---
name: completion-contract-loop
description: Writes a contract of what "done" means and what evidence proves each requirement before any work starts, then refuses to claim success without that evidence.
category: engineering
interval: on-demand
stop-condition: Every requirement in the completion contract is satisfied with verifiable evidence (tests, output, diffs).
components: [agent:expert-advisors/critical-thinking, command:testing/test-coverage, command:git-workflow/create-pr]
tags: [goal, verification, definition-of-done, loop]
---

# Completion-Contract Loop

> **Loop Engineering** — the `/goal` verb runs until a verifiable condition is true. This loop fixes the most common failure: an agent that says "done" when it isn't. It defines "complete" and the evidence for each requirement *upfront*, then can't declare victory without it.

## 🎯 Goal
Before doing any work, write a **completion contract**: each requirement plus the concrete evidence that proves it. Then execute until every requirement is backed by evidence.

## ⏱️ Schedule
Trigger: `on-demand` (a goal that runs to a condition, not a timer).

## ▶️ Run it
```
/goal First write a completion contract: list each requirement and the exact evidence that proves it (a passing test, a command output, a diff). Confirm the contract, then implement. Do not claim success for any requirement without its evidence. Done only when every requirement has evidence. Stop after N turns if blocked.
```

## 🔁 Iteration steps
1. **Contract** — `critical-thinking` drafts requirements + the evidence each needs.
2. **Plan** — order the work by requirement.
3. **Act** — implement one requirement at a time.
4. **Prove** — attach evidence (coverage via `/test-coverage`, command output, diff); no evidence, not done.
5. **Observe** — when all requirements have evidence, open a PR with `/create-pr` linking the contract.

## 🛑 Stopping condition
Every contract requirement is satisfied with verifiable evidence — or the turn/budget cap is hit and the loop reports what's still unproven.

## 💰 Budget & guardrails
A separate check confirms each piece of evidence rather than trusting the worker's self-report. Hard turn cap so an unprovable requirement can't spin.

## 🧩 Referenced components
- `agent:expert-advisors/critical-thinking` — authors and enforces the contract.
- `command:testing/test-coverage` — supplies measurable evidence.
- `command:git-workflow/create-pr` — ships the result with the contract attached.

## 💡 Example
Asked to "add rate limiting", the loop first writes a contract (limit enforced, 429 returned, headers set, tested) and only reports done once each line has a passing test as evidence.