verification-protocol

Verification Protocol - Elimination of Self-Attestation

Purpose

The Problem: Agents were verifying their own work and always returning success: true by default.

The Solution: Independent verification by a DIFFERENT agent that does NOT trust the original agent's claims.

The Rule: verified=true ONLY when EVIDENCE proves all completion criteria are met.

---

Core Principle

NEVER verify your own work.
ALWAYS verify with independent evidence.
ASSUME claims are false until proven true.
Block completion without proof.

---

Verification Protocol

Step 1: Task Completion Claim

Agent claims task is complete and provides:

{
  "task_id": "task-123",
  "claimed_outputs": ["/path/to/file.ts", "/path/to/test.ts"],
  "completion_criteria": [
    "file_exists:/path/to/file.ts",
    "no_placeholders:/path/to/file.ts",
    "typescript_compiles:/path/to/file.ts",
    "lint_passes:/path/to/file.ts",
    "tests_pass:/path/to/test.ts"
  ]
}

Step 2: Independent Verification Requested

Orchestrator sends to Independent Verifier Agent (different agent).

Step 3: Verification Execution

Independent Verifier checks EVERY criterion with actual evidence:

file_exists → fs.stat(path) && size > 0
  Proof: /path/to/file.ts, 1,247 bytes, modified 2025-12-02T14:30:00Z

no_placeholders → Scan for TODO, TBD, FIXME, [INSERT]
  Proof: 0 placeholders found

typescript_compiles → npx tsc --noEmit [file]
  Proof: Compilation successful, 0 errors

lint_passes → npx eslint [file]
  Proof: 0 linting errors

tests_pass → npm test -- [file]
  Proof: 15 tests passed, 0 failed

Step 4: Verification Result Returned

{
  "verified": true,
  "evidence": [
    {
      "criterion": "file_exists:/path/to/file.ts",
      "method": "fs.stat(path) && size > 0",
      "result": "pass",
      "proof": "File: /path/to/file.ts, Size: 1247 bytes"
    },
    // ... more evidence ...
  ],
  "failures": [],
  "verifier_agent_id": "independent-verifier-1",
  "timestamp": "2025-12-02T14:30:00Z"
}

Step 5: Task Status Updated

• verified=true → Task marked COMPLETE, evidence logged
• verified=false → Task returned to agent with failure list
  • Agent has 3 attempts to fix and re-submit
  • After 3 failures → ESCALATE TO HUMAN REVIEW

---

Verification Methods

File Verification

Method: fs.existsSync(path) && fs.statSync(path).size > 0 Evidence: File path, size in bytes, last modified timestamp Failure Triggers:

• File does not exist
• File is empty (0 bytes)
• File not accessible (permission error)

Placeholder Detection

Method: Regex scan for TODO, TBD, FIXME, [INSERT], [IMPLEMENT] Evidence: Count and line numbers of placeholders found Failure Triggers:

• ANY placeholder found (not "looks complete enough")
• Incomplete implementation markers remain

TypeScript Compilation

Method: npx tsc --noEmit [file] Evidence: Compiler output, error count, error details Failure Triggers:

• Compilation errors (any type mismatches, missing imports)
• Type checking failures

Linting

Method: npx eslint [file] --format json Evidence: Lint output, error/warning counts Failure Triggers:

• ESLint errors (not warnings)
• Code style violations

Test Execution

Method: npm test -- [file] --run Evidence: Test output, pass/fail counts, coverage Failure Triggers:

• Tests did not pass
• Test file does not exist
• Fewer tests than expected

API Endpoint Verification

Method: HTTP request to endpoint, check status code and response shape Evidence: Status code, response time, response body sample Failure Triggers:

• HTTP 404, 500, or timeout
• Unexpected response format

---

Evidence Requirements

Every verification must produce EVIDENCE

Criterion	Evidence Type	Example
file_exists	File path, size, timestamp	/src/lib/file.ts, 2,541 bytes, 2025-12-02 14:30:00
no_placeholders	Scan results	0 placeholders found or Found 2: Line 15, Line 42
compiles	Compiler output	0 TypeScript errors
lint_passes	Linter output	0 errors, 2 warnings
tests_pass	Test results	15 passed, 0 failed
endpoint_responds	Status code + response	Status 200, response time 45ms

---

Prohibited Patterns

❌ SELF-ATTESTATION

// WRONG - Agent grades its own homework
return { verified: true, message: "I completed it" };

❌ ASSUMED SUCCESS

// WRONG - Doesn't actually check
if (claimedFile) {
  return { verified: true }; // No evidence!
}

❌ SKIPPED CHECKS

// WRONG - "This check is slow, skip it for now"
if (criterion === 'tests_pass') {
  return { verified: true }; // NEVER skip checks
}

