Writing clear acceptance criteria

Acceptance criteria are part of the context the AI reviews against — vague criteria mean vague verdicts.

Why it matters

Layer 2 assembles the task description, acceptance criteria, and diff for the AI. Concrete, checkable criteria are what let the verdict say “done” with confidence.

How to write them

• State observable outcomes (“form shows an inline error on invalid email”).
• Name the file scope so out-of-scope edits get flagged automatically.
• Keep each criterion independently verifiable.
• Call out what must not change (“no changes to authentication logic”).