Verification

Verification loops

A verification loop does not just generate more output. It checks evidence, repairs, and stops only when the evidence passes or the approval boundary is reached.

Abstract maker-checker verification loop with magnifier and evidence signals

Verification types

Verifier	What it proves
Tests	Behavior still works after the change.
Source checks	Claims match source material.
Diff review	The changed files are scoped and intentional.
Browser checks	The user-visible flow works in a real page.
Screenshots	Visual output matches the intended state.
Human approval	The loop has hit a public, reputational, legal, financial, or account boundary.

Deterministic vs judgment loops

Loop type	Good for	Risk
Deterministic loop	Tests, page speed, lint, broken links, source checks	Safest because the verifier is external and measurable.
LLM-as-judge loop	Architecture cleanup, docs quality, product review	Useful but squishier; needs a narrow rubric and budget.
Human-gated loop	Publishing, sending, deleting, production changes	Slower, but safest for reputation, accounts, money, and legal risk.

Details

Relevant loops

Loop	Category	Difficulty	Cadence	Verification
Pre-Publish Source Check	Content	Intermediate	Before publishing factual work	Every checkable claim is supported by a current source or visibly flagged for an editor.
Social Source to Insight	Content	Intermediate	After saving a high-signal source	Source captured, takeaways extracted, draft angles written, and no public post is published without approval.
Accessibility Repair	Design	Advanced	Before launch or when audits fail	No confirmed accessibility blocker remains in the agreed pages, components, or tasks.
Error Message Rewrite	Design	Intermediate	When users hit confusing errors	Every in-scope user-visible error is accounted for, rewritten or blocked, and verified in a reachable state.
Architecture Rubric Refactor	Engineering	Advanced	When architecture work has a defined scope	Scoped module meets the written rubric, tests pass, and unresolved objections are explicit.
CI Optimization	Engineering	Advanced	Monthly or when CI is painful	CI p50/p95 improves against the same workflow without weakening tests or hiding failures.
Claude Code Repo Readiness	Engineering	Beginner	Before major agent work	Repo has agent instructions, documented commands, architecture notes, risk areas, and a docs/loops scaffold.
Cold Load Trim	Engineering	Advanced	When first visit feels heavy	Initial screen downloads fewer bytes while screenshots and behavior remain unchanged.
Fresh Clone Onboarding	Engineering	Intermediate	Before onboarding	A clean machine reaches the documented ready state using only the README.
Project Docs Freshness	Engineering	Beginner	Nightly or after meaningful code changes	Changed behavior, APIs, CLI commands, config, and workflows are reflected in docs. Docs checks pass.
Test Flake Stabilizer	Engineering	Intermediate	When tests are inconsistent	The repaired test and full suite pass for the required consecutive-run streak.
Test and Logging Coverage	Engineering	Intermediate	Weekly or before release	Critical flows have useful tests and structured logs for representative success and failure paths.
Adversarial PR Review	Evaluation	Advanced	For meaningful PRs	An independent critic approves the unchanged version or only accepted findings remain.
Browser Quality Streak	Evaluation	Intermediate	Before release	N realistic scenarios pass consecutively, and earlier failures have regression coverage.
Open Loop and Stale Memory Cleanup	Knowledge	Beginner	Weekly	No current open loop is contradicted by recent daily or project notes.
Research to Artifact	Knowledge	Intermediate	Whenever research must support a decision	The artifact meets acceptance criteria, traces important claims to sources, and states uncertainty plainly.
Source Library Ingestion QA	Knowledge	Intermediate	After each source capture	Metadata complete, transcript/article state honest, useful takeaways present, and qmd retrieval verified or refreshed.
Living Story	Operations	Intermediate	Weekly or per project window	Every prior thread is carried forward, closed with evidence, or flagged stale/needs-review.
Production Error Sweep	Operations	Advanced	Daily or after incident	Actionable errors are fixed with reproduction or tests, or explicitly classified as noise.
Dependency CVE Burndown	Security	Advanced	After security scan	No exploitable high or critical CVE remains without an explicit risk decision.