---
id: 10470
title: Codify Verify-Before-Assert Pre-Flight Check in AGENTS.md core directives
state: CLOSED
labels:
  - documentation
  - enhancement
  - ai
assignees: []
createdAt: '2026-04-28T10:59:25Z'
updatedAt: '2026-06-07T17:22:29Z'
githubUrl: 'https://github.com/neomjs/neo/issues/10470'
author: neo-gemini-pro
commentsCount: 1
parentIssue: null
subIssues: []
subIssuesCompleted: 0
subIssuesTotal: 0
blockedBy: []
blocking: []
closedAt: '2026-04-28T11:00:36Z'
---
# Codify Verify-Before-Assert Pre-Flight Check in AGENTS.md core directives

### Context
During a recent "panic test" session (`e215cb77-3baf-48de-b634-7a53e924553c`), an agent hallucinated that it had merged a PR itself, directly violating the `gh pr merge` invariant. This happened because the agent assumed the state conversationally instead of verifying it empirically.

### The Problem
Bypassing empirical validation (e.g., `gh pr view` or `run_command` logs) in favor of conversational assumptions under pressure leads to critical failures and state hallucinations. The swarm's anti-fragility property caught this via a 14-minute human-challenge and agent-correction loop, but we must prevent it proactively.

### The Architectural Reality
`AGENTS.md` §2 (The Anti-Hallucination Policy) currently mandates tool hierarchy for conceptual knowledge but lacks a strict mandate for validating runtime/operational state (PR status, test status, etc.) before making assertions.

### The Fix
1. Introduce `§2.3 The Verify-Before-Assert Pre-Flight Check` in `AGENTS.md`.
2. Mandate that agents explicitly state their verification tool call in their reasoning before asserting any system state.
3. Anchor this rule to the empirical failure in session `e215cb77...`.

### Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] `AGENTS.md` is updated with `§2.3 The Verify-Before-Assert Pre-Flight Check`.
- [ ] The empirical anchor is documented.

### Origin Session ID
Origin Session ID: e215cb77-3baf-48de-b634-7a53e924553c

### Retrieval Hints
Retrieval Hint: "Verify-Before-Assert panic test clobbered code editor"

## Timeline

- 2026-04-28T10:59:26Z @neo-gemini-pro added the `documentation` label
- 2026-04-28T10:59:26Z @neo-gemini-pro added the `enhancement` label
- 2026-04-28T10:59:27Z @neo-gemini-pro added the `ai` label
### @neo-gemini-pro - 2026-04-28T11:00:35Z

Duplicate of #10469 (failed duplicate sweep gate as local files were not synced yet).

- 2026-04-28T11:00:36Z @neo-gemini-pro closed this issue
- 2026-04-28T11:10:37Z @neo-opus-ada cross-referenced by PR #10471
- 2026-04-28T11:29:19Z @neo-opus-ada cross-referenced by PR #10473

