Goal evidence ledger

Goal Evidence Ledger

You record evidence durably. Every assertion about an AC must be backed by a file-backed FlowEvidence sidecar — not a transcript message, not a console log that vanishes when the session ends, not an LLM's recollection. This skill enforces the negative space discipline from evidence-based-development: every evidence entry MUST declare what it does NOT prove.

Iron Law

No AC transitions to pass without a corresponding FlowEvidence sidecar. The sidecar's proves: [<AC.id>] field is the load-bearing link. Without it, the verdict-judge has no surfaced evidence to evaluate and falls back to transcript text — defeating the Independence Protocol.

Relationship to existing skills

This skill wraps evidence-based-development (which encodes ASSERTION/EVIDENCE/VERIFIED discipline). It adds:

• File-backed persistence (vs. transcript-only)
• Schema-validated structure (vs. free-form)
• Cross-session durability (vs. session-scoped)
• Concurrent-safe writes (via _journal_atomic.py)

If evidence-based-development has produced findings in a session, this skill materializes those findings as .evidence.yaml sidecars.

Inputs

The invoking command/skill MUST pass:

1. Evidence id — typically evidence-<AC.id>-<descriptor>-<turn>. Lowercase + digits + _-.
2. Evidence type — one of the enum values from evidence.schema.json (command_result, test_result, lint_result, runtime_smoke_result, visual_result, git_diff, holdout_validation, verdict, human_approval, review_comment_snapshot, ci_status, llm_judge_report, artifact_check, path_boundary_check).
3. Proves — list of AC ids this evidence supports.
4. Optional: command, exit_code, raw output path, limitations list, negative_cases list.

Outputs

1. .flow/runs/<run-id>/evidence/<evidence-id>.evidence.yaml — structured sidecar.
2. .flow/runs/<run-id>/evidence/<evidence-id>.txt — raw stdout/stderr capture (when applicable).
3. evidence-captured artifact in the linked decision journal.
4. One line appended to .flow/runs/<run-id>/events.jsonl.

Workflow

Step 1: Compose the FlowEvidence YAML

apiVersion: flow.synapti.ai/v1
kind: FlowEvidence
metadata:
  id: <evidence-id>
  goal: <goal-id>
  run_id: <run-id>
  activity_id: <activity-id, if any>
  created_at: <ISO-8601 UTC>
evidence:
  type: <enum-value>
  command: <bash command, if applicable>
  exit_code: <captured, if command type>
  output_ref: <relative path to .txt, if captured>
  proves:
    - <AC.id>
  limitations:
    - <what this evidence does NOT prove — required for non-trivial evidence>
  negative_cases:
    - <adversarial cases or boundary conditions tested>

Step 2: Negative space discipline

Mandatory fields when applicable:

Evidence type	Mandatory negative-space field	Rationale
command_result, test_result	limitations	What the command did NOT test (other code paths, edge cases)
runtime_smoke_result	limitations + negative_cases	Smoke tests are inherently shallow; surface that explicitly
visual_result	limitations	Visual diffs don't catch behavior; name that
holdout_validation, verdict	none (already structured)	The verdict format owns its own negative space
llm_judge_report	limitations	LLM reasoning is fuzzy; surface confidence band

A sidecar of type command_result without a limitations field is rejected by the schema (the rejection happens at write time, not at read time — fail fast).

Step 3: Write the sidecar

Invoke bin/flow-record-evidence.sh:

bin/flow-record-evidence.sh \
  --run-id <run-id> \
  --evidence-file <path-to-composed-yaml> \
  --raw-output <path-to-stdout-capture>

The helper handles:

• Atomic write (tempfile + rename via _journal_atomic.py)
• Symlink defense (O_NOFOLLOW on lockfile + target)
• Schema validation (when jsonschema is available)
• Raw output copy alongside the sidecar

Step 4: Record manifest artifact

bin/journal-record.sh --issue {N} --type evidence-captured \
  --metadata evidence_id=<id> \
  --metadata goal_id=<goal-id> \
  --metadata proves=<comma-list of AC ids>

Step 5: Update the goal AC's evidence_ref

The goal-evaluator skill (the typical caller) updates the AC entry in .flow/goals/<id>.goal.yaml to point at the new sidecar:

acceptance_criteria:
  - id: AC1
    text: '...'
    status: evidence_collected  # was: pending
    evidence_ref: .flow/runs/<run-id>/evidence/<evidence-id>.evidence.yaml
    last_evaluated_at: <now>

Anti-patterns

• ❌ Writing evidence by echo > .evidence.yaml instead of via the helper — bypasses atomicity + schema validation.
• ❌ Omitting limitations on a command_result — claim without scope = useless evidence.
• ❌ Pointing two ACs to the same evidence file without proves: [AC1, AC2] — the link is bidirectional.
• ❌ Editing a sidecar in place — evidence is append-only; corrections are NEW sidecars (e.g., evidence-AC1-retest-turn2) and the AC's evidence_ref is updated to the new one. The old sidecar stays as audit trail.
• ❌ Writing evidence after a goal has transitioned to achieved — evidence is captured BEFORE the verdict, not after.

Reuse map

• plugins/flow/skills/evidence-based-development/SKILL.md — ASSERTION/EVIDENCE/VERIFIED protocol.
• plugins/flow/bin/flow-record-evidence.sh — atomic writer.
• plugins/flow/schemas/v1/evidence.schema.json — sidecar schema.
• plugins/flow/references/evidence-bundle-format.md — bundle layout the verdict-judge consumes.