[FEATURE] Plan mode should treat Verification sections as actionable tasks
Problem
When Claude generates a plan in plan mode, it often includes a Verification section at the end with steps like:
- Open a test PR that touches X
- Confirm the CI job appears and passes
- (Optional) Verify blocking behavior by adding a known-vulnerable package
After the user approves the plan and Claude executes the implementation steps, the Verification section is silently skipped. Claude declares "Done" after the file edits without:
- Executing any automatable verification steps (e.g., creating a branch, pushing, opening a PR, running linters)
- Alerting the user which verification steps remain
- Distinguishing "implementation complete" from "fully verified"
When prompted, Claude correctly acknowledges the gap — it received the verification context, understood it, but treated it as documentation rather than actionable tasks.
Proposed Solution
- Treat verification steps as first-class plan tasks — same execution priority as implementation steps, not a narrative appendix
- Classify each verification step as
[auto](Claude can execute: push branch, open PR, run tests) vs[manual](requires human: visual confirmation, physical device testing) - Require a handoff message — after implementation, Claude should always emit a status block listing:
- Verification steps completed
- Verification steps remaining (with reason: requires human judgment, etc.)
- Never say "Done" without accounting for every verification step
Workaround
Adding this to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md partially addresses it but isn't structurally enforced:
## Plan Mode
- After completing implementation steps from an approved plan, treat the Verification section as actionable tasks — not documentation
- Execute automatable verification steps (create branch, push, open PR, run linters/tests)
- For steps that require human senses or judgment, explicitly list them as remaining manual steps
- Never declare "Done" without accounting for every verification step — distinguish "implementation complete" from "fully verified"
Context
This was discovered during a plan that added dependency-review-action to GitHub Actions workflows. The plan had 3 verification steps, none were executed or mentioned after implementation completed.
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