Failure Semantics
Verification must define what failure means.
A verification process should not silently convert uncertainty into success.
Typical outcomes
Section titled “Typical outcomes”A verifier may distinguish states such as:
- verified
- failed
- incomplete
- unsupported
- evidence missing
- integrity mismatch
The exact vocabulary depends on the relevant verification contract.
Principle
Section titled “Principle”If required evidence is absent, malformed or inconsistent, the verifier should surface that condition explicitly.
Failure semantics are part of the public contract of a verification system.