02 Make your agent prove it's done
An agent told me it saved six screenshots. None existed.
During that same build, one agent finished and reported six screenshots saved. The folder was empty. The tool it used had failed quietly, and the agent reported what it meant to do, not what happened. It wasn't lying. It just never checked.
The fix is boring, and it works: make proof part of the job.
- Ask for evidence, not status. "List the files" beats "did you save them?"
- Put the check in the brief. "Confirm the files exist before you reply" is now in every brief I write.
- Verify the result, not the report. Open the page, click the button, paste what it copied.
Agents are fast and sound sure of themselves. Sounding sure isn't a result. My most useful habit is asking every agent to show me the thing.