create-verification-skill

# Create a note

Create note lets a user save a titled note from the browser or CLI, cancel an unfinished draft, and confirm the saved note from a second user-facing view.

## Sub-features

- `create-open` opens a blank editor from each browser entry point.
- `create-save` persists a title and body.
- `create-cancel` discards an unfinished browser draft.
- `create-cli` creates the same note shape from the terminal.

## How to get to it (user POV)

- Choose the `New note` button in the browser toolbar.
- Press `n` in the browser while focus is outside an editable field.
- Run `notes create --title <title> --body <body>` in a terminal.

## Driving it with control-notes

Preconditions:

- Notes is healthy at `http://127.0.0.1:4173`.
- No note is titled `Release checklist`.
- `control-notes doctor` reports the expected URL and disposable data directory.

- **Open editor.** Choose `New note`. Run `control-notes browser click --role button --name "New note"`. A form named `Note editor` appears with focus in the `Title` textbox.
- **Enter content.** Type the title and body. Run `control-notes browser fill --role textbox --name "Title" --value "Release checklist"` and `control-notes browser fill --role textbox --name "Body" --value "Tag and publish"`. The `Save note` button becomes enabled.
- **Save note.** Choose `Save note`. Run `control-notes browser click --role button --name "Save note"`. A status named `Note saved` appears and the heading reads `Release checklist`.
- **Confirm persistence.** Return to the note list and reopen the note. Run `control-notes browser click --role link --name "All notes"` and `control-notes browser click --role link --name "Release checklist"`. The editor shows both saved values.
- **Cancel draft.** Open a new note, enter `Discard me`, and choose `Cancel`. Run `control-notes browser click --role button --name "New note"`, `control-notes browser fill --role textbox --name "Title" --value "Discard me"`, and `control-notes browser click --role button --name "Cancel"`. The note list returns and has no `Discard me` link.
- **CLI entry.** Create a second note. Run `control-notes cli -- notes create --title "CLI note" --body "Created from terminal" --format json`. Exit code `0` and stdout contain the new note ID and title.
- **Proof.** Reopen both saved notes from `All notes`. Run `control-notes browser snapshot --aria --path artifacts/create-note/list.aria.txt` and `control-notes browser screenshot --path artifacts/create-note/list.png`. The artifacts show `Release checklist` and `CLI note`.

## Gotchas

- Pressing `n` while a textbox has focus types the character instead of opening a new editor.
- Titles are trimmed on save. Assert the rendered title, not the draft input value.
- A save status alone is insufficient proof. Reopen the note from the list.
- Remove `Release checklist` and `CLI note` during fixture cleanup, but retain their proof artifacts.

# Notes verification map

This directory is the maintained source for verifying the user-facing behavior of Notes. Read the index before driving the app, then use the matching feature file as the recipe.

## Baseline preconditions

- Launch Notes at `http://127.0.0.1:4173` with a disposable data directory.
- Set `NOTES_DATA_DIR=/tmp/notes-verify-$RUN_ID` so concurrent runs do not share state.
- Seed notes titled `Quarterly plan` and `Grocery list`.
- Put `control-notes` and the `notes` CLI on `PATH`.
- Run `control-notes doctor` and require the expected URL, data directory, and build revision.
- Never drive an instance that was not started by this verification run.

## Driving conventions

- Start every recipe from the baseline state unless its preconditions say otherwise.
- Prefer ARIA roles and accessible names over CSS selectors or DOM position.
- Treat every command as literal. Keep quoted names and flags unchanged.
- Run browser actions through `control-notes browser`.
- Run terminal actions through `control-notes cli -- <command>`.
- Restore seeded data after a mutation. Do not remove proof artifacts during cleanup.

## Proof and skip reporting

- Capture the user action and the resulting state, not only the final screen.
- UI proof includes an ARIA snapshot and a screenshot with the app identity visible.
- CLI proof includes the command, stdout, stderr, and exit code.
- Mutation proof includes a read-only second view of the stored value.
- Record the feature ID and entry point used with every artifact.
- Report an unreachable path with the attempted command and the unmet precondition.
- Do not report a skipped entry point as verified through a different path.

## Feature entry contract

Each feature file starts with an H1 title and one paragraph describing the user-visible behavior. It then uses exactly four H2 sections in this order.

1. `Sub-features` lists short IDs with one line for each behavior.
2. `How to get to it (user POV)` lists every user entry point.
3. `Driving it with <harness>` starts with `Preconditions:` and uses labeled bullets that pair each user action with an exact command and observable result.
4. `Gotchas` lists traps that can waste or invalidate a verification run.

