# Verifier test — cold-reader backlog audit

The fresh-reader smoke test from the PRD
[closure protocol](https://gitea.arcodange.lab/arcodange-org/factory/src/branch/main/vibe/PRD/ai-back-office/STATUS.md),
run standalone: a cold reader with only the two orientation documents must
reconstruct where the work stands. Used for verifier admission (erp#63).

## Inputs

| Document | Pinned source |
| --- | --- |
| `AGENTS.md` | the erp repo root, at the commit under test |
| `STATUS.md` | `vibe/PRD/ai-back-office/STATUS.md` from the **factory** repo, origin/main at run time |

The runtime gets both documents embedded in the prompt and **nothing else**.

## Prompt (verbatim)

> You are a cold reader auditing the Arcodange AI back-office backlog. Using ONLY
> the two documents below — no other knowledge, no tools — answer:
> 1. What shipped most recently?
> 2. What should be worked on next, and why that item?
> 3. What would you verify before trusting these documents, and in what order?

`bin/run-verifier.sh backlog <runtime> --status-file <path>` assembles this
prompt with both documents appended under `--- AGENTS.md ---` and
`--- STATUS.md ---` delimiters.

## Rubric

| Question | Substantively correct means |
| --- | --- |
| 1 — shipped | names the most recent ✅ item(s) the STATUS actually records (e.g. the fleet scaffold / latest merged PR in its ledger) — not an older phase, not an open issue |
| 2 — next | applies the resume protocol: top **unblocked** issue of the **earliest open milestone by due date**, and skips issues whose only open step is a `[HUMAN]` gate (surfaced, not stalled on) |
| 3 — trust | states the trust order live system > code/git log > STATUS > PRD leaves > memories (wording may vary; the direction must be right), and proposes checking Last Updated / verifying claims against the live repo |

## Pass rule

PASS = substantively correct on all three questions. Minor omissions that do not
invert the protocol (e.g. not listing every milestone) do not fail; inverting
the trust order, proposing a blocked/`[HUMAN]`-gated issue as "next" without
flagging the gate, or citing shipped work the documents do not support, fails.
Judged by an independent context-free judge — never by the session that produced
the run.