skill-verification-gate

Host: Codex CLI — This skill was designed for Claude Code and adapted for Codex.

Cross-reference commands use installed skill names in Codex rather than /octo:* slash commands.

Use the active Codex shell and subagent tools. Do not claim a provider, model, or host subagent is available until the current session exposes it.

For host tool equivalents, see skills/blocks/codex-host-adapter.md.

Verification Gate

The Iron Law

<HARD-GATE> NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE </HARD-GATE>

NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE

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

The Gate

Before claiming any success or expressing satisfaction:

1. IDENTIFY — What command proves this claim?
2. RUN — Execute the full command (fresh, not cached)
3. READ — Full output, check exit code, count failures
4. VERIFY — Does output actually confirm the claim?
5. ONLY THEN — State the claim WITH evidence

Skip any step = the claim is unverified.

What Counts as Evidence

| Claim | Requires | NOT Sufficient | |-------|----------|----------------| | Tests pass | Test command output showing 0 failures | Previous run, "should pass" | | Build succeeds | Build command exit 0 | Linter passing | | Bug fixed | Reproduce original symptom: now passes | "Code changed, should work" | | Regression test works | Red (fail without fix) → Green (pass with fix) | Test passes once | | Subagent completed task | git diff shows expected changes | Subagent says "done" | | Requirements met | Line-by-line checklist against spec | Tests passing | | Provider dispatch worked | Output contains expected content | No error ≠ success |

Red Flags — STOP and Verify

If you catch yourself thinking any of these, STOP:

| Thought | What to do instead | |---------|-------------------| | "Should work now" | Run the verification | | "I'm confident" | Confidence ≠ evidence | | "Just this once" | No exceptions | | "The linter passed" | Linter ≠ tests ≠ build | | "The agent said it worked" | Verify independently | | "It's a small change" | Small changes cause big bugs |

Multi-Provider Context

In Claude Octopus workflows, verification is especially critical because:

• Provider outputs can be hallucinated — Codex, Gemini, Antigravity, Copilot, and other providers may claim success without evidence
• Consensus ≠ correctness — three models agreeing doesn't mean they're right
• Synthesis files may be stale — check timestamps, don't assume freshness
• orchestrate.sh exit code 0 ≠ quality — the script ran, but did it produce good output?

After any multi-provider workflow:

# Verify synthesis file exists and is recent
ls -la ~/.claude-octopus/results/*-synthesis-*.md | tail -1

# Verify it has content (not just headers)
wc -l ~/.claude-octopus/results/*-synthesis-*.md | tail -1

When to Apply

ALWAYS before:

• Committing code
• Creating PRs
• Marking tasks complete
• Moving to next workflow phase
• Reporting results to user
• Claiming a bug is fixed

In orchestrate.sh workflows:

• After probe (discover) — verify synthesis file exists
• After grasp (define) — verify consensus score meets threshold
• After tangle (develop) — verify tests pass, not just that code was written
• After ink (deliver) — verify review actually ran, not just that it was dispatched

Examples

Correct: Evidence-Based Claim

$ npm test
  ✓ user.create() saves to database (45ms)
  ✓ user.create() validates email (12ms)
  Tests: 2 passed, 2 total

All 2 tests pass. ← Claim backed by output.

Incorrect: Claim Without Evidence

I've implemented the feature. It should work now. The tests should pass.
← No test was run. "Should" is not evidence.

Correct: Regression Test Red-Green

1. Write test → run → FAIL (expected, proves test detects the bug)
2. Implement fix → run → PASS (proves fix works)
3. Revert fix → run → FAIL (proves test isn't false-positive)
4. Restore fix → run → PASS (final confirmation)

Integration with Other Skills

This skill is referenced by:

• flow-develop.md — verification gate after implementation
• flow-deliver.md — verification gate before delivery
• skill-code-review.md — verify review findings before reporting
• skill-tdd.md — red-green cycle requires evidence at each step
• skill-factory.md — autonomous pipeline must verify at every phase