# Verify External Evidence with Source Discipline

Unstructured web search can turn stale or repeated claims into false confidence. This skill routes verification through target types, source tiers, freshness checks, and abstention rules.

## Install

```bash
npx skillstore add syntagmanull/verification-hygiene
```

## Metadata

- Status: approved
- Slug: syntagmanull-verification-hygiene
- Skillstore revision: r1
- Version status: missing
- Tree hash: 67c7c60cdab7fab1cd5c09d0868c80bee40461419777d2530832dcb7900b2684
- Author: SyntagmaNull
- GitHub username: SyntagmaNull
- License: MIT
- Repository: https://github.com/SyntagmaNull/judgment-hygiene-stack/tree/main/verification\_hygiene
- Ref: 36e07d5e13068e5be64447e8f20b427cf2cbd21a
- Supported tools: Claude, Codex, Claude Code
- Audit status: complete
- Agent install advisory: confirmation\_required
- Manual install advisory: allowed
- Artifact signature: available
- Audit attestation: unavailable
- Human verification: not\_verified
- Risk factors: external\_commands
- Quality score: 38
- Quality tier: warning
- Public page: https://skillstore.pages.dev/skills/syntagmanull-verification-hygiene
- Manifest: https://skillstore.pages.dev/api/skills/syntagmanull-verification-hygiene/manifest

## Capabilities

- Classifies verification targets as events, status checks, sources, media context, policies, metrics, or evaluation records.
- Builds neutral, disconfirming, and provenance search strategies for external evidence checks.
- Ranks evidence by primary, credible secondary, and tertiary source tiers.
- Checks whether multiple sources are independent or repeat one origin.
- Formats evidence with claim comparison, temporal status, source basis, and conflict notes.
- Stops verification when evidence is sufficient or when only low quality sources remain.

## Use Cases

- Check Current Rules: Verify whether a policy, law, product feature, or platform rule is current before answering.
- Trace Viral Claims: Find the source, date, and original context for quotes, screenshots, videos, or social claims.
- Reduce Search Bias: Convert loaded prompts into neutral and disconfirming searches before forming a conclusion.

## Prompt Templates

### Verify a Simple Claim

```
Use verification hygiene to check this claim. Identify the target type, choose authoritative sources, and state whether the claim is supported.
```

### Check Current Status

```
Use verification hygiene for a status question. Prefer current official sources and mark freshness as current, outdated, or unknown.
```

### Trace Source Provenance

```
Use verification hygiene to trace this claim to its earliest reliable source. Separate origin evidence from repeated commentary.
```

### Resolve Conflicting Evidence

```
Use verification hygiene to compare these conflicting sources. Test independence, map disagreements, and decide whether to support, contradict, or abstain.
```

## Limitations

- It does not perform searches by itself without the host agent and available tools.
- It depends on the model to apply the routing rules consistently.
- It cannot prove facts when authoritative sources are unavailable.
- The source document states it is not approved for general deployment.

## Best Practices

- Classify the verification target before searching.
- Prefer primary sources when the answer depends on current rules, metrics, or official actions.
- Use abstention when only tertiary or repeated sources are available.

## Anti Patterns

- Do not copy the user premise into a search query without neutralizing it.
- Do not count repeated articles as independent evidence.
- Do not turn public sentiment into factual proof.

## Security Audit

- Audited at: 2026-07-07T07:48:44.323\+00:00
- Summary: The static Ruby backtick and system reconnaissance findings are false positives caused by Markdown inline code and fact-checking examples. One semantic concern remains: the skill claims controlled-trial approval without verifiable marketplace attestation. No executable code, shell commands, network endpoints, or data exfiltration instructions were found in SKILL.md.

## Stats

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- Downloads: 22
- Favorites: 0
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