| name | verification-before-completion |
| description | Use when claiming task completion or marking items as done. Covers completion evidence requirements, verification methods, and anti-rationalization patterns. |
| keywords | ["completion","done","working","ready","verification","evidence","test-output","grep-verification","ci-cd","build-logs","git-diff","screenshot","should-work","probably-works","seems-to","rationalization","todo-complete"] |
| created | "2026-01-20T00:00:00.000Z" |
| updated | "2026-01-20T00:00:00.000Z" |
| plugin | dev |
| type | discipline |
| difficulty | beginner |
Verification Before Completion
Iron Law: "NO COMPLETION CLAIMS WITHOUT FRESH VERIFICATION EVIDENCE"
When to Use
This skill applies whenever you:
- Mark a todo item as complete
- Claim a bug is fixed
- Report a feature is ready
- State implementation is done
- Close a task or issue
- Prepare to commit changes
Red Flags (Violation Indicators)
Key Concepts
Fresh Verification Principle
Verification must be fresh (performed after the claimed change) and explicit (evidence shown, not described).
Wrong:
Fixed the login bug in auth.ts. Should be working now.
Correct:
Fixed the login bug in auth.ts line 42:
git diff src/auth.ts:
- if (user.token == null) {
+ if (user.token === undefined || user.token === null) {
Test output:
✓ should reject undefined token (15ms)
✓ should reject null token (12ms)
✓ should accept valid token (8ms)
Evidence Types by Change Type
| Change Type | Required Evidence | Tool/Method |
|---|
| Logic/algorithm | Test output showing pass | bun test, pytest, go test |
| File creation | Grep verification or ls output | grep -r "pattern" . or ls -la path/ |
| UI/styling | Screenshot or video | Browser DevTools screenshot |
| Configuration | Build logs showing success | npm run build, cargo build |
| Deployment | CI link or deployment logs | GitHub Actions URL, kubectl logs |
| API changes | API test output or curl result | curl -X POST ... |
| Data migration | Row count or sample query | SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ... |
| Performance fix | Benchmark comparison (before/after) | hyperfine, go test -bench |
Enforcement Mechanism
Tasks Integration
When marking a todo as completed:
- BEFORE changing status to
completed, gather fresh evidence
- IN THE SAME MESSAGE that marks it complete, show the evidence
- NEVER mark complete in one message, then show evidence later
Violation Pattern:
Message 1: "Fixed the validator. Marking todo complete."
Message 2: "Here's the test output..."
Correct Pattern:
Message 1:
"Fixed the validator. Test output:
✓ should validate email (5ms)
✓ should reject invalid format (3ms)
Marking todo complete."
Rationalization Detection
Common rationalizations and their counters:
| Rationalization | Counter |
|---|
| "It's a trivial change" | Trivial = fast to verify, not skip |
| "I tested this before" | Code changed since then, verify again |
| "Same pattern as working code" | Different context = different bugs |
| "Just fixing a typo" | Typos can break builds, verify |
| "Only changed comments" | Comments can break doc generation |
| "Can't test without production data" | Use test fixtures or staging environment |
Examples
Example 1: React Component Fix (TypeScript)
Scenario: Fixed useState initialization bug
Wrong Completion:
Fixed the counter initialization bug. Should be good now!
Correct Completion:
Fixed the counter initialization bug in Counter.tsx line 8:
git diff:
- const [count, setCount] = useState();
+ const [count, setCount] = useState<number>(0);
Test output:
PASS src/Counter.test.tsx
Counter component
✓ renders with initial value 0 (23ms)
✓ increments on button click (15ms)
Build check:
✓ Type checking passed (1.2s)
✓ No lint errors
Example 2: Python API Endpoint (FastAPI)
Scenario: Fixed validation error in POST /users
Wrong Completion:
Added email validation to the users endpoint. Tested locally, works fine.
Correct Completion:
Added email validation to the users endpoint in api/users.py line 45:
git diff:
@app.post("/users")
def create_user(user: UserCreate):
+ if not re.match(r"[^@]+@[^@]+\.[^@]+", user.email):
+ raise HTTPException(400, "Invalid email format")
return db.create_user(user)
Test output:
test_create_user.py::test_valid_email PASSED
test_create_user.py::test_invalid_email_rejected PASSED
test_create_user.py::test_missing_at_sign PASSED
Manual curl test:
$ curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/users -d '{"email":"invalid"}'
{"detail":"Invalid email format"}
Example 3: Go Configuration Change
Scenario: Updated Docker build configuration
Wrong Completion:
Updated the Dockerfile to use Go 1.22. Build should work now.
Correct Completion:
Updated the Dockerfile to use Go 1.22:
git diff:
-FROM golang:1.21-alpine
+FROM golang:1.22-alpine
Build verification:
$ docker build -t myapp:test .
[+] Building 45.3s (12/12) FINISHED
=> [internal] load build definition from Dockerfile
=> => transferring dockerfile: 234B
=> [1/6] FROM golang:1.22-alpine
=> [2/6] WORKDIR /app
=> [3/6] COPY go.mod go.sum ./
=> [4/6] RUN go mod download
=> [5/6] COPY . .
=> [6/6] RUN go build -o /app/server
=> exporting to image
=> => writing image sha256:abc123...
Run verification:
$ docker run myapp:test --version
v1.0.0 (go1.22.0)
Integration with Other Skills
- test-driven-development: TDD provides the tests you'll use as verification evidence
- systematic-debugging: Debug process ends with fix verification (this skill)
- agent-coordination-discipline: Agents must return verification evidence, not just claims
- quality-gates: Quality gate checks are verification evidence types
Quick Reference
Before marking ANY task complete:
- ✅ Run relevant tests → capture output
- ✅ Check file changes → show git diff or grep
- ✅ Verify build → show build logs
- ✅ For UI changes → take screenshot
- ✅ For deployments → link CI run
- ✅ Show evidence in completion message
- ✅ Only then mark todo as completed
Remember: If you can't show fresh evidence, the task isn't complete yet.
