A copy-paste completion protocol for AI coding agents.

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.

The standard for building software with AI agents. This is the compact, operational version of The Proof of Done Manifesto https://podmanifesto.org/ . It is designed to be pasted into AGENTS.md , CLAUDE.md , or the context of a coding agent. It 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. I started formalizing this after a real agent run in which the task inventory was empty while a monitor process was still alive and polling. Both 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 . An 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. The agent's final message is an interface, not a source of truth. Done cannot 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. Every final report must contain four fields: DONE What became true. PROOF What was executed or observed, and where the result lives. SCOPE The commit, environment, requirements, and surfaces covered. NOT VERIFIED What was not checked, could not be checked, or remains uncertain.