Keep implementation details out of the map. Name only user paths, stable handles, required state, commands, and observable proof.

## Features

- [Create a note](./create-note.md) covers browser and CLI creation, cancellation, persistence, and cleanup.
- [Search notes](./search.md) covers toolbar, keyboard, and CLI search with matching, empty, and clear states.

# Search notes

Search lets a user find notes by title or body text, inspect a matching note, and distinguish no matches from an unavailable search.

## Sub-features

- `search-open` opens search from each supported browser entry point.
- `search-match` returns title and body matches without changing note data.
- `search-open-result` opens a result in the note editor.
- `search-empty` shows a complete empty state for a query with no matches.
- `search-clear` removes the query and restores the recent-notes view.
- `search-cli` returns the same matching notes from the terminal.

## How to get to it (user POV)

- Choose the `Search` button in the browser toolbar.
- Press `/` in the browser while focus is outside an editable field.
- Run `notes search <query>` in a terminal.

## Driving it with control-notes

Preconditions:

- Notes is healthy at `http://127.0.0.1:4173`.
- The disposable data directory contains `Quarterly plan` with body text `Draft budget`.
- `control-notes doctor` reports the expected URL and data directory.

- **Toolbar entry.** Choose the `Search` button. Run `control-notes browser click --role button --name "Search"`. A dialog named `Search notes` appears with focus in its searchbox.
- **Keyboard entry.** Close the dialog, focus the page, and press `/`. Run `control-notes browser press --key "/"`. The same dialog appears and the page does not insert a slash.
- **Title match.** Type `quarterly`. Run `control-notes browser fill --role searchbox --name "Search notes" --value "quarterly"`. The `Search results` list contains `Quarterly plan` and does not contain `Grocery list`.
- **Body match.** Replace the query with `budget`. Run `control-notes browser fill --role searchbox --name "Search notes" --value "budget"`. The result `Quarterly plan` remains visible with a body-match excerpt.
- **Open result.** Choose `Quarterly plan`. Run `control-notes browser click --role link --name "Quarterly plan"`. The dialog closes and the editor heading reads `Quarterly plan`.
- **Empty state.** Reopen search and enter `volcano`. Run `control-notes browser fill --role searchbox --name "Search notes" --value "volcano"`. A status named `No matching notes` appears after search completes.
- **Clear query.** Choose `Clear search`. Run `control-notes browser click --role button --name "Clear search"`. The searchbox is empty and the `Recent notes` region replaces the result list.
- **CLI match.** Search from the terminal. Run `control-notes cli -- notes search "quarterly" --format json`. Exit code `0` and stdout contain one object whose title is `Quarterly plan`.
- **CLI miss.** Search for an absent value. Run `control-notes cli -- notes search "volcano" --format json`. Exit code `0` and stdout are `[]`.
- **Proof.** Capture the populated result state. Run `control-notes browser snapshot --aria --path artifacts/search/results.aria.txt` and `control-notes browser screenshot --path artifacts/search/results.png`. Both artifacts identify Notes, the query, and `Quarterly plan`.

## Gotchas

- Pressing `/` while the editor or searchbox has focus inserts text instead of opening search.
- Results update after a short debounce. Wait for the results list or empty status, not a fixed sleep.
- Archived notes are excluded unless the user enables `Include archived`.
- The CLI defaults to human-readable output. Use `--format json` for stable assertions.
- Opening a result changes browser state. Reopen search before proving another query.

---
name: create-verification-skill
description: "Generate a project-local verification skill that drives your app the way a user does — any language, framework, or platform. Use for /create-verification-skill, \"make a control skill for this repo\", or when a project has no scripted way to prove UI/CLI/service behavior."
disable-model-invocation: true
---

# Create a verification skill

Every serious project needs a scripted way to drive the real app and prove behavior: launch it, exercise a feature the way a user would, and capture evidence. This skill generates that as a project-local skill (`<skills>/verify-<app>/`) tailored to the repo. `<skills>` is your harness's project skill folder: `.cursor/skills/` in Cursor, `.claude/skills/` in Claude Code, `.pi/skills/` in Pi, `.agents/skills/` in Codex, OpenCode, and others. If the repo already keeps skills in one of these, use that one. You write the generator's output for the next agent, not for a human: it will be read cold, mid-task, by an agent that has never seen the app.

