Keep review prompts focused on evidence

What the check reads

The default-on verify-stage check produces warnings. It inspects installed built-in and project roles for a bounded set of prompt patterns, including preferring zero findings, treating an empty list as success and setting a maximum number of findings or issues. The detector includes exclusions for honest search instructions. It is a text heuristic, not a semantic analysis of every instruction or an evaluation of the agent’s actual investigation.

proof audit --check role_prompt_hygiene

An illustrative case

Illustrative case: a security role says “report at most two issues; an empty list is a success.” That instruction may discourage retaining a third supported finding. Replace the outcome target with an evidence standard: investigate the assigned surface, retain supported findings and explain inconclusive work. A time budget can bound effort without dictating how many problems the reviewer is allowed to discover.

Resolve the finding

1. Read the flagged phrase in its complete role and surrounding workflow. Establish whether it limits investigation resources or biases the desired conclusion.
2. Rewrite the instruction around scope, admissible evidence and reporting of uncertainty. Keep real resource limits explicit without using them as a finding cap.
3. Rerun the check and inspect a representative role invocation. Confirm that unresolved leads and supported findings remain visible rather than being removed to satisfy the prompt.

What a clear result means

A clear result means no configured pattern matched the inspected prompts. It does not demonstrate prompt-injection resistance, complete review coverage or reliable agent judgment. A role can omit an important investigation path without containing any forbidden phrase. Keep prompt hygiene alongside traceable evidence, review of the role’s scope and evaluation of actual outputs.

Continue with one real issue

Role references resolve · Concern adjudicated

Bring one finding, its requirement and the current evidence to scope a walkthrough of what your reviewer can establish and what still needs work.