Prove It Works

Match the completion claim to evidence from the actual artifact and requested behavior. This is a shared verification principle, not a mandatory extra test suite or authorization to execute arbitrary checks.

1. State the observable result required by the task and the artifact/revision being checked. Inspect current state rather than trusting an earlier run or a delegate's completion message.
2. Select the smallest relevant documented check. Ask what defect would make it fail. A check that reproduces the implementation or cannot detect the reported failure is weak evidence.
3. Observe the required surface: user interaction for a UI claim, command output and effects for a CLI, actual results for a library or data transformation. Build success, HTTP 200, timestamps, and screenshots from another revision establish only their narrow facts.
4. Record the command or observation, input identity, expected result, actual result, and relevant evidence path. Separate observation from inference. Prefer a rerunnable existing check; add a probe only when it improves the evidence enough to justify its cost.
5. If verification fails, distinguish an application defect from an incorrect probe or environment. Diagnose before retrying, and do not weaken the acceptance criterion to obtain a pass.

Respect read-only tasks and existing approval limits. Running code may write files, start services, or contact external systems; inspect those effects first. When execution is outside the authorized scope, state what source inspection establishes and leave execution pending.

Report passed, failed, blocked, and unverified coverage accurately. A pending manual check is not a pass. Keep evidence separate from durable documentation and preserve it through owned-process cleanup. Do not commit artifacts merely because they were used for verification.

Source

Adapted from Lauren Tan's pstack Prove It Works. Local changes: scope-aware checks, minimal verification, explicit revision and coverage, and no unconditional script or commit requirement. See LICENSE.