Validation Protocol

Output verification and compliance protocol

Validation Protocol

Version: 1.0.0 Type: Conditional Protocol Stage: IVTR - V (Validation) Max Active: 3 protocols (including base)

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Trigger Conditions

This protocol activates when the task involves:

Trigger	Keywords	Context
Verification	”validate”, “verify”, “check”, “audit”	Correctness checking
Quality	”quality”, “qa”, “review”	Quality assurance
Compliance	”compliance”, “conform”, “standard”	Standards adherence
Smoke Test	”smoke”, “sanity”, “basic test”	Initial verification

Explicit Override: --protocol validation flag on task creation.

Lifecycle Position: After Implementation (I), before Testing (T)

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Requirements (RFC 2119)

MUST

Requirement	Description
VALID-001	MUST verify implementation matches specification
VALID-002	MUST run existing test suite and report results
VALID-003	MUST check protocol compliance via lib/protocol-validation.sh
VALID-004	MUST document pass/fail status for each validation check
VALID-005	MUST write validation summary to manifest
VALID-006	MUST set agent_type: "validation" in manifest
VALID-007	MUST block progression if critical validations fail

SHOULD

Requirement	Description
VALID-010	SHOULD verify edge cases identified in specification
VALID-011	SHOULD check for regressions in related functionality
VALID-012	SHOULD validate error handling paths
VALID-013	SHOULD measure against acceptance criteria

MAY

Requirement	Description
VALID-020	MAY perform performance validation
VALID-021	MAY verify security constraints
VALID-022	MAY suggest additional test cases

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Validation Checklist

Code Validation

# 1. Syntax check
bash -n scripts/*.sh lib/*.sh

# 2. Protocol compliance
source lib/protocol-validation.sh
validate_implementation_protocol "$TASK_ID"

# 3. Run existing tests
bats tests/unit/*.bats
bats tests/integration/*.bats

Specification Compliance

Check	Command	Pass Criteria
Spec exists	ls docs/specs/*.md	File present
RFC 2119 keywords	`grep -E “MUST	SHOULD	MAY”`	Keywords present
Implementation matches	Manual review	All MUST satisfied

Exit Code Validation

Exit Code	Meaning	Action
0	All validations pass	Proceed to Testing
62	Specification mismatch	Fix implementation
64	Implementation protocol violation	Fix provenance
67	Generic protocol violation	Review and fix

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Output Format

Validation Report

# Validation Report: T####

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Validator**: agent-id
**Task**: T####
**Epic**: T####

## Summary

- **Status**: PASS | FAIL | PARTIAL
- **Checks Passed**: X/Y
- **Critical Issues**: N

## Detailed Results

| Check | Result | Notes |
|-------|--------|-------|
| Syntax | PASS | No errors |
| Tests | PASS | 48/48 pass |
| Protocol | PASS | Compliance 95% |

## Issues Found

1. [Issue description]
2. [Issue description]

## Recommendations

1. [Action item]

Manifest Entry

{
  "id": "T####-validation",
  "file": "T####-validation-report.md",
  "title": "Validation: [Feature Name]",
  "date": "YYYY-MM-DD",
  "status": "complete",
  "agent_type": "validation",
  "topics": ["validation", "qa"],
  "key_findings": [
    "RESULT: X/Y checks passed",
    "ISSUES: N found",
    "STATUS: PASS|FAIL"
  ],
  "actionable": true,
  "needs_followup": [],
  "linked_tasks": ["T####", "T####"]
}

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Integration Points

With Implementation Protocol

Implementation (I) ──► Validation (V)
                           │
                           ├── Run tests
                           ├── Check compliance
                           └── Verify spec match

With Testing Protocol

Validation (V) ──► Testing (T)
       │                │
       │                ├── Write new tests
       │                └── Full coverage
       │
       └── Identifies gaps for Testing to fill

With lib/protocol-validation.sh

The validation protocol uses these functions:

Function	Purpose	Exit Code
validate_implementation_protocol()	Check IMPL-* compliance	64
validate_specification_protocol()	Check SPEC-* compliance	62
validate_protocol()	Generic protocol check	67

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Enforcement

Via lib/protocol-validation.sh

source lib/protocol-validation.sh

# Validate a specific protocol
validate_implementation_protocol "$TASK_ID" "$MANIFEST_ENTRY" "true"

# Generic validation
validate_protocol "implementation" "$TASK_ID" "$DATA"

Exit Codes

Code	Constant	Description
62	EXIT_PROTOCOL_SPECIFICATION	Spec validation failed
64	EXIT_PROTOCOL_IMPLEMENTATION	Implementation validation failed
67	EXIT_PROTOCOL_GENERIC	Generic validation failed
68	EXIT_VALIDATION_INCOMPLETE	Validation not finished

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Cross-Cutting: Contribution Protocol

When validation involves multi-agent work:

1. Record validator identity in manifest
2. Attribute findings to validating agent
3. Track validation consensus if multiple validators

See: protocols/contribution.md for attribution requirements.

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References

• Specification: docs/specs/PROTOCOL-ENFORCEMENT-SPEC.md
• Implementation: lib/protocol-validation.sh
• Tests: tests/unit/protocol-validation.bats