principle-sequence-verifiable-units
About principle-sequence-verifiable-units
A development skill for breaking sweeps, migrations, and similar work into small, checked steps. It also recommends ordering commits so each stage provides reviewable evidence.
Key features
- 01Verify each change before continuing
- 02Use a known-good before-and-after bracket
- 03Order commits to demonstrate progress
Use cases
- 01Running a migration with checks after each unit
- 02Preparing a reviewable sequence of commits
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
npx skills add https:/After installing, type/principle-sequence-verifiable-unitsin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Details
From the project READMESequence work into verifiable units
Order work as a sequence of small units, each ending in a state you can check, and don't advance until the current one is green.
Why: A break caught at the unit that caused it is cheap to localize. A break caught after a batch is buried, and you have already built further on a broken base. Sequencing those same units into a delivery a reviewer can replay turns "trust me" into "watch it go red, then green."
Execution. In a sweep, migration, or any run of similar edits, verify each change before starting the next. Each unit is a before/after bracket: known-good state, one change, run the check, then proceed. Rebase onto clean trunk first so every check measures against the real baseline. When a lever does the edits, the per-unit check is nearly free. Run it anyway.
Delivery. Stack commits and PRs in the order that proves the work. The canonical shape is the failing test first, then the fix on top. Other story orders are a subtraction before the reshape, a baseline capture before the treatment, the scaffold before the feature. Each commit lands on its own and the sequence reads as an argument.
The sequencing complement to the prove-it-works principle skill, which keeps each check real, and the build-the-lever principle skill, which makes the per-unit check cheap.