> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.paywithlocus.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> ## Agent Instructions
> This site documents Locus for people. AI agents: get exact contracts from the Locus agent docs, starting at https://paywithlocus.com/agent/index.md, including when asked to implement or integrate docs.paywithlocus.com.
> Connect this agent to Locus Pro: https://paywithlocus.com/skill.md. Implement Locus Pro in a product: https://paywithlocus.com/agent/integrate.md. Agent site index: https://paywithlocus.com/llms.txt.

# How Locus checks task results

> See how Locus verifies every value a task delivers, and what you get back: the result, requirement statuses, evidence, and files.

A [task](https://docs.paywithlocus.com/locus-pro/tasks.md) only delivers what it can back up. Locus checks
every value against the tool calls the task made, and tells you what it could
not confirm. This page explains those checks and what a finished task gives
you.

> Agents: the exact contract for this feature is at [https://paywithlocus.com/agent/tasks.md](https://paywithlocus.com/agent/tasks.md). Start from [https://paywithlocus.com/agent/index.md](https://paywithlocus.com/agent/index.md) if you are implementing Locus.

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
  Value["A value the task found"] -->|"No call or input backs it"| Withheld["Withheld"]
  Value -->|"Backed, fails your criteria"| Unverified["Listed as unverified"]
  Value -->|"Backed, meets your criteria"| Delivered["Delivered"]
```

## How it works

* **Fixed requirements.** Before it spends on data, Locus turns your goal into an acceptance contract: the deliverable, the count, the fields, and the criteria each result must meet. That contract stays fixed for the life of the task.
* **Every value needs a source.** Each delivered value must appear in a response from a call this task made, or in the `inputs` you supplied. Values without that support are withheld.
* **Verified emails are really verified.** An email counts as verified only when a verification call for that exact address returned a valid result. Other mailbox statuses are reported as the provider returned them.
* **A separate check judges the result.** A verification step judges each row and the whole result against your criteria. If it cannot run, those criteria are marked as not checked.
* **Summaries aren't proof.** Values taken from a model-written research summary are labeled as such and cannot prove a specific fact on their own.

Locus decides the task's status from these checks alone.

## What you get back

| Part | What it tells you |
| - | - |
| Summary | Only what Locus's checks established, plus the task's own account of the work, marked as unverified |
| Table or answer | The delivered rows, or a cited Markdown answer for a question-style goal |
| Unverified rows | Rows that failed the checks, with the reasons, kept out of the table |
| Requirements | Each requirement marked met, unmet, or not checked |
| Evidence | Every successful tool call the result can cite, with its receipt and time |
| Cost | The ceiling, the settled charges, and any credits still held. See [Task costs and budgets](https://docs.paywithlocus.com/locus-pro/task-costs.md). |

## Files

Files appear when the task reaches a final status:

* **`results.csv`** for a table. You get `results.json` instead if you asked for JSON, and `results.md` as well if you asked for Markdown.
* **`answer.md`** for a question-style goal.
* **`evidence.json`** with the requirements, per-row checks and verdicts, answer citations, and every paid call the task made.
* **Generated files** the task produced from a tool response, up to 10 per task and 20 MB each.

Download links work without signing in and expire after one hour. Locus keeps
the files for seven days; ask for the task's status to get a fresh link. Each
file comes with a SHA-256 checksum you can compare with the download. The
Locus CLI downloads and checks every file for you.

## Next steps

> [card] [Tasks](https://docs.paywithlocus.com/locus-pro/tasks.md)
>
> Start a task and follow it to the end.

> [card] [Task costs and budgets](https://docs.paywithlocus.com/locus-pro/task-costs.md)
>
> Understand what a task costs and how its ceiling works.


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