Verification before completion

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)
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
Regression test works	Red-green cycle verified	Test passes once
Agent completed	VCS diff shows changes	Agent reports "success"
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"
• Tired and wanting work over
• ANY wording implying success without having run verification

Rationalization Prevention

Excuse	Reality
"Should work now"	RUN the verification
"I'm confident"	Confidence ≠ evidence
"Just this once"	No exceptions
"Linter passed"	Linter ≠ compiler
"Agent said success"	Verify independently
"I'm tired"	Exhaustion ≠ excuse
"Partial check is enough"	Partial proves nothing
"Different words so rule doesn't apply"	Spirit over letter

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)

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

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.

Pascal / mORMot2 Addendum

When this section applies: the session is operating on a Pascal project (the PASCAL_PROJECT=1 env was exported by the mormot2-superpowers session-start hook). If PASCAL_PROJECT is unset, ignore this section.

For mORMot 2 / Pascal projects, "verification before completion" means concrete, automatable evidence in this exact order:

1. Compiler exit code 0

Run /delphi-build (Delphi project) or /fpc-build (FPC/Lazarus project), or both if the project ships dual-target. The wrappers emit a single trailing line:

BUILD_RESULT exit=<n> errors=<count> warnings=<count> first=<file:line:msg>

Verification passes only if exit=0 AND errors=0. Any non-zero errors is a failure even when the linker succeeds.

2. Test suite green

Run /mormot2-test. The runner exits 0 only when every TSynTestCase in the project's regression suite passes. The runner does not invoke DUnitX, FPCUnit, or TestInsight; if the project depends on those, this is a partial verification (call it out in the report).

3. Symbols deployed

Confirm the build artefact ships with debug symbols so a future pascal-debugging-logging session can resolve stack traces:

• Delphi: <Project>.map next to the .exe (build with -GD).
• FPC: DWARF embedded (-gw3 -gl) or .dbg sidecar.

Missing symbols is a "verified compiles" not a "verified ships" - say so explicitly.

4. Lint signal

Skim BUILD_RESULT warnings=<count>. Treat any warning count > 0 as a follow-up task; do not silently accept new warnings introduced by your change.

Don't claim verification when

• A TSynTestCase was added but not run.
• The .map or DWARF symbols are missing from the build output.
• Only one compiler was exercised when both .dproj and .lpi exist.
• The build was a Make (incremental); a release Build (full) wasn't run.