speckit-evidence-audit

name	speckit-evidence-audit
description	Merge-gate audit: synthetic propagation + diff-scan. Hard-blocks on either.
compatibility	Requires spec-kit project structure with .specify/ directory
metadata	{"author":"github-spec-kit","source":"evidence:commands/speckit.evidence.audit.md"}

/speckit.evidence.audit

Produce a merge-readiness verdict for the current feature. Combines two signals:

1. Task graph (via speckit.graph.compute). Any [S] or [S*] task counts against merge-readiness.
2. Diff scan — greps git diff <base>...HEAD against the default pattern library in audit-patterns.yml. Block-severity hits count against merge-readiness. Advisory-severity hits print but do not block.

How to invoke

.specify/extensions/evidence/scripts/bash/run-audit.sh specs/<FEATURE_ID>

Optional flags:

• --base <ref> — override the feature-base ref (default: auto-detect main or master).
• --patterns <path> — override the default audit-patterns.yml.
• --accept-synthetic "justification" — record an explicit human override for remaining synthetic/blocking hits. Does NOT change the exit code. The audit still reports failure; the override is logged to readiness/synthetic-evidence.json so reviewers can see the decision.

When it runs

• Automatically as the after_implement hook declared in the evidence extension's extension.yml.
• Manually any time the user wants a readiness snapshot.

Exit codes

• 0 — PASS. No synthetic tasks, no blocking diff-scan hits.
• 2 — NEEDS-EVIDENCE. At least one blocking signal. (Still the exit code when --accept-synthetic is used.)
• 3 — graph compute failed (cycles, dangling refs). Fix the graph first.
• 4 — usage error.

Strictness model

The audit is configured block on both: any remaining [S] or [S*] AND any block-severity diff-scan hit are hard gates. The --accept-synthetic flag is the only way past; it requires written justification and is logged. Advisory-severity diff-scan hits are informational only (the synthetic-banner pattern is intentionally advisory — seeing SYNTHETIC: comments is proof that Principle IV disclosure is happening).

When you see NEEDS-EVIDENCE

Walk the report top to bottom:

1. Declared [S] tasks — can any be upgraded to [X] by swapping in real evidence? If yes, update the task, fix the code, re-run. If no, confirm the Synthetic-Evidence Inventory row is current.
2. Auto-propagated [S*] tasks — these clear automatically once their root-cause [S] upstreams clear. Check the root-cause list in readiness/task-graph.md.
3. Blocking diff-scan hits — each hit names a file, line, pattern id, and reason. Either fix the code (preferred) or, if genuinely a false positive, extend the whitelist in audit-patterns.yml with a targeted file_glob or line_regex.
4. If merging now is unavoidable (staged rollout, upstream dependency not ready), use --accept-synthetic "written reason". This is the documented escape hatch, not a bypass. The justification lives in readiness/synthetic-evidence.json and SHOULD be mirrored into the PR description.

Output

• specs/<FEATURE_ID>/readiness/task-graph.{json,md} — refreshed by the graph compute step.
• specs/<FEATURE_ID>/readiness/diff-scan-hits.json — structured diff findings (blocking + advisory).
• specs/<FEATURE_ID>/readiness/synthetic-evidence.json — written only when --accept-synthetic is used.