* feat(verify-phase): honest verifier — abstain (insufficient_spec) on non-inferable backstop truths (#1154) Carry the edge-probe's existing `backstop` (non-inferable) tier through the plan-phase projection as a structured flat-scalar marker instead of a prose parenthetical, and make verify-phase abstain -> human_needed (never silent-pass) on a backstop truth it cannot confirm with explicit evidence. Truth-axis mirror of #644's prohibition judgment-tier (ADR-550 D4). Engine (deterministic, CI-tested per ADR-550 D5 — never the LLM verdict): - src/probe-core.cts: truthStatement/truthVerification normalizers, projectTruths (conservative serializer), dispositionForUnverifiableTruth (backstop+no-evidence -> unverified/flagged/insufficient_spec; backstop+evidence -> green; inferable -> green, the over-abstention guard). - src/roadmap.cts: coerceTruthToString now reads `statement` first so an object-form backstop truth is surfaced, not dropped (Hyrum backward-compat for truth-readers). Workflow/agent/docs: plan-phase emits the structured marker (flat scalar, ADR-550 #1278); verify-phase + gsd-verifier add the abstain arm; new references/honest-verifier.md; FEATURES/COMMANDS document insufficient_spec; ADR-550 amended (truth-axis D4 mirror). Decisions adopted (trek-e review): insufficient_spec feeds existing human_needed with a distinguishable reason (no new VERIFIER_STATUS); changeset Changed; round-trip parity test; abstain-on-unconfirmed-backstop regression test red-first. Implementation notes (deviations from the issue's proposed file list, verified live): - frontmatter.cts needs no change — its flat parser already round-trips object-form truths. - verify.cts needs no change — it grades artifacts/key_links structurally; truths are LLM-graded at the workflow layer, so consumption lives there + the deterministic helper. - No CJS<->SDK hand-sync — the SDK seam was retired (ADR-0174); src/*.cts is sole source. Regenerated artifacts: golden-install-parity fixtures, INVENTORY-MANIFEST, size baselines. * chore(#1154): add changeset (Changed) for honest verifier User-facing changelog fragment for #1738. Typed `Changed` (not `Added`) per trek-e review condition 3 — the verify behavior shifts for backstop-bearing specs (a confident silent `passed` becomes `human_needed`), which is user-visible even though the schema marker is additive. * docs(#1154): score-formula also excludes abstained insufficient_spec truths (review nit-1) trek-e review nit: the verify-phase score sentence said PRESENT_BEHAVIOR_UNVERIFIED truths were "the only ones excluded" from verified_truths. Post-#1154 an abstained `insufficient_spec` backstop truth is also excluded (it is not ✓ VERIFIED and routes to human_needed). Behavior was already correct; this tightens the wording. Regenerated golden-install-parity fixtures + workflow-size baseline for the touched verify-phase.md. (Nit-2 — a dedicated insufficient_spec_items frontmatter list — is intentionally not taken: the current design is ADR-550-D4-conformant, the abstain cause rides as a distinguishable report reason, and adding it would exceed the approved scope.) --------- Co-authored-by: Tom Boucher <trekkie@nomorestars.com>
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@@ -143,6 +143,22 @@ This ratifies the **deterministic SOURCE** for the test-tier `CheckDescriptor` t
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Net effect on D3: the prohibition-item shape is extended with three optional, backward-compatible flat-scalar keys that give the test-tier locate a deterministic spec-phase source; the contract's CI-testable surface (D5) gains the projection round-trip parity (CHK-03), the fail-closed guard (CHK-06), and the byte-stable backward-compat fixture (CHK-07). The decision also lives in `src/probe-core.cts` / `src/prohibition-enforcement.cts` comments, the `verify-phase.md` / `spec-phase.md` prose, and the #1278 changeset.
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## Addendum (2026-06-25, #1154) — honest verifier: the truth-axis disposition mirror of D4
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This records the **truth-axis half of Decision 4** that the original ADR deliberately scoped out. D3 left `truths` untouched (no `polarity` field — that is a prohibition concern), and the Lineage note parked the N17 abstention experiment as the verify-time half of the **prohibition** judgment-tier only. D7a, however, already gives the **edge** axis an orthogonal `verification` tier (`explicit | backstop`), and `plan-phase` already lifts a `backstop` edge into `must_haves.truths`. Until now that tier was flattened to a prose parenthetical at the projection, so the verifier had nothing structured to branch on and graded a `backstop` truth `passed` like any inferable one — confidently false-passing a non-inferable check ~100% of the time (the exact "verifier reach = spec reach" failure ADR-857 names). This addendum closes that gap by giving the `backstop` **truth** tier the same abstain-and-flag disposition D4 gave the prohibition `judgment` tier — **opposite polarity (must-HAVE under-specified vs must-NOT irreducible), same never-silent-pass machinery.** It cross-references **ADR-857** (the verifier↔predicate contract this rides is core, non-toggleable substrate, graded exogenously — `:65`); this completes the already-endorsed edge branch of that rail and adds no parallel mechanism.
