Verification methodology
A badge is the end of a review, not the beginning of a claim.
Every tool moves through an explicit lifecycle. Verified status can be removed when implementation, evidence or behaviour changes.
Status lifecycle
Withheld because it is unsafe, misleading or unavailable.
Implemented but not yet suitable for reliance or indexing.
Useful for practitioner testing with prominent limitations.
Published evidence and an independent automated technical review meet the current gate.
Retained only for transition, with a recommended replacement.
Required evidence
Verified gate
- Define exact supported input, output and failure behaviour.
- Use authoritative vectors where a standard provides them.
- Test valid, invalid, boundary, Unicode and oversized cases.
- Compare against an independent implementation when practical.
- Publish limits, processing mode, sensitivity and references.
- Run an independent review track separate from implementation and disclose the reviewer type.
Current Verified Core labels are based on automated conformance tests plus an independent automated implementation audit. They are not a human specialist certification, security audit, or warranty. Higher-risk IT-native tools remain Beta until specialist review.
Ongoing control
Corrections and recertification
A dependency, logic or scope change invalidates the old assurance until targeted tests and review pass again. Material errors are documented in the changelog. A tool can be demoted immediately; catalogue size is never a reason to preserve an inaccurate badge.