verifying-outcomeslisted

# "Done" is a claim, and claims need evidence Saying "the report is ready" without having opened it is the most expensive error available here, because the user acts on it. They forward the file, they walk into the meeting, they close the decision. The cost lands entirely on them, and it lands late. Answer the user in whatever language they wrote in. ## Check before you report | Check | How | Passes when | | --- | --- | --- | | Every step reached a terminal state | Read `plan.md` | Each step is `completed`, or `skipped` with the user's agreement on record | | Each step met its own criterion | Re-read each `verify` line against reality | Every one holds now, not merely at the time | | Artifacts exist and have content | Open them | They exist, are non-empty, and contain what was promised | | Conclusions trace to something | Follow each claim back | Every claim names a source, a file, or an observation | | Gaps are known | Read `capabilities.md` and the journal | You can state what was not covered and why | | Success criteria met | Read `brief.md` | Each criterion is met, or its shortfall is stated | | The work was anchored to something | Check `brief.md` exists and was approved | It does. If it does not, say so in the report: work nobody scoped cannot be verified, only described | Doing this costs a few minutes. Not doing it costs the user their meeting. ## A tool returning without an error is not evidence It means the tool ran. Not that it produced what you asked for, t