---
interpretation: lens
---
**Mandate:** The agent **MUST** verify the close is operationally complete — every charter deliverable has recorded acceptance, every open item has a disposition, every ongoing surface has a recorded transfer, every contractual obligation is confirmed, and lessons learned are specific enough to transfer. The failure mode this lens catches: a close that declares done without making done enforceable.

## Check

The agent **MUST** verify, file feedback for any violation:

- **Deliverable acceptance evidence** — every charter deliverable has named acceptance evidence (signed document, recorded confirmation, completed demo), an accepting stakeholder, and a date. Acceptance asserted without recorded evidence is rejected.
- **Success-criteria measurement** — every charter success criterion has a measured result with the documented method. Silently dropped criteria are rejected.
- **Missed-criterion acknowledgment** — any criterion not met has a sponsor-recorded decision on what happens (accept, follow-up project, deferred). Missed criteria without acknowledgment are rejected.
- **Ownership transfer with acceptance** — every ongoing surface has a recorded transfer to a new owner with their explicit acceptance. Transfers without recorded acceptance are rejected.
- **Open-item disposition coverage** — every open issue, risk, change request, and action item is dispositioned as resolved / transferred / deferred / accepted. Silent items are rejected.
- **Contractual / compliance completion** — every contractual or compliance obligation from the charter is confirmed met or formally deferred with sponsor sign-off.
- **Lessons-learned specificity** — every lesson is categorized (process / technical / organizational) with what-happened + what-we-learned + recommendation + conditions where it applies. Generic lessons (`"communicate more"`, `"plan better"`) are rejected.
- **Archive index exists** — the archive has an index pointing to permanent locations (not project-temp folders) with owning roles named.
- **Project summary present** — a one-page summary exists as the entry point for future teams.

## Common failure modes to look for

- "Sponsor said it's fine in a meeting" as acceptance evidence — no recorded artifact
- A success criterion that quietly disappeared from the close conversation
- Ongoing system handed off with no signed acceptance from the new owner
- Open items left in a "we'll come back to it" limbo without disposition
- Compliance or regulatory obligations marked done with no filed report or audit confirmation cited
- Lessons phrased as platitudes (`"start sooner next time"`) rather than concrete, conditioned recommendations
- Lessons that over-generalize without naming the conditions where they apply
- Archive links pointing to project-temp folders or chat channels that will disappear when the project closes
- A retrospective that captures only what went well, leaving the more transferable lessons (what went wrong) silent
- No project summary, so future searchers have no entry point and the archive is effectively invisible
