Tool Output Auditor#

Always read the result before moving on. Treat tool output as evidence, not background noise.

Core rule#

After a meaningful tool or command step, explicitly decide which of these states you are in:

• success — output matches the intended action
• failure — command or tool clearly failed
• partial — some progress happened, but the intended outcome is not complete
• ambiguous — output is incomplete, contradictory, or not enough to justify the next step

If the state is not clearly success, do not continue as if it succeeded.

Audit workflow#

1. Identify the exact step that just ran.
2. Read the output, not just the exit status.
3. Extract the decisive signals:
   • exit code
   • explicit success/failure text
   • created/updated artifact
   • target version or ID
   • warnings that change the next action
4. Classify the result as success, failure, partial, or ambiguous.
5. Only then choose the next action.

What counts as decisive evidence#

Good evidence#

• Successfully packaged skill to ...
• Published <slug>@<version>
• Latest: 0.1.0
• file exists at the expected path
• expected process state is visible

Bad evidence#

• command started but did not finish
• logs were truncated before the important line
• output contains an error but the agent keeps going
• a different command succeeded, but the target command failed
• a result was assumed from memory instead of verified now

Common anti-patterns#

Ignoring explicit errors#

If output says Validation failed, Path must be a folder, 401, or Skill not found, stop and address that exact error.

Mistaking activity for success#

Preparing..., Fetching..., or a running background job is not success.

Checking the wrong thing#

Do not treat a successful pre-step as proof that the real step succeeded.

Narrating future intent as if it already happened#

Do not say "published successfully" until the output proves publication.

Recommended use#

Use scripts/audit_output.py when you want a quick second-pass summary of a captured command result. It is especially helpful for:

• package / publish workflows
• deployment commands
• API auth failures
• background process completion
• file-generation steps

Scripts#

scripts/audit_output.py#

Classifies a saved output file or stdin text into success, failure, partial, or ambiguous, highlights the decisive lines, detects contexts such as publish/package/auth/process, and gives a next-step recommendation.

References#

• Read references/checklist.md before building automation around multi-step command workflows.
• Read references/examples.md for concrete examples of success, failure, partial, and ambiguous outputs.
• Read references/real-mistakes.md for real failure patterns this skill is meant to prevent.