{"slug": "a-copy-paste-completion-protocol-for-ai-coding-agents", "title": "A copy-paste completion protocol for AI coding agents.", "summary": "A developer introduced a copy-paste completion protocol for AI coding agents, defining what agents must show before claiming software work is done. The protocol requires final reports to include four fields: DONE, PROOF, SCOPE, and NOT VERIFIED, to ensure completion claims are bounded and verifiable by other actors.", "body_md": "The standard for building software with AI agents.\n\nThis is the compact, operational version of [The Proof of Done Manifesto](https://podmanifesto.org/). It is designed to be pasted into `AGENTS.md`\n\n, `CLAUDE.md`\n\n, or the context of a coding agent.\n\nIt does not replace tests, review, CI, or product validation. It defines what an agent must show before it may claim that software work is done.\n\nI started formalizing this after a real agent run in which the task inventory was empty while a monitor process was still alive and polling.\n\nBoth observations were accurate. They were observations of different things, and the completion signal was looking at the wrong one ([the recorded case](https://github.com/ssheleg/task-pipeline/blob/f0402c22b147d6d143c55833ef906fb817972ab9/plugins/task-pipeline/skills/task-pipeline/references/residue.md#L28-L62)).\n\nAn AI agent can produce code, tests, documentation, and a convincing final report from the same misunderstanding. Agreement between those artifacts is useful, but it is not independent verification.\n\nThe agent's final message is an interface, not a source of truth.\n\n`Done`\n\ncannot mean that the agent stopped working or that a task list became empty. It must mean that the current state supports a bounded completion claim that another actor can check.\n\nEvery final report must contain four fields:\n\n```\nDONE\n  What became true.\n\nPROOF\n  What was executed or observed, and where the result lives.\n\nSCOPE\n  The commit, environment, requirements, and surfaces covered.\n\nNOT VERIFIED\n  What was not checked, could not be checked, or remains uncertain.\n```\n\n", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-copy-paste-completion-protocol-for-ai-coding-agents", "canonical_source": "https://gist.github.com/sshlg/5aa710ee253cb109ea82bb482a699b8f", "published_at": "2026-08-25 23:41:30+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-25 23:43:42.621162+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "developer-tools", "ai-safety"], "entities": ["Proof of Done Manifesto", "GitHub"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-copy-paste-completion-protocol-for-ai-coding-agents", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-copy-paste-completion-protocol-for-ai-coding-agents.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-copy-paste-completion-protocol-for-ai-coding-agents.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-copy-paste-completion-protocol-for-ai-coding-agents.jsonld"}}