tastecheck-pass

name	tastecheck-pass
description	Use when final frontend work needs an evidence-backed ship or hold decision, a fail-closed release gate, or an actionable cross-skill verification report.

TasteCheck Pass

Give finished frontend work an honest SHIP or HOLD decision. Run the checks on the real artifact, put the verdict first, and turn every failure into a concrete next action. Files, intentions, and checkmarks are not execution evidence.

The answer the user sees

Lead with this compact release brief:

# HOLD — 2 blockers
What passed: <one-line scope>
Ship blockers: TC-04 keyboard trap; TC-11 dark-theme contrast
Fastest path: fix TC-04 → rerun keyboard path → fix TC-11 → remeasure pair
Evidence: <ledger/report links>

Use SHIP only when every applicable row passes. Use HOLD when a required check fails, could not run, lacks a real artifact, or lacks evidence. Never make the user infer the verdict from a table.

Evidence table

Create one authoritative row per applicable check: skill, check_id, status, reason, remediation, evidence, and provenance. n/a means the named subject is absent; it never means “not tested.” Keep measurements and skip reasons in this table. The release brief links to the rows instead of paraphrasing them into softer claims.

What to check, in order

1. Direction: design-system-interview (new) or improve-existing-website (existing).
2. Foundations: color-system, web-typography, spacing-system, theming.
3. Structure/behavior: responsive-layout; component-states, form-ux, empty-states.
4. Surface: micro-motion, data-viz, art-direction where subject exists.
5. Verification/audit: a11y-pass, cognitive-a11y, i18n-ready if multilingual, deslop-ui against spec, and humanize-copy; then this gate.

Only absent subjects skip. Direction, foundations, structure, accessibility, and the against-spec deslop-ui audit are required.

Run the gate

1. Confirm DESIGN-SYSTEM.md or approved inferred-system statement and built-to-spec status; otherwise fail and return to direction.
2. Run each relevant self-check on the real rendered artifact; record pass/fail/named n/a.
3. Test browser rendering, 320px/400% zoom, keyboard, theme contrast, reduced motion, and a cold load. On the cold load run assets/gate-audit.js, attach its output, and inspect shadow roots/iframes manually. Automation supports the browser pass; it does not replace it.
4. Audit phrase, tokens, refusals, and signature across surface/structure/verbal planes; default template skeleton is a fail.
5. Fix failed rows and rerun them. Pass only when every non-n/a row passes.

Turn failures into a release path

For every blocking ID, provide:

• the owner and concrete repair;
• the rerun or artifact that will produce fresh evidence;
• the measurable acceptance rule;
• any predecessor blocking that work.

Keep separate facts in separate rows: contrast, cold-load behavior, structure, keyboard, and unsupported n/a are not one finding. New evidence replaces the affected row and reruns the verdict. An ETA never changes HOLD to SHIP.

Gate self-check

Add three final evidence rows confirming: the real artifact and spec were used; required browser/numeric checks actually ran; and every blocker has an owner, repair, rerun, and acceptance rule. Then deliver the release brief first and the evidence table second.

Contract (generated)

Canonical detail: contract.json.

• Route: A finished frontend artifact needs an evidence-backed ship decision. (+1 in contract.json); avoid: The artifact is still at the direction or implementation stage. (+1 in contract.json)
• Exclude: Never infer execution from a file existing or a claimed checkmark. (+2 in contract.json)
• Stop / handoff: Fail when the required spec is absent or the artifact was not built to it. (+2 in contract.json); receives [a11y-pass, cognitive-a11y, i18n-ready, deslop-ui, humanize-copy, art-direction, component-states, data-viz, empty-states, form-ux, micro-motion] -> sends [none]
• Output: fail-closed evidence ledger with a deterministic verdict and actionable gate report
• Evidence: ledger_with_verdict with status, reason, remediation, evidence, provenance.