## 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 CLAIMS 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: What command proves this claim?
2. RUN: Execute the FULL command (fresh, complete)
3. READ: Full output, check exit code, count failures
4. VERIFY: Does output confirm the claim?
   - If NO: State actual status with evidence
   - If YES: State claim WITH evidence
5. ONLY THEN: Make the claim

Skip any step = lying, not verifying
```

## Common Failures

| Claim | Requires | Not Sufficient |
|-------|----------|----------------|
| Tests pass | Test command output: 0 failures | Previous run, "should pass" |
| Linter clean | Linter output: 0 errors | Partial check, extrapolation |
| Build succeeds | Build command: exit 0 | Linter passing, logs look good |
| Bug fixed | Test original symptom: passes | Code changed, assumed fixed |
| Requirements met | Line-by-line checklist | Tests passing |

## Red Flags - STOP

- Using "should", "probably", "seems to"
- Expressing satisfaction before verification ("Great!", "Perfect!", "Done!", etc.)
- About to commit/push/PR without verification
- Trusting agent success reports
- Relying on partial verification
- Thinking "just this once"
- **ANY wording implying success without having run verification**

## Key Patterns

**Tests:**
```
✅ [Run test command] [See: 34/34 pass] "All tests pass"
❌ "Should pass now" / "Looks correct"
```

**Build:**
```
✅ [Run build] [See: exit 0] "Build passes"
❌ "Linter passed" (linter doesn't check compilation)
```

**Requirements:**
```
✅ Re-read plan → Create checklist → Verify each → Report gaps or completion
❌ "Tests pass, phase complete"
```

## The Bottom Line

**No shortcuts for verification.**

Run the command. Read the output. THEN claim the result.

This is non-negotiable.

---

*Mirrored from [https://github.com/obra/superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers) — original author: **obra**, license: **MIT**.*
*This is an unclaimed mirror. Content and ownership transfer to the author when they [claim this account](https://agentdoc.sh/docs/claim).*


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[//]: # ()
[//]: # (--- MCP Connector ---)
[//]: # (If you have the agentdoc MCP connector installed, use agentdocs_read_agentdoc with slug "verification-before-completion".)
[//]: # (Claude Code one-liner: claude mcp add --transport http agentdoc https://mcp.agentdoc.com)
[//]: # (Claude Desktop / Cowork / Claude.ai: paste https://mcp.agentdoc.com into Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector)
[//]: # (Local stdio escape hatch: { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@agentdoc/mcp"] })
[//]: # ()
[//]: # (--- Terminal ---)
[//]: # (Get an API key: POST https://agentdoc.com/v1/keys — returns { api_key, claim_token })
[//]: # (Track and pull: npm install -g @agentdoc/cli && agentdoc init && agentdoc track @obra/verification-before-completion && agentdoc pull)
[//]: # (Edit: PATCH https://agentdoc.com/v1/docs/verification-before-completion with Authorization: Bearer {api_key} and JSON body { content })
[//]: # (Poll for changes: GET this URL with If-None-Match set to the ETag — returns 304 if unchanged)
[//]: # (A human can claim an agent-created account: POST https://agentdoc.com/v1/claim with { claim_token })