/verify -- 7-Phase Verification Pipeline

What

Runs a sequential, 7-phase verification pipeline that catches issues at every level -- from compiler errors to subtle antipatterns to formatting drift. Each phase produces an explicit PASS, WARN, or FAIL with details. "It looks fine" is not a verification result; a table of statuses is. Critical failures (Phase 1 build, Phase 4 tests) short-circuit the pipeline because later phases cannot produce meaningful results on broken code.

The pipeline answers one question: "Is this code ready for review?"

When

• After completing a feature, bug fix, or major refactor
• Before creating a pull request -- non-negotiable, full pipeline
• After merging upstream changes or updating dependencies
• When the user says "verify", "check everything", "is this ready", "run all checks"
• As the final step before marking a task complete

Which Phases to Run

Full pipeline is the default. For scoped changes, run a subset:

When in doubt, run all 7. Extra phases cost minutes; a missed security issue costs days of incident response. Never cherry-pick phases because a change "looks safe".

How

Phase 1: Build (CRITICAL -- short-circuits)

dotnet build --no-restore --verbosity quiet

• If the build fails, STOP. Report errors and fix before continuing -- nothing

downstream is meaningful on code that does not compile.

• Capture the warning count even on PASS; new warnings are tracked in Phase 2.
• Output: PASS (0 errors) or FAIL (with error list)

Phase 2: Diagnostics

Use the Roslyn MCP get_diagnostics tool, scoped to changed files/projects (full solution for cross-cutting changes). Compare against baseline -- flag only NEW warnings introduced by the current changes. Common findings: CS8600/CS8602 (nullability), CS0219 (unused variable).

Output: PASS (0 new) / WARN (new warnings) / FAIL (new errors). Treat new warnings as work -- today's CS8600 is next month's production NullReferenceException.

Phase 3: Antipattern Detection

Use the Roslyn MCP detect_antipatterns tool on changed files (full project for broad changes). Catches: async void, sync-over-async (.Result, .GetAwaiter().GetResult()), new HttpClient(), DateTime.Now/UtcNow instead of TimeProvider, broad catch (Exception), string interpolation in logging, missing CancellationToken, EF read queries without AsNoTracking.

Output: PASS (0 findings) / WARN (findings) / FAIL (critical antipatterns)

Phase 4: Tests (CRITICAL -- short-circuits)

dotnet test --no-build --verbosity quiet

• Full suite, or scoped to affected test projects for large solutions.
• Any failing test is a FAIL -- no exceptions. Stop and fix before later phases.
• If no test project exists: SKIP with a recommendation to add tests.

Output: PASS (all green) or FAIL (failing test names + error messages)

Phase 5: Security Scan

dotnet list package --vulnerable --include-transitive

Then review changed files for: hardcoded secrets/connection strings/API keys, SQL injection (raw SQL without parameterization), missing [Authorize] on endpoints that need it, permissive CORS, missing input validation, disabled HTTPS or certificate validation.

Output: PASS / WARN (medium/low findings) / FAIL (critical/high vulnerabilities)

Phase 6: Format Check

dotnet format --verify-no-changes --verbosity quiet

Reports drift without auto-fixing. To resolve, run dotnet format and include the changes in the commit. If no .editorconfig exists, note it as a recommendation.

Output: PASS / WARN (with file list)

Phase 7: Diff Review

Analyze git diff --stat and git diff (staged + unstaged) for:

• Accidental or unrelated file changes (.vs/, bin/, obj/, .env, secrets)
• Debug leftovers (Console.WriteLine, #if DEBUG in production paths)
• Unresolved TODO/HACK/FIXME markers
• Scope mismatch -- changes must match the task/PR description

Output: PASS (clean, matches intent) / WARN (with findings)

Fix-and-Retry Loop

A single pass rarely produces all-green. The loop is the point:

1. IDENTIFY -- which phase failed, and the specific error
2. FIX -- make the minimal change that resolves it
3. RE-RUN -- from Phase 1 if the fix changed code; otherwise from the failed phase
4. REPEAT -- until all phases pass, or an issue needs user input

Final Summary

## Verification Results

| Phase | Result | Details |
|-------|--------|---------|
| 1. Build | PASS | 0 errors, 0 warnings |
| 2. Diagnostics | PASS | 0 new diagnostics |
| 3. Antipatterns | WARN | 1 missing CancellationToken |
| 4. Tests | PASS | 47 passed, 0 failed |
| 5. Security | PASS | No findings |
| 6. Format | PASS | Clean |
| 7. Diff Review | WARN | 1 TODO marker found |

**Verdict: READY FOR REVIEW** (with 2 non-blocking warnings)

Verdicts: READY FOR REVIEW (all PASS, or only non-blocking WARNs) or NEEDS FIXES (any FAIL, with specific remediation steps). For pre-PR runs, include the verification report in the PR description.

Example

User: /verify

Claude: Running 7-phase verification pipeline...

Phase 1: Build ............ PASS (0 errors)
Phase 2: Diagnostics ...... PASS (0 new warnings)
Phase 3: Antipatterns ..... WARN
  - src/Features/Orders/CreateOrder.cs:42 -- DateTime.Now usage, use TimeProvider
Phase 4: Tests ............ PASS (23 passed, 0 failed, 0 skipped)
Phase 5: Security ......... PASS
Phase 6: Format ........... PASS
Phase 7: Diff Review ...... PASS

Verdict: READY FOR REVIEW (1 non-blocking warning)

Recommendation: Replace DateTime.Now with TimeProvider on line 42 before
merging. Not blocking, but it will fail the antipattern check in CI.

Related

• /build-fix -- Auto-fix build errors when Phase 1 fails
• /code-review -- Multi-dimensional review once verification passes
• /health-check -- Whole-project graded assessment (beyond this change set)