---
name: review-after-each-step
description: Operator wants a grounding review after EVERY step (not just big checkpoints) to prevent drift
metadata: 
  node_type: memory
  type: feedback
  originSessionId: 839ad1a8-37aa-4459-9679-2cc95d507e2a
---

On multi-step work (e.g. the Stage-3 review sweep, phased implementations), the operator
wants a **review completed after each step** to stay grounded and stop drift accumulating.

**Why:** drift compounds silently across steps -- a number, a comment, or a status that
disagrees between code, the decision record, and the docs. The after-each-step review is
what caught the 32-vs-16 GiB containment-overhead drift between the Phase-C code and the
Phase-A record (design-decisions), before it propagated.

**How to apply:** after each step, before moving to the next -- (1) validate/test the
change (tofu validate, harness, repo-lint); (2) grounding check against the agreed
decisions + structure (does it still implement the ruling faithfully?); (3) drift sweep --
reconcile code vs the decision record vs the docs/ledger (numbers, comments, statuses,
line refs must agree); (4) for non-trivial steps, an independent agent cross-check
(read-only) as the operator asked for [[stage3 sweep]]. Fix what the review finds THEN
proceed. Log the review outcome in the session-ledger step by step.