Verification Before Completion

Overview

Never declare victory without evidence. "It should work" is not verification.

Core principle: Verify it's actually fixed before claiming success.

The Iron Law

NO CLAIMING SUCCESS WITHOUT VERIFICATION

If you can't demonstrate the fix works, you haven't fixed it.

Verification Checklist

Before marking ANY task complete:

1. Tests Pass

# Run the specific tests for your changes
pytest tests/path/to/test.py -v

# Run the full test suite
pytest

# Verify no new warnings or errors in output

• • All relevant tests pass
• • No new test failures introduced
• • Output is clean (no warnings, deprecations)

2. Manual Verification

If the fix is user-visible:

• • Actually try the feature/fix
• • Test the exact scenario that was broken
• • Test edge cases related to the fix
• • Verify in the actual environment (not just tests)

3. Code Review Self-Check

• • Changes are minimal and focused
• • No unrelated modifications
• • Code follows project conventions
• • No debug code left behind

4. Integration Verification

For changes that affect multiple components:

• • Verify each component still works
• • Test the integration points
• • Check for cascading effects

Verification Anti-Patterns

DON'T:

• •Declare "should work now" without running tests
• •Skip manual verification for "simple" changes
• •Assume passing tests = complete verification
• •Mark complete before all checks pass

DO:

• •Run tests after every change
• •Manually verify user-visible changes
• •Check for side effects
• •Document verification steps taken

When to Stop and Re-Investigate

If during verification you discover:

• •New test failures
• •Unexpected behavior
• •Partial fix (some cases work, others don't)

STOP. Return to the debugging process. Don't patch on top of patches.

Verification Report Template

When completing a task, provide:

## Verification

**Tests:**
- Ran: `pytest tests/specific_test.py` - PASS
- Ran: `pytest` (full suite) - PASS (X tests, 0 failures)

**Manual Check:**
- Tested: [specific scenario]
- Result: [what happened]

**Side Effects:**
- Checked: [related functionality]
- Status: [working/not affected]

Real Examples

Good Verification

Fixed the login timeout issue.

Verification:
- pytest tests/auth/test_login.py - All 12 tests pass
- pytest (full suite) - 847 tests pass, 0 failures
- Manual test: Login with slow network simulation - succeeds
- Manual test: Login with invalid credentials - proper error shown
- Checked: Session management still works correctly

Bad Verification

Fixed the login timeout issue. Should work now.

Final Rule

Verified = demonstrated working with evidence
Otherwise = not verified, not complete

If you can't show the evidence, you haven't finished the task.