BACKPRESSURE

BACKPRESSURE.md

A file format for defining deterministic self-verification checks that AI coding agents run on their own output. Like `AGENTS.md` tells agents how to behave, `BACKPRESSURE.md` tells agents how to know they are wrong.

The Problem

Agents carry assumptions. Some come from docs. Some come from model weights. Some come from your prompts. When an assumption is wrong, it leaks through research into planning into implementation. You find out 2,000 lines deep that something fundamental was incorrect.

The fix is not more planning. The fix is giving agents a way to check their own work without asking you. Compilers, type checkers, test suites, linters, eval harnesses. These are deterministic. They return pass or fail. No opinions. No LLM-as-judge. Binary.

`BACKPRESSURE.md` is a structured file that enumerates every deterministic check an agent should run to verify its work. It is the harness design, separated from the implementation.

Why a Separate File

• AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md describe how agents should work in this repo
• SKILL.md teaches agents a specific capability
• BACKPRESSURE.md defines how agents verify correctness

These are different concerns. Mixing verification checks into agent instructions buries them. A dedicated file makes the contract explicit: here is every way we will know the code is correct, listed in one place.

The Format

`BACKPRESSURE.md` is a Markdown file placed at the root of your project (or in subdirectories for monorepos). It contains ordered sections of checks, each with a command, expected result, and run conditions.

Minimal Example

# BACKPRESSURE.md

## Build
- `npm run build` — must exit 0, zero errors

## Types
- `npx tsc --noEmit` — must exit 0, zero type errors

## Tests
- `npm test` — all tests pass, no regressions

## Lint
- `npm run lint` — zero errors (warnings acceptable)

Full Format

# BACKPRESSURE.md

> Deterministic verification checks for [project-nam