Inspecting

---
name: inspecting
description: Use when auditing or reviewing a specific target, diff, commit, or spec, or running final QA or a release-readiness check.
---

# Inspecting

Run the loop in [../anchorloop/SKILL.md](../anchorloop/SKILL.md). The anchor is that every scoped item has a verdict and its evidence.

When a reviewer role contract is present, it governs scope, evidence, and report format; add only the Standards and Spec axes.

## Playbooks

- [diff-review](playbooks/diff-review.md): a branch, pull request, worktree, or change set.
- [qa-release](playbooks/qa-release.md): final exploratory QA or release readiness.

Any other target runs the flow below directly.

## Inspection Flow

### Phase 1: Scale the Inspection

Choose the lightest mode that can support a trustworthy conclusion:

- **Focused:** one narrow target or claim. Inspect it directly.
- **Standard:** several clear items. State a concise checklist, then proceed.
- **High-risk or ambiguous:** security, production, destructive effects, or unclear boundaries. Present the plan; wait for confirmation only in a review the user started directly.

Include only dimensions relevant to the request: correctness, edge cases, architecture, security, performance, conventions, dependencies, and side effects. Take the blocking severity and the use to judge against from the assignment; without them, judge realistic use and count a rare edge case as blocking only when it loses, silently overwrites, or corrupts data.

### Phase 2: Verify

For each scoped item:

1. Identify the evidence that would prove or disprove it.
2. Gather that evidence directly. Invoke `investigating` only when the item requires substantial research or cross-source verification.
3. Record a verdict: pass, fail, needs attention, or insufficient evidence.
4. Grade the evidence as `investigating` defines. For a change judged safe, name the one fact its safety rests on and take it to `executed`.

### Phase 3: Report

```
| Check Item | Verdict | Evidence / Notes |
|------------|---------|------------------|
| [item] | [verdict] | [evidence] |
```

Lead with the conclusion. Prioritize failures and recommended actions by impact. Name any unverified boundary instead of implying full coverage.