source-verification

name	source-verification
description	Use when a research project must verify sources, URLs, quotes, statistics, claim-source links, archive snapshots, registry completeness, and release readiness after source evaluation and before synthesis or publication.
metadata	{"portable":true,"compatible_with":["claude-code","codex"]}

Source Verification

Verification inputs

Input	Source/provider	If absent
Claim-source registry with URLs, quotes, statistics, and citations	Research project	Stop verification and report the missing registry.
Source access and archive/provider tools	Source providers	Mark unreachable checks unassessed and seek an authorised alternative.

Capability Contract

Verification defaults to read-only. Network access may inspect sources when authorised; archive writes, source contact, registry edits, or publication require explicit authority.

Degraded Mode

If a URL, archive, provider, or tool is unavailable, report the claim as unverified with the attempted check. Never convert inaccessibility into confirmation.

Decision Rules

Finding	Action	Failure/risk avoided
Quote or number differs from source	Reject or correct with provenance	Misquotation
URL resolves but does not support claim	Reject claim-source link	Citation laundering
Source unavailable and no archive exists	Mark unresolved	False verification

Preliminary Verification Corrections

• Checking URL status only. Fix: verify claim support.
• Paraphrasing during quote verification. Fix: compare exact text.
• Accepting a secondary citation when primary is available. Fix: trace origin.
• Treating archive absence as falsity. Fix: mark unresolved.
• Editing evidence during read-only review. Fix: separate remediation.

Worked Example

For a quoted statistic, open the cited source, confirm definition, period, unit, and exact value, record the supporting location, and reject the citation if any material element differs.

Semantic claim-support boundary

Every release-bound claim should carry a support_review record with state set to supported, unsupported, synthesis, inference, or no-source, plus a reviewer, basis, and parseable review date. source_ids must be an explicit list: use [] only with no-source, and use at least one known source ID for every other state. The verifier rejects malformed state/source combinations and non-list manifest collections. It does not decide whether the wording is semantically supported. Every support state remains non-certifying; metadata cannot promote an unsupported, no-source, or inference claim to release-ready. Use tests/fixtures/claim-support-review.json and its deterministic tests as the contract fixture.

Use When

• Use after research waves and before synthesis, drafting, export, or release.
• Use when checking quotes, statistics, URLs, source registries, claim registries, archive links, and citation drift.
• Use when a sub-agent output contains sourced material that must be accepted, rejected, or quarantined.

Do Not Use When

• The task is initial source quality assessment; use source-evaluation first.
• The output contains no source-backed claims.

Required Inputs

Input	Source/provider	If absent
Source, claim, quote, synthesis registries, and draft output	Research project	Stop verification and report the missing registry
Source files, URLs, document locators, and access dates	Source providers	Mark checks unassessed
Source-evaluation notes, credibility tiers, and verification trails	Source-evaluation skill	Narrow the verification claim

Workflow

1. Validate registry shape: roots, required fields, allowed values, and no placeholder values.
2. Check source liveness and archive references.
3. Verify quotes against cited locators.
4. Spot-check statistics and numeric claims against source text.
5. Confirm every claim has a correctly shaped source-ID list, references valid source IDs, and carries an explicit semantic support-review state.
6. Confirm every synthesis references valid claim IDs.
7. Quarantine unverified claims and log failures.
8. Produce a verification manifest for release.
9. Stop release when material support is missing or unresolved.
10. Recover through an authorised archive or mark the claim unassessed; never convert inaccessibility into confirmation.

Tooling

Use the unified verifier when a project has a machine-readable source manifest:

python tools\verification\source_verifier.py projects\<project-id>\_registry\verification-manifest.yaml --out projects\<project-id>\_registry\verification-report.md

Use the citation-density dashboard on any Markdown draft before release:

python tools\reports\citation_density_dashboard.py projects\<project-id>\05-output\<output-family>\draft.md --manifest projects\<project-id>\_registry\verification-manifest.yaml --out projects\<project-id>\_registry\citation-density.md

Both tools return a non-zero exit code when release readiness fails.

Quality Standards

• Verification is independent of the agent that collected the source.
• Numeric claims and direct quotes are checked at point of claim.
• Dead URLs are replaced, archived, or removed.
• Claims with missing source links do not ship.

Anti-Patterns

• Treating a bibliography as verification. Fix: check claim support at the cited locator.
• Checking only that a URL exists, not that it supports the claim. Fix: verify content and scope.
• Accepting a quote without locator or exact-match check. Fix: compare the exact source text.
• Allowing imported legacy sources to appear release-ready without audit. Fix: classify freshness and uncertainty.
• Editing evidence during review. Fix: separate remediation from the read-only verification record.

Outputs

Artifact	Consumer	Acceptance condition
Verification manifest, rejected-claim log, quote/stat spot-check notes, and registry repair list	Researcher and release gate	Every claim is verified, rejected, or explicitly unassessed with attempted checks

Evidence Produced

Category	Artifact	Format	Example
Correctness	Verification manifest	Markdown/YAML	Source, claim, quote, and synthesis checks
Release evidence	Quarantine log	Markdown table	Claim ID, reason, action, reviewer

References

• Load references/verification-routine.md for the verification checklist and manifest.
• Load references/research-product-audit.md before release of a research product.

Companion Skills

• source-evaluation defines source credibility.
• evidence-claim-graph defines claim-source relationships.
• agentic-research-operations uses this skill for merge/reject decisions.
• docs/quality-gates/release-blocking-gates.md defines ship/no-ship criteria.

Freshness, uncertainty, and product audit

Verification must check not only whether a source is reachable, but whether it is complete enough, current enough, and context-matched for the exact claim. Record publication/revision/access dates, locator, source status, and uncertainty. Historical, early-release, inaccessible, or corrupted material must remain visibly qualified. Before release, run references/research-product-audit.md; its raw score is shown but the published audit is capped at 65/100, and every remediation plan targets 95/100 with acceptance evidence.

After each verification wave, capture one process defect or waste category, define a reversible hypothesis, compare the same verification measures, and standardise only a demonstrated improvement. Do not edit source evidence during the audit; change claim status or the process in a separate remediation step.

Extended verification workflow

1. Confirm the claim-source registry and accessible evidence; stop if the registry is absent.
2. Verify URL identity, source content, quotations, definitions, periods, units, and claim support.
3. Record exact supporting locations and contradictions.
4. Reject fabricated, mismatched, or unsupported links.
5. Recover from unavailable sources through authorised archives or mark the claim unassessed.

Extended verification outputs

Artifact	Consumer	Acceptance condition
Verification manifest	Researcher and release gate	Every claim is verified, rejected, or explicitly unassessed with attempted checks.

Extended verification anti-patterns

• Checking status only. Fix: verify support.
• Paraphrasing a quote. Fix: compare exact text.
• Stopping at secondary citation. Fix: trace origin.
• Treating archive absence as falsity. Fix: mark unresolved.
• Editing evidence in review. Fix: separate remediation.