fix-verification

✅ Fix Verification Skill

Philosophy: A bug isn't fixed until it's verified. Twice.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• You've implemented a bug fix
• Someone else's fix needs verification
• Deploying a fix to production
• Bug was high-impact and needs thorough verification
• Previous fixes for this bug have failed

Do NOT use this skill when:

• Just exploring code (no fix yet)
• Bug is trivial (e.g., typo fix)
• Running standard CI (automated verification)

Prerequisites

Before starting:

• Fix has been implemented
• You know the expected behavior
• You can reproduce the original bug (or have a failing test)
• You have access to test environment

Process

Phase 1: DIRECT VERIFICATION 🎯

Goal: Confirm the fix addresses the exact reported issue.

Steps:

1. Recreate the Original Bug Scenario

   Exact steps that caused the bug:
   1. [step 1]
   2. [step 2]
   3. [step 3]
   
   Expected result: [what should happen]
   Previous result: [what was happening - the bug]
   

2. Execute Test with Fix Applied

   • Follow exact same steps
   • Document actual result
   • Compare to expected

3. Verify the FIX, Not Just Absence of Error

   ❌ "It doesn't crash anymore" (incomplete)
   ✅ "It returns the expected user object with correct fields" (complete)
   

4. Test Multiple Times

   • Run at least 3 times
   • Note any inconsistency

Verification Checklist:

• Original bug scenario no longer produces error
• Expected behavior now occurs
• Result is consistent across multiple runs
• All variations of bug scenario work

Phase 2: EDGE CASE VERIFICATION 🔲

Goal: Ensure fix works for edge cases and variations.

Steps:

1. Identify Edge Cases

   edge_cases:
     boundary_values:
       - Empty input
       - Maximum length input
       - Minimum valid input
       - Just over limit
       - Just under limit
     
     special_inputs:
       - Null/undefined
       - Special characters
       - Unicode/emoji
       - Numbers as strings
       - Whitespace only
     
     state_variations:
       - First time user
       - Returning user
       - Admin user
       - Concurrent users
       - High load
   

2. Create Edge Case Matrix

   Edge Case	Input	Expected	Actual	Pass?
   Empty	""	Error msg
   Max length	1000 chars	Success
   Special chars	"<>&"	Escaped

3. Test Each Edge Case

   • Document results
   • Note any failures

Edge Case Checklist:

• All boundary values tested
• Special inputs handled correctly
• Different user states work
• Concurrent access works (if applicable)

Phase 3: REGRESSION TESTING 🔄

Goal: Ensure fix hasn't broken anything else.

Steps:

1. Identify Affected Areas

   affected_areas:
     directly_affected:
       - The fixed function/component
       - Its callers
       - Its dependencies
     
     indirectly_affected:
       - Related features
       - Shared utilities used
       - Configuration changes
   

2. Run Targeted Tests

   # Run tests for affected module
   npm test -- --grep "auth"
   
   # Run integration tests
   npm run test:integration
   

3. Run Full Test Suite

   # Ensure no regressions anywhere
   npm test
   

4. Manual Smoke Test

   • Test main user flows
   • Pay attention to anything that feels different

Regression Checklist:

• All unit tests pass
• All integration tests pass
• Smoke test passes
• No new warnings in logs
• Performance not degraded

Phase 4: NEGATIVE TESTING 🚫

Goal: Verify error handling and failure modes.

Steps:

1. Test Invalid Inputs

   • What happens with bad data?
   • Are errors handled gracefully?
   • Are error messages helpful?

2. Test Failure Scenarios

   failure_scenarios:
     - Database connection lost
     - API timeout
     - Invalid credentials
     - Missing permissions
     - Disk full
   

3. Test Recovery

   • Does system recover after failure?
   • Is data consistent after recovery?

Negative Testing Checklist:

• Invalid inputs produce clear errors
• System fails gracefully
• Recovery works correctly
• No security information leaked in errors

Phase 5: ENVIRONMENT VERIFICATION 🌍

Goal: Ensure fix works across all environments.