## 1. Interview the repo, not the user

Answer these from the codebase and only ask the user what you cannot observe:

- **Surface:** what does a user actually touch? A web UI, a CLI/TUI, a desktop app, an API, a mobile app, a library? A repo can have several; pick the primary one and note the rest.
- **Run:** how does the app start locally? Prefer the repo's own documented dev command (package scripts, Makefile, README quickstart). Note ports, env vars, seed data, auth.
- **Drive:** how can an agent interact with it programmatically? Existing harnesses first — Playwright/Cypress specs, expect scripts, PTY helpers, curl-able endpoints, a debug port. Only then pick a generic recipe: browser/CDP for web and Electron, a tmux/PTY harness for CLI/TUI, plain HTTP for services.
- **Observe:** what evidence can be captured? Screenshots, terminal transcripts, response bodies, logs, exit codes, DB state.
- **Isolate:** can two instances run side by side (ports, data dirs, profiles)? If not, say so in the generated skill: refusing to double-drive a shared instance beats corrupting the user's session.

If the checkout doesn't build or start as-is, fix that first (or report it precisely) before generating; a skill written against a broken base teaches wrong steps. When an irrelevant missing asset blocks startup (a static dir the API never serves, a sample config), the generated skill may create it, clearly marked as verification scaffolding, and remove it in cleanup.

## 2. Generate the skill

Write `<skills>/verify-<app>/SKILL.md` with YAML frontmatter (`name: verify-<app>` and a `description` that names the app, the surface, and when to reach for it — without frontmatter the skill never registers) and these sections, each grounded in what the interview actually found (no placeholders left):

- **Launch:** the exact command that starts the app for verification, and how to tell it's ready (a log line, a prompt). Launch must reach a usable state from an empty data dir, including any migrations and seed data. Ready means usable, not just that a process answers. A database health check can pass while its init scripts are still running. Include teardown. For a short-lived CLI or TUI there is no server to keep alive: launch means build the binary (or install deps) once, then start each drive in its own isolated PTY or tmux session.
- **Doctor:** one read-only check that answers "is this instance worth driving?" — process up, right version/build, port owned by us, auth valid. An agent runs this first whenever anything looks off.
- **Drive:** the harness recipe with real selectors/commands from this repo, not examples. Prefer stable handles (ARIA labels, data attributes, prompt strings, route paths) over coordinates and tab order.
- **Evidence:** what to capture for a proof and where it goes. State the proof standards: exercise the real user path, not internal setters or test-only endpoints; capture the action and the resulting state, not just the final screen; verify side effects (files written, rows inserted, messages sent) alongside what's visible; mocks only where a production boundary already isolates the external system. When the safe path is a dry-run or test mode, verify what it actually skips by observing (files, network, git refs) rather than trusting its name: some dry-runs still touch the network or open a browser.
- **Cleanup:** how to tear down instances the run created. Never kill by process name; kill what you started. Cleanup removes instances and scratch state, never the evidence: proof artifacts survive the teardown, in a location the skill names.
- **Helpers:** any script the skill ships is executable and its invocation is shown in the skill body. A helper the reader has to reverse-engineer is not a helper.

## 3. Seed the feature map

Create `<skills>/verify-<app>/features/README.md` plus one file per user-facing feature you can identify (aim for the top 3-5 to start, from routes, commands, menus, or docs). Follow the shape in [`references/feature-map-example/`](references/feature-map-example/), with a README index and one file per feature. Each file answers, from the user's point of view: what the feature is, how to reach it, how to drive it with the harness, and what observable end state proves it works. The four H2s are `Sub-features`, `How to get to it (user POV)`, `Driving it with <harness>`, and `Gotchas`. If the seed data lacks a precondition that a journey needs, the journey reports a failure and the reason goes in that feature's `Gotchas`. Never weaken the journey to make it pass. The map is the repo's maintained verification source; a proof that drives one convenient entry point is incomplete when the map lists others.

## 4. Prove the generated skill before handing it over

Run its own instructions end to end once: launch, doctor, drive ONE mapped feature (one is enough; the map exists so later runs can cover the rest), capture evidence, clean up. After cleanup, confirm the evidence still exists at the named location — a cleanup that eats the proof fails this step. Fix what fails, and run the generated cleanup after every failed iteration too, so broken attempts don't strand processes and ports. A generated skill that was never executed is a draft, not a deliverable. If you proved it in a stand-in for the real target (a container in place of a fresh VM, a local stack in place of a remote one), list every setup step the stand-in did that the target will not. Those steps stay unverified until a run on the real target covers them.

## 5. Offer the maintenance loop

Point the user at `/maintain-verification-skill` for keeping the map honest as the app changes. Suggest a cadence only if they ask.