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1. **The D3 truth-item shape gains an OPTIONAL flat-scalar `verification` marker.** A `must_haves.truths` item is normally a plain string (an inferable truth — today's shape, unchanged). A **non-inferable** truth MAY instead be an object item carrying `statement` + a flat scalar `verification: backstop`. The marker is additive and default-absent: a string truth, or an object with no marker, behaves byte-identically to today (Hyrum's Law backward-compat). This extends the **Decision 3 truth shape** the same way #1278 extended the prohibition shape — it does **not** add a `polarity` field (D3's "truths untouched" holds); `verification` is D7a's pre-existing orthogonal axis, now carried through to the truth projection.
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2. **Flat scalars — NOT a nested object (load-bearing, #1278 precedent).** The marker is a flat `verification:` continuation key on the truth item, never a nested object — the shared flat `parseMustHavesBlock` round-trips it with **no parser change** (the round-trip parity test is the proof; the untouched frontmatter suite confirms `truths`/`artifacts`/`key_links`/`prohibitions` readers stay regression-free).
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3. **Deterministic disposition + projection.** `projectTruths` (`src/probe-core.cts`) emits the flat-scalar marker ONLY for a `backstop` truth and collapses every inferable truth to a bare string (conservative serializer). `dispositionForUnverifiableTruth(truth, { evidence })` is the pure, fail-closed verdict: a `backstop` truth with no **explicit evidence** (a passing wired held-out/property-based test, or a directly-observed behavior) → `{ status: 'unverified', flagged: true, reason: 'insufficient_spec' }`, **never green**; with evidence → green; any non-`backstop` truth → green (the over-abstention guard). No LLM judgment is tested (D5) — the helper owns routing once evidence-existence is known; the LLM verifier's only job is to decide whether explicit evidence exists.
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4. **`insufficient_spec` feeds the EXISTING `human_needed` outcome — no new verifier status (maintainer Decision 1).** Abstention reuses the locked 3-value `VERIFIER_STATUSES` (`['passed','gaps_found','human_needed']`, `src/verification.cts`) with **zero change** and no new downstream routing in `ship`/`execute-phase`. The abstain cause rides as a **distinguishable report reason** (`human_needed` + `reason: insufficient_spec`) so it is never conflated with an ordinary manual-UAT `human_needed` — asserted in a test (review condition-1 caveat). *Interactive:* the item routes to the end-of-phase human checkpoint. *Autonomous (AFK):* a prominent `unverified — held-out test recommended` flag; completion reads "complete with N unverified non-inferable checks" — never a silent pass, never a hard halt (the D4 guarantee, now on the truth axis).
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5. **Two measured properties define the design (maintainer Decision 2; caveats to record).** *Exogenous, not endogenous:* abstention is triggered by the external `backstop` tag, never a self-judged "abstain if unsure" — endogenous abstention was measured near-useless on true blind spots (100% → 67% vs exogenous 100% → 17%; N17). *Routing, not diagnosis:* the verdict does not name the omitted rule (the held-out test carries it). **Evidence honesty:** N17 is n=27, 1 rep — **direction-finding, not powered**; the effect is large and monotone but real-world precision depends on the edge-probe's *true* `backstop` recall/precision (the experiment modeled a perfect tagger), which is why the over-abstention guard and the capable-tier requirement are load-bearing acceptance criteria. **Model-tier coupling:** abstention is reliable on the default `gsd-verifier` tier (`sonnet`+); the budget tier (`haiku`) heeds the tag only inconsistently and degrades toward current behavior — captured as a documented cost (and a test) so a tier regression is caught, not discovered in production.
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Net effect: the truth-axis `backstop` tier gains the verify-time disposition D4 gave the prohibition judgment tier; the contract's CI-testable surface (D5) gains the truth-axis projection round-trip parity and the abstain-on-unconfirmed-backstop regression. The decision also lives in `src/probe-core.cts` comments, `gsd-core/references/honest-verifier.md`, the `plan-phase.md` / `verify-phase.md` / `agents/gsd-verifier.md` prose, and the #1154 changeset.
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## Addendum (2026-06-22) — Alternatives considered (recall / representation / packaging side)
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This consolidates the spec-phase-side rejected and deferred alternatives for the probe family,
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