| name | auto-verify |
| description | Verify completed plan against acceptance criteria. Use after all slices are executed. |
| metadata | {"stage":"verify"} |
auto-verify
Verification gate. Independent audit of a completed plan; runs once, not per-slice.
First action: run node .agent/.automaton/scripts/get-context.mjs from the project root.
Preamble
Independent audit. Re-read the plan, run proof commands, and compare fresh results to acceptance criteria. It does not trust execute's self-assessment or fix what it finds. When continuing inline from execute, re-derive from fresh command output; execute's reasoning is context, not evidence.
Loading discipline: on warm continuation from execute, one PLAN.md read plus verification commands per criterion. On cold entry, load in dependency order, spec before plan; auto-resume owns the full order table. Read source files when verifying correctness requires inspecting the actual changes, not just command output.
Quality Gate
Before writing the verification report:
- Tie every result to fresh command output or direct observation.
- Name skipped checks explicitly. Omission is not a pass.
- Treat partial evidence as FAIL for the plan.
- Read
references/quality.md when the report sounds confident without proof.
Do
Load State
Read the canonical PLAN.md. Load only linked slices/slice-NNN.md files and referenced requirement IDs from spec/*.md; Linked detail file and traceability IDs are normative, and an unlinked supplemental file is not verification context. For prose slices, read references/content-verification.md.
Mark Verify Stage
After PLAN.md resolves and before running commands, run node .agent/.automaton/scripts/sync-status.mjs --stage verify from the project root.
Collect Acceptance Criteria
Gather every acceptance criterion and verification command from every slice in PLAN.md. Build a checklist: slice name → criterion → command. This is a plan-level audit.
Do NOT modify source code, tests, or project artifacts during verification. Verify reads and runs commands; it does not fix.
Do NOT run any git write command (commit, amend, reset, rebase, branch, checkout, worktree, push). The commit rhythm is owned by auto-execute (see .agent/.automaton/references/ARTIFACT-LIFECYCLE.md, Git Rhythm). Markdown writes that verify produces (VERIFY-GAP blocks on FAIL, the ## Verification section and ROADMAP phase update on PASS, one-line LEARNINGS.md facts) sit in the working tree; auto-execute sweeps them up on re-entry, or the user closes them after a terminal pass.
Run Verification
Execute verification commands for each criterion. Mark each PASS, FAIL, or PARTIAL. If a criterion lacks a command, derive one from the acceptance criterion and document what you ran. For content slices, verify audience, thesis, voice, content anti-goals, channel, source policy, factual risk, format, and anti-slop scan with evidence.
Evaluate
Binary: the plan passes only when every criterion across all slices passes. One FAIL means the plan fails.
Report
Build the full criterion checklist internally. Use references/verification-template.md for report shape. Summarize passing criteria by slice; expand failures, skipped checks, derived commands, PARTIAL results, or small 1-2 criterion plans.
On Pass
- Append a compact
## Verification section to the canonical PLAN.md (append-replace, never stack): per-slice criterion rollup, commands run, derived or skipped checks named, and the PASS verdict. Use the durable-record shape in references/verification-template.md. This is the record a future change or auditor reads; the inline report evaporates with the conversation.
- Run
node .agent/.automaton/scripts/sync-status.mjs --stage verified from the project root.
- If
.agent/steering/ROADMAP.md exists, mark the matching change: phase status: done per .agent/.automaton/references/ROADMAP-CONTRACT.md; skip empty or non-matching phases. The ROADMAP edit lands in the working tree as a markdown leftover; do not commit it. The user closes it in their own rhythm.
- End the report with
Change status: complete and a separate New objective line pointing to auto-office-hours for future work. Do not print a Next: line on PASS. Use auto-resume only for later re-entry or recovery.
On Fail
Before annotating, check each failing criterion for an existing VERIFY-GAP block from a prior verification of this change. A repeat means the gap-fix cycle did not close it: the plan or spec is the suspect, not the implementation.
- First failure: annotate failed slices in
PLAN.md with structured gap blocks, run node .agent/.automaton/scripts/sync-status.mjs --stage execute from the project root so re-entry resumes gap fixing, and hand off with Next: auto-execute, which reads these annotations on re-entry.
- Repeated failure of the same criterion: annotate, run
node .agent/.automaton/scripts/sync-status.mjs --stage plan from the project root, and hand off with Next: auto-plan, naming the repeated criterion.
Each gap block needs VERIFY-GAP, evidence, and a fix objective. Append-replace (FRAMEWORK.md, Artifact Signal Discipline): replace prior VERIFY-GAP blocks for the same slice rather than stacking.
When gap diagnosis reveals durable project truth beyond this change, append a one-line evidence-cited fact to .agent/wiki/LEARNINGS.md per .agent/.automaton/references/ARTIFACT-LIFECYCLE.md (Learned Truth).
Output
- Inline verification report;
PLAN.md annotated with VERIFY-GAP blocks on failure, or closed with a durable ## Verification section on pass
- State recorded in
current.json through sync-status.mjs: stage: verify when verification starts, stage: verified on pass, stage: execute on fail, or stage: plan on a repeated fail of the same criterion
.agent/steering/ROADMAP.md phase marked done on pass when applicable- Warning-level findings surface to the verification report.
- PASS closeout: report
Change status: complete and New objective: use auto-office-hours; no Next: line
- FAIL closeout: Next: auto-execute, gap-fix re-enters code. A repeated failure of the same criterion escalates to Next: auto-plan instead.
Rules
- Fresh evidence only. Do not rely on execution-session memory or prior verification results.
- Binary evaluation. Partial evidence is FAIL for the plan.
- Verify the full plan: all slices, all criteria. Derive missing commands from acceptance criteria and document them.
- Verify what the plan requires; flag an unmentioned common gap (input validation, concurrency, security, etc.) only when obviously critical to the change.
- No git writes. The GATE above owns this contract with
.agent/.automaton/references/ARTIFACT-LIFECYCLE.md (Git Rhythm), including how markdown leftovers are swept on FAIL or closed on PASS.
- Do not print a long pass transcript. Expand only failures, skipped checks, derived commands, or user-requested detail.