❌ LOOSE VERIFICATION

// WRONG - "Looks about right"
if (output.includes('success')) {
  return { verified: true }; // No proof!
}

✅ GOOD VERIFICATION

// RIGHT - Actual evidence collected
const result = await fs.stat(filePath);
if (result.size > 0) {
  return {
    verified: true,
    evidence: [{
      criterion: 'file_exists',
      proof: `File size: ${result.size} bytes`
    }]
  };
}

---

Failure Handling

When Verification Fails

Agent receives detailed failure report:

{
  "verified": false,
  "failures": [
    {
      "criterion": "tests_pass:/tests/unit/feature.test.ts",
      "reason": "Test execution failed",
      "proof": "Expected 10 tests to pass, 3 failed"
    }
  ],
  "retry_count": 1,
  "max_retries": 3
}

Agent Must Fix Issues

1. Read the failure details
2. Fix the underlying problem (not the verification)
3. Re-submit for verification
4. Repeat up to 3 times

After 3 Failures

Task escalates to human review:

{
  "status": "escalated_to_human",
  "reason": "Failed verification 3 times",
  "failures_history": [...]
}

---

Examples

Good Example: Complete File Verification

Task: Agent claims file was created and is ready for deployment

Evidence Collected:

✓ file_exists:/src/lib/agents/new-agent.ts
  Size: 3,847 bytes, Created: 2025-12-02 14:30:00

✓ no_placeholders:/src/lib/agents/new-agent.ts
  Scan found 0 TODO/TBD/FIXME markers

✓ typescript_compiles:/src/lib/agents/new-agent.ts
  tsc --noEmit completed successfully

✓ lint_passes:/src/lib/agents/new-agent.ts
  eslint: 0 errors, 0 warnings

✓ tests_pass:/tests/new-agent.test.ts
  npm test: 12 passed, 0 failed

Result: verified: true ✓ All evidence confirms completion

---

Bad Example: Incomplete File Verification

Task: Agent claims feature is complete

Evidence Collected:

✗ file_exists:/src/lib/features/new-feature.ts
  File not found: ENOENT: no such file or directory

✗ tests_pass:/tests/features/new-feature.test.ts
  Test file not found: ENOENT: no such file or directory

✗ typescript_compiles:/src/lib/features/incomplete.ts
  Compilation failed: Missing return type (line 42)

Result: verified: false ✗ Multiple criteria failed, agent must fix

---

Implementation in Your Code

Import and Use Independent Verifier

import { independentVerifier } from '@/lib/agents/independent-verifier';

// DO NOT return success directly
// DO call Independent Verifier
const result = await independentVerifier.verify({
  task_id: 'my-task-123',
  claimed_outputs: ['/path/to/file.ts'],
  completion_criteria: [
    'file_exists:/path/to/file.ts',
    'no_placeholders:/path/to/file.ts',
    'typescript_compiles:/path/to/file.ts'
  ],
  requesting_agent_id: this.agent_id
});

// Return the verification result (not your own assessment)
return result;

In Orchestrator

// Before marking task complete:
const verification = await independentVerifier.verify({
  task_id: task.id,
  claimed_outputs: task.outputs,
  completion_criteria: task.criteria,
  requesting_agent_id: task.agent_id
});

if (!verification.verified) {
  // Return task to agent for fixes
  task.status = 'verification_failed';
  task.failures = verification.failures;
  task.retry_count++;

  if (task.retry_count >= 3) {
    task.status = 'escalated_to_human';
  }
  return;
}

// Only mark complete with verification proof
task.status = 'complete';
task.verification = verification;

---

Health Endpoints for Verification

Endpoint: GET /api/health Status: ✓ Working Use: Basic system health check

Endpoint: GET /api/health/deep Status: ✓ Working Use: Comprehensive dependency checks

Endpoint: GET /api/health/routes Status: ✓ Working Use: Verify all API routes are accessible

All health endpoints return verifiable evidence of system state.

---

Success Metrics

After implementing Verification Protocol:

Metric	Before	After
Tasks verified without evidence	100%	0%
False completions accepted	Unknown	0%
Completion claims with evidence	0%	100%
Automatic escalation to human	N/A	Happens after 3 failures
Audit trail completeness	Partial	Full with evidence

---

Key Rules

1. NEVER verify your own work
2. ALWAYS use Independent Verifier
3. ALWAYS provide EVIDENCE
4. NEVER assume success
5. BLOCK completion without proof
6. ESCALATE after 3 failures

---

Status: Production Ready (v1.0.0) Last Updated: 2025-12-02 Critical: Yes - Blocks all task completions without proof