git:20260721.c7c4d3b to git:20260724.547aed2

17 added, 2 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: verification-methodology

- description: Verify work against explicit criteria using evidence, reproducible checks, and clear pass, conditional, or blocked verdicts. Use before declaring an artifact, implementation, or claim complete.

+ description: Verify work against explicit criteria using direct, source-faithful evidence, reproducible checks, and clear verdicts. Use before declaring an artifact, implementation, or claim complete; do not use for exploratory research without pass/fail criteria.

license: MIT

compatibility: No runtime dependency.

metadata:

source_repo: https://github.com/magnus919/hermes-profiles

source_commit: 867a555

---

# Verification Methodology

Pass/fail assessment against pre-defined criteria.

## The Verification Protocol

1. **Receive** — restate the artifact, claim, or implementation being verified and the decision it will support.

2. **Assess criteria** — convert requirements into observable pass/fail conditions; identify what would disprove each claim.

- 3. **Investigate** — collect direct, reproducible evidence and record commands, source locations, or source URLs. Own this collection when the source is accessible: do not ask the user to relay evidence you can retrieve yourself. Ask only for access you genuinely lack.

+ 3. **Investigate** — collect direct, reproducible evidence from the source named by the request and record commands, source locations, or source URLs. Own this collection when the source is accessible: do not ask the user to relay evidence you can retrieve yourself. Ask only for access you genuinely lack.

4. **Decide** — mark each criterion passed, failed, blocked, or not applicable. Do not convert missing evidence into a pass.

5. **Report** — use the verdict template to distinguish verified facts, assumptions, and remaining work.

Stop when every criterion has direct evidence or an explicit blocked/not-applicable verdict. Escalate when the criterion is ambiguous, evidence conflicts, or the required access is unavailable.

+ ## Source Fidelity

+ Treat the requested or configured local service as part of the verification criterion, not as an interchangeable topic label.

+ 1. Load the matching skill and use its documented executable or service path before adjacent integrations, generic web search, or public project sources.

+ 2. Use the path resolved by the skill itself. A missing global `PATH` entry does not prove that a bundled executable is unavailable.

+ 3. If the direct source fails, report the attempted command or endpoint and its exact failure. Do not silently substitute evidence from another source.

+ 4. Use a substitute only when the user requests broader context or explicitly accepts the fallback. Label substitute evidence as secondary and do not present it as the requested source's state.

+ Example: for “What’s new on Jellyfin?” in an environment with a configured Jellyfin skill and bundled CLI, query that server through the bundled CLI first. Home Assistant entities and public Jellyfin project activity answer different questions.

+ ## When not to use

+ Do not use this skill for open-ended exploration that has no artifact, claim, decision, or observable completion criterion. Use a research or discovery skill first, then return here when there is something falsifiable to verify.

## Reference Files

| Reference | When to load |

|-----------|-------------|

| `references/criteria-assessment.md` | You need to evaluate whether work meets completion criteria |

| `references/evidence-standards.md` | You need to judge whether evidence supports the claims made |

| `references/magnus919-refine-to-ship-gate.md` | You are running the Magnus919 Refine-to-Ship verifier gate — 12 criteria, editorial change verification, output structure |

| `references/verdict-template.md` | You need to produce a structured pass/fail/hold verdict |

## Magnus919 Refine-to-Ship Gate Criteria

12 criteria for the verifier profile. Each criterion maps to an observable, reproducible check.

### All 12 Criteria

| # | Criterion | How to Verify |

|---|-----------|---------------|

| 1 | **Dash scan** — zero em dash (U+2014), en dash (U+2013), horizontal bar (U+2015), or visible prose double-hyphen | `search_files` for `[\u2014\u2013\u2015]` and `\-\-`. Double-hyphens in YAML frontmatter delimiters are OK. |

| 2 | **Fact-check** — all methodology claims map to source; no fabricated numbers, chronology, or universal claims | Cross-reference article claims to source document sections. Search for `\d+%`, `percent`, `average of`, `illustrative`. Search for `research proves`, `studies demonstrate`. |

| 3 | **Voice-check** — Magnus fingerprint: conversational first-person, contractions, "But" pivots (not formal transitions), colons over semicolons, no consultant cadence | Search for `Furthermore`, `Moreover`, `Nevertheless`, `Consequently`, `Therefore`, `not only.*but also`, triplet parallelism. Count colons vs semicolons (should skew heavily toward colons). |

| 4 | **Oxford commas, spelling, grammar** — American English, Oxford commas in series, no spelling errors | Manual read of series. Check for consistent formatting. |

| 5 | **No formulaic AI closing** — zero "In conclusion", "To summarize", "In this article", generic motivational advice | `search_files` for `In conclusion`, `Ultimately,`, `To summarize`, `In this article`, `In this post`. |

| 6 | **Methodology-first** — personal frame ≤ ~10% of article; rest is methodology | Count paragraphs in frame vs body. |

| 7 | **Human stake integrated** — cognitive burden, expertise formation, transferred work, anti-surveillance, accountable authority | Verify dedicated section or dispersed coverage of all dimensions. |

| 8 | **Privacy/anonymization** — zero company identifiers, role titles, named people, source filename, proprietary domain examples | `search_files` for company name, product names, domain-specific terminology from source. |

| 9 | **Frontmatter** — title, slug, date, byline correct and value-identical to specification | `read_file` lines 1–11. |

| 10 | **Links resolve** — each distinct URL appears once at first meaningful mention; all return 200 | `curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}"` each URL. Verify link text is at first meaningful mention. |

| 11 | **Hugo build + routes** — build exit 0; new route returns 200; old take-home-title route returns 404 | `hugo --quiet && echo EXIT:$?`. `curl` both routes. |

| 12 | **No duplicate source bundle** — single directory, single `index.md`; no stale `*take-home*` directories | `ls` the page bundle directory. `find` in content/posts for duplicate slug patterns. |

### Parent-Requested Editorial Changes

When the parent profile specifies editorial changes during gate recovery, verify each one is present before proceeding with the full criteria scan:

| Change Type | Verification Method |

|-------------|-------------------|

| Fabricated illustrative numbers removed | `search_files` for `\d+%`, `percent`, `PRs? per`, `average of` → zero hits |

| Tense correction | `search_files` for the exact parent-specified phrase |

| Closing replacement | `search_files` for the first and last sentence of the parent-specified closing |

### Verdict Rules

- **PASS:** All 12 criteria met. Produce 00-index.md, 01-summary/verdict.md, 02-analysis/per-criteria-results.md.

- **BLOCK:** Any criterion fails. Produce gap-details.md with specific fix instructions. See `verifier-gate-recovery` skill for remediation patterns.

### Output Structure

```

/private/tmp/verifier-gate/<slug>-refine/

00-index.md — verdict, links to artifacts

01-summary/verdict.md — per-criterion pass/fail table

02-analysis/

per-criteria-results.md — detailed evidence per criterion

gap-details.md — only if BLOCK, with remediation instructions

```

## Portability

This skill is intentionally host-neutral. Use your agent's normal mechanisms to load the references, templates, and scripts listed here. Do not assume a particular profile system, task orchestrator, memory service, or response-handoff format.