grounding-check: a vacuous PASS (zero assumptions extracted) auto-signs the spec under /boss #13
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Reference: Brummel/Skills#13
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Found by the sibling scan while fixing #11. The same "done-signal
vacuously satisfiable by doing nothing" shape appears in the
grounding-check, where it is load-bearing because under
/bossa PASSauto-signs the spec.
Problem
Under
/boss, the grounding-checkPASSis the autonomous specsignature: it commits the spec and continues to planner
(
docs/pipeline.md:136-148,boss/SKILL.md:464-466).PASSis emitted when "all assumptions ratified"(
specify/agents/grounding-check.md~:170), and that includes theempty case:
:226-230explicitly emit PASS with an empty ratified tablewhen assumption-extraction yields an empty list. That is legitimate for a
genuinely trivial spec — but the same code path fires if the agent
under-extracts on a real spec: a no-op extraction → zero assumptions →
PASS → auto-sign. There is no floor relating the extracted-assumption
count to spec size; the only guard against a no-op extraction is the
agent's own diligence red flags ("< 2 minutes searching", "aim for
completeness").
This is the #11 shape: a success signal whose condition only checks
"nothing was found unratified," never "extraction actually happened" — so
extracting nothing reads as PASS. It is more dangerous than #11's original
form because the PASS auto-commits under
/bosswith no human in the loop.Direction (not prescribing the implementation)
A structural floor so an empty extraction on a non-trivial spec cannot
silently PASS-and-sign — e.g. relate a minimum extracted-assumption count
to spec length/section count, or downgrade an empty extraction over a
non-trivial spec to BLOCK (kick it back for re-extraction) rather than
treating "extracted nothing" as "nothing to ratify." Interactive (non-boss)
runs are less exposed because the user still signs, but the same floor
helps there too.
Refs #11.
Fixed in
f3eba8a(closes on push)Step 5 emitted
PASSon "all assumptions ratified", which is vacuously true on an empty extraction. Under/bossa groundingPASSis the autonomous spec signature, so an under-extraction on a real spec (zero assumptions → PASS) would auto-sign an unread spec.An empty assumption list is now a
PASSonly on a demonstrably trivial spec (pure rename / doc-only / cosmetic, with the<kind>named as positive evidence). An empty extraction over a spec that adds or changes behaviour is an under-extraction →BLOCK, which routes it to the human sign-off pause it should have hit anyway.Design note: the fix lives at the source (the grounding-check agent), not the consumer. The
/bossauto-sign trusts thePASSdirectly (boss/SKILL.md§ Spec auto-sign), and aBLOCKalready routes to the human pause — so tightening the agent's verdict closes the auto-sign hole with no consumer change. Tightened consistently across Step 5, the Iron Law, the trivial-spec clause, the Status protocol table, and the Common Rationalisations so a future editor cannot reopen it from one unsynced spot.Adversarially reviewed SOUND (closes the hole at the load-bearing /boss point; genuine trivial specs still PASS — no false positive).