skills/audit-marketing-reasoning/references/output-contract.md

# Output Contract

## Executive conclusion

Start with:

- **Verdict:** Support / Conditional support / Hold / Refute
- **Decision:** what should be done now
- **Confidence:** high / medium / low, with the main reason
- **Material risk:** the one issue most likely to reverse the decision

## Reasoning audit

| Claim | Type | Evidence level | Audit finding | Verdict | Corrected wording |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

Include only material claims. Do not fill the table with cosmetic wording issues.

## Missing validation

For each decision-changing unknown, state:

- missing evidence or assumption;
- smallest useful test or data check;
- observation that would support, weaken, or refute the claim;
- responsible owner and practical timing when known.

## Freshness and transfer

Report:

- dated assumptions that require revalidation;
- case-study or market differences that limit transfer;
- surviving scope in which the claim remains useful.

## Implementation conditions

List:

- people, process, incentive, capacity, and approval blockers;
- staged rollout and observability requirements;
- continue, expand, stop, and rollback conditions;
- customer-trust or stakeholder risks.

## Compact response

For a simple claim, use five lines:

1. Verdict.
2. What is supported.
3. What is not supported.
4. Corrected claim.
5. Next validation or action.

## Quality check

Before finishing, confirm that the audit:

- distinguishes evidence from inference;
- names alternative explanations;
- preserves the useful part of the proposal;
- gives a falsifiable rewrite;
- proposes a proportionate next step;
- separates analytical validity from implementation feasibility;
- discloses residual uncertainty without using vague caveats.