	Test the original symptom: passes	Code changed, assumed fixed
Regression test works	Red → green cycle verified	Test passes once
Subagent completed	git diff shows the changes	Subagent reports "success"
Requirements met	Line-by-line checklist vs the plan	Tests passing

Red Flags — STOP

Using "should," "probably," "seems to" · expressing satisfaction before verifying ("Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!") · about to commit/push/PR without running the gate · trusting a subagent's success report · relying on a partial check · "just this once" · tired and wanting it over · any wording that implies success without having run the verification.

Rationalizations

Excuse	Reality
"Should work now"	Run the verification.
"I'm confident"	Confidence ≠ evidence.
"Credo passed"	A linter isn't the compiler or the test suite.
"The subagent said success"	Verify independently — check git diff.
"I'm tired"	Exhaustion ≠ excuse.
"Partial check is enough"	Partial proves nothing.
"Different words, so the rule doesn't apply"	Spirit over letter.

Key Patterns

Tests / precommit: [run mix precommit] [read: 0 failures, exit 0] → "precommit passes." Not: "should pass now."

Regression test (Red-Green): write → run (pass) → revert the fix → run (MUST fail) → restore → run (pass). Not: "I wrote a regression test" without the red-green proof.

Requirements: re-read the plan → make a checklist → verify each item → report gaps or completion. Not: "tests pass, so it's done."

Subagent delegation: subagent reports success → check git diff → verify the changes → report the actual state. Not: trust the report.

The Bottom Line

Run the command. Read the output. THEN claim the result. This is non-negotiable.