Steps:

1. Test Across Environments

   Environment	Tested	Result	Notes
   Local dev
   CI/CD
   Staging
   Production

2. Test Across Configurations

   • Different browsers (if applicable)
   • Different OS (if applicable)
   • Different database sizes
   • Different load levels

3. Test Across User Types

   • Regular users
   • Admin users
   • New users
   • Users with existing data

Environment Checklist:

• Works in development
• Works in staging
• Works in production (or production-like)
• Works across configurations

Phase 6: DOCUMENTATION & SIGN-OFF 📝

Goal: Document verification and get sign-off.

Steps:

1. Complete Verification Report

   ## Fix Verification Report
   
   **Bug ID:** [ID]
   **Fix Description:** [brief description]
   **Verified By:** [name]
   **Date:** [date]
   
   ### Direct Verification
   - [x] Original bug no longer occurs
   - [x] Expected behavior confirmed
   
   ### Edge Cases
   - [x] [edge case 1] - PASS
   - [x] [edge case 2] - PASS
   
   ### Regression Testing
   - [x] Unit tests: 100% pass
   - [x] Integration tests: 100% pass
   - [x] Smoke test: PASS
   
   ### Environment Testing
   - [x] Local: PASS
   - [x] Staging: PASS
   - [x] Production: [pending/pass]
   
   ### Sign-off
   - [ ] Developer
   - [ ] QA (if applicable)
   - [ ] Stakeholder (for critical bugs)
   

2. Update Bug Tracking

   • Change status to "Verified Fixed"
   • Add verification notes
   • Link to any new tests added

3. Add/Update Tests

   • Ensure test exists for this bug
   • Test should fail without fix, pass with fix

Quick Verification Checklist

For simpler bugs, use this shortened checklist:

## Quick Verification

- [ ] Original bug scenario fixed
- [ ] Edge cases work
- [ ] All tests pass
- [ ] No new warnings/errors
- [ ] Reviewed by another person (if critical)

Verification Decision Tree

Fix Implemented
      │
      ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Does original   │
│ scenario work?  │
└────────┬────────┘
    YES  │  NO → Back to debugging
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Edge cases      │
│ work?           │
└────────┬────────┘
    YES  │  NO → Expand fix
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ All tests       │
│ pass?           │
└────────┬────────┘
    YES  │  NO → Fix regressions
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Works in all    │
│ environments?   │
└────────┬────────┘
    YES  │  NO → Environment-specific fix
         ▼
   VERIFIED ✅

Guidelines

DO ✅

• Verify the fix, not just absence of error
• Test edge cases thoroughly
• Document your verification
• Run the full test suite
• Have someone else verify critical fixes

DON'T ❌

• Assume fix works because code looks right
• Skip edge case testing
• Forget to check for regressions
• Test only in development environment
• Skip documentation

Common Pitfalls

"Works on My Machine"

Problem: Fix works locally but fails elsewhere.

Prevention:

• Always test in staging
• Use same data/config as production
• Test with production-like load

"Fixed the Symptom, Not the Bug"

Problem: Error is gone but behavior is still wrong.

Prevention:

• Verify POSITIVE behavior, not just absence of error
• Compare to expected behavior documentation
• Test the complete user flow

"Created a New Bug"

Problem: Fix introduced a regression.

Prevention:

• Always run full test suite
• Manual smoke test of related features
• Review changes with fresh eyes

Success Criteria

Before marking bug as fixed:

• Original issue verified fixed
• All edge cases pass
• No regression in tests
• Works in all environments
• Verification documented
• Test added to prevent recurrence

Related Skills

• skills/kilo-kit/debugging/systematic/ - For finding the bug
• skills/kilo-kit/debugging/root-cause/ - For understanding why it happened
• skills/kilo-kit/quality/testing/ - For writing better tests

Fix Verification Skill v1.0.0 — Verified twice, deployed once