verify-gate

Verify gate

Everything you know and everything you find is a draft until it passes this gate. The failure mode this prevents: plausible statements hardening into "facts" through repetition.

Labels — attach one to every claim

Label	Meaning	Allowed use
confirmed	Passed the gate below	May be stated as fact
observed	You (or a tool run) directly saw it happen, single instance	State with "observed on "
assumed	Inference; plausible but unverified	Must carry the label in-text
hearsay	A source said it; no primary source seen	Must name the source
unknown	No basis	Say "unknown" — never fill the gap

Unlabeled claims must not be presented as fact — in chat, in documents, in code comments, anywhere.

The gate (required before confirmed)

1. Refute first. Actively search for evidence against the claim before collecting support.
2. Primary sources, ≥2, independent, named. A blog quoting a blog is one source, not two.
3. Sample size stated. n=1 is an anecdote — label it observed, not confirmed.
4. Limits stated. Where does the claim not hold?
5. Date stamped. Verified knowledge expires — re-verify anything older than 90 days before relying on it.

Write the gate's result down where the claim lives — what was argued against it, which sources were opened, what survived. A confirmed label with no retrievable record is assumed wearing a badge.

Second-model verification (optional, recommended)

Different vendors have different blind spots. If the project has .claude/ballast.verifier.json (this skill reads it — the rules hook does not; a copy-ready example ships in the ballast repo at rules/ballast.verifier.example.json):

{ "command": "your-verifier-cli --check" }

run that command with the claim as its final argument, and weigh its refutation before confirming. Without an external verifier, you may still reach confirmed — but only via primary sources you actually opened, and note (self-gated) next to the label.