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 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)
   - For tests/pre-commit/commits: Use hyperpowers:test-runner agent to avoid context pollution
   - Agent captures verbose output, returns only summary + failures
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

Using the hyperpowers:test-runner agent:

• Dispatch hyperpowers:test-runner agent with the command: "Run: cargo test"
• Agent runs command, captures all output in its context
• Returns concise report: summary stats + failure details only
• Prevents context pollution from verbose test/hook output

Common Failures

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"
• Tired and wanting work over
• ANY wording implying success without having run verification

Rationalization Prevention

Key Patterns

Tests:

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

Regression tests (TDD Red-Green):

✅ Write → Run (pass) → Revert fix → Run (MUST FAIL) → Restore → Run (pass)
❌ "I've written a regression test" (without red-green verification)

Commits (with pre-commit hooks):

✅ [Dispatch hyperpowers:test-runner: "Run: git commit -m 'message'"] [Agent reports: hooks passed] "Commit created"
❌ "git commit" (dumps 947+ lines of test output into context)
❌ "Committing changes" (without waiting for hook results)

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"

Agent delegation:

✅ Agent reports success → Check VCS diff → Verify changes → Report actual state
❌ Trust agent report

bd task completion:

✅ Check success criteria → Run verification commands → All pass → Close task
❌ "Implemented bd-3" (without verifying success criteria)

bd epic completion:

✅ [Run: bd list --status open --parent bd-1] [See: 0 results] "All tasks closed"
❌ "Epic complete" (without verifying all tasks actually closed)

Working with bd

Before Closing a Task

From bd task design:

## Success Criteria
- [ ] All functions fully implemented (no stubs, no TODOs)
- [ ] Tests written and passing: test_generate_token, test_verify_token
- [ ] Pre-commit hooks pass (cargo fmt, cargo clippy, cargo test)

Your verification:

1. Run each verification command:

# Check for TODOs
rg "TODO|FIXME|todo!|unimplemented!" src/
# Output: [nothing] ✅

# Run specific tests
cargo test test_generate_token test_verify_token
# Output: test result: ok. 2 passed ✅

# Run pre-commit hooks
cargo fmt --check && cargo clippy && cargo test
# Output: [all pass] ✅

2. THEN close task:

bd status bd-3 --status closed

Before Closing an Epic

Verify all child tasks closed:

bd list --status open --parent bd-1
# Output: [empty] ✅

bd dep tree bd-1
# Output: shows all tasks as closed ✅

THEN close epic:

bd status bd-1 --status closed

Why This Matters

From 24 failure memories:

• your human partner said "I don't believe you" - trust broken
• Undefined functions shipped - would crash
• Missing requirements shipped - incomplete features
• Time wasted on false completion → redirect → rework
• Violates: "Honesty is a core value. If you lie, you'll be replaced."

When To Apply

ALWAYS before:

• ANY variation of success/completion claims
• ANY expression of satisfaction
• ANY positive statement about work state
• Committing, PR creation, task completion
• Moving to next task
• Delegating to agents

Rule applies to:

• Exact phrases
• Paraphrases and synonyms
• Implications of success
• ANY communication suggesting completion/correctness

The Bottom Line

No shortcuts for verification.

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

This is non-negotiable.