check

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Check: Review Before You Ship

Prefix your first line with 🥷 inline, not as its own paragraph.

Read the diff, find the problems, fix what can be fixed safely, ask about the rest. Done means verification ran in this session and passed.

Get the Diff

Get the full diff between the current branch and the base branch. If unclear, ask. If already on the base branch, ask which commits to review.

Scope

Measure the diff and classify depth:

Depth Criteria Reviewers

Quick Under 100 lines, 1-5 files Base review only

Standard 100-500 lines, or 6-10 files Base + conditional specialists

Deep 500+ lines, 10+ files, or touches auth/payments/data mutation Base + all specialists + adversarial pass

State the depth before proceeding.

Did We Build What Was Asked?

Before reading code, check scope drift: do the diff and the stated goal match? Label: on target / drift / incomplete.

Drift signals (any one is enough to label drift):

• A changed file has no connection to the stated goal

• The diff includes pure refactoring (renames, formatting, restructuring) when the goal was a bug fix or feature

• A new dependency appears that the goal did not mention

• Code unrelated to the goal was deleted or commented out

• A new abstraction or helper was introduced that is not required by the goal

Hard Stops (fix before merging)

• Destructive auto-execution: any task marked "safe" or "auto-run" that modifies user-visible state (history files, config, preferences, installed software) must require explicit confirmation.

• Release artifacts missing: verify every artifact listed in the release template exists as a local file and has been uploaded before declaring done.

• Unknown identifiers in diff: any function, variable, or type introduced in the diff that does not exist in the codebase is a hard stop. Grep before writing or approving any reference: grep -r "name" . -- no results outside the diff = does not exist.

• Injection and validation: SQL, command, path injection at system entry points. Credentials hardcoded or logged.

• Dependency changes: unexpected additions or version bumps in package.json, Cargo.toml, go.mod, requirements.txt. Flag any new dependency not obviously required by the diff.

Specialist Review (Standard and Deep only)

Load references/persona-catalog.md to determine which specialists activate. Launch all activated specialists in parallel via the environment's agent or sub-agent facility when available, passing the full diff. If no parallel reviewer facility exists, run the specialist passes sequentially in the same session.

Merge findings: when two specialists flag the same code location, keep the higher severity and note cross-reviewer agreement. Findings on different code locations are never duplicates even if they share a theme.

Autofix Routing

Class Definition Action

safe_auto Unambiguous, risk-free: typos, missing imports, style inconsistencies Apply immediately

gated_auto Likely correct but changes behavior: null checks, error handling additions Batch into one user confirmation block

manual Requires judgment: architecture, behavior changes, security tradeoffs Present in sign-off

advisory Informational only Note in sign-off

Apply all safe_auto fixes first. Batch all gated_auto into one confirmation block. Never ask separately about each one.

Adversarial Pass (Deep only)

"If I were trying to break this system through this specific diff, what would I exploit?" Four angles (see references/persona-catalog.md): assumption violation, composition failures, cascade construction, abuse cases. Suppress findings below 0.60 confidence.

GitHub Operations

Use gh CLI for all GitHub interactions, not MCP or raw API. Confirm CI passes before merging.

Verification

Run bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR:-$HOME/.agents/skills/check}/scripts/run-tests.sh" or the project's known verification command. Paste the full output.

If the script exits non-zero or prints (no test command detected): halt. Do not claim done. Ask the user for the verification command before proceeding. If the user also cannot provide one, document this explicitly in the sign-off as verification: none -- no command available and flag it as a structural gap, not a pass.

For bug fixes: a regression test that fails on the old code must exist before the fix is done.

If any of these phrases appear in your reasoning, stop and run verification first:

• "should work now" / "probably correct" / "seems to be working" / "trivial change"

Gotchas

What happened Rule

Commented on #249 when discussing #255 Run gh issue view N to confirm title before acting

PR comment sounded like a report 1-2 sentences, natural, like a colleague. Not structured, not AI-sounding.

PR comment used bullet points Write as paragraphs; thank the contributor first

article.en.md inside _posts_en/ doubled the suffix Check naming convention of existing files in the target directory first

Released with no artifacts attached Verify every artifact exists locally and is uploaded

"Trivial one-line fix" broke things If the urge to skip verification arises, run tests anyway

Deployed without env vars set Run vercel env ls before deploying; diff against local keys

Push failed from auth mismatch Run git remote -v before the first push in a new project

Sign-off

files changed:    N (+X -Y)
scope:            on target / drift: [what]
review depth:     quick / standard / deep
hard stops:       N found, N fixed, N deferred
specialists:      [security, architecture] or none
new tests:        N
verification:     [command] -> pass / fail

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