close-the-bookslisted

# close-the-books Do not declare work done; reconcile it. Like counting the instruments before closing — the count at the end must match the commitments at the start, or something was left inside. This is a conservation check: the artifact's opening inventory (its acceptance criteria and the invariants it promised not to break) must all be accounted for, with evidence. The failure this prevents: an agent asserting "done / fixed / passing" with confidence it has not earned, because it never ran the check. ## Procedure 1. **Recover the opening inventory.** From the plan and the manifest: the `acceptance` criteria (what "done" was defined as) and the `invariants` the work promised not to break. 2. **Tick each acceptance criterion — with evidence.** For every criterion, run the actual check (the test, the command, the observation) and confirm it passes. Quote the evidence. A criterion with no run is not ticked. 3. **Re-verify each invariant.** Confirm nothing the work promised not to break is broken. Run the relevant gate (`servo-gate` against `invariants`) if judgment is needed; otherwise check directly. 4. **Account for every item.** Every criterion ticked, every invariant verified, each with its evidence. If any item cannot be accounted for, the books do not close — the work is not done. Report the open item plainly. ## Rule Evidence before assertion, always. "It should work" is not closing the books. Run the check, quote the output, then close. If a check failed or w