Document consistency check

---
name: document-consistency-check
description: Compare documents against an explicit reference and report exact mismatches and matching controls.
---

# Document consistency check

Use this skill to compare two or more supplied documents for factual consistency, such as a specification and an operating guide. Perform a read-only comparison unless the user also requests edits. This is not a general grammar review.

## Inputs and comparison rules
Identify the documents, their versions, and which reference is authoritative for this task. If authority is unspecified, report disagreements without choosing a winner. Extract comparable fields and their source locations before judging them. Preserve units, dates, conditions, and scope; similar words can describe different behavior.

## Workflow
Create a field inventory covering the requested subject. Compare exact values first, then consider equivalent representations. Treat “30 days” and “one month” as potentially different unless the contract defines them as equal. Report a missing field separately from a contradictory field. Keep each mismatch at the smallest useful unit so a reviewer can apply one correction without guessing which part was wrong.

For every finding, show the field, reference value and locator, compared value and locator, consequence, and proposed correction. Avoid unrelated editorial preferences. Include matching controls from the same comparison to demonstrate that agreement was checked as well as disagreement. Do not count one repeated inconsistency as multiple distinct issues unless its occurrences require separate fixes.

## Output contract
Return the authority assumption, coverage table, mismatch list, and matching controls. State any sections or attachments that were unavailable. Do not report an exhaustive audit when only excerpts were supplied. If edits are authorized, preserve unrelated text and provide a change summary with the same locators. Before finishing, reconcile the number of mismatches with the field inventory and check that every proposed correction follows the stated authority rather than a plausible guess.

# Synthetic document pair
Task: Compare all eight fields. Document A is authoritative. Report only; do not edit.
## Document A: release contract
[A1] Launch date: 2026-09-15
[A2] Trial length: 14 days
[A3] Seat limit: 5
[A4] Export: CSV
[A5] Support: email
[A6] Retention: 30 days
[A7] Currency: USD
[A8] Region: US
## Document B: draft guide
[B1] Launch date: 2026-09-16
[B2] Trial length: 7 days
[B3] Seat limit: 10
[B4] Export: PDF
[B5] Support: chat
[B6] Retention: 90 days
[B7] Currency: USD
[B8] Region: US

# Synthetic document consistency report
Authority: Document A, explicitly designated by the request. Coverage: all 8 supplied fields; no complete documents or attachments were supplied. No edits made.

## Six mismatches
| Field | Reference | Draft | Consequence | Proposed correction in B |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Launch date | 2026-09-15 [A1] | 2026-09-16 [B1] | Wrong launch day | Set B1 to 2026-09-15 |
| Trial length | 14 days [A2] | 7 days [B2] | Understates trial duration | Set B2 to 14 days |
| Seat limit | 5 [A3] | 10 [B3] | Overpromises capacity | Set B3 to 5 |
| Export | CSV [A4] | PDF [B4] | Promises a different format | Set B4 to CSV |
| Support | email [A5] | chat [B5] | Directs users to the wrong channel | Set B5 to email |
| Retention | 30 days [A6] | 90 days [B6] | Overstates retention | Set B6 to 30 days |

## Two matching controls
| Field | Reference | Draft | Result |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Currency | USD [A7] | USD [B7] | Equal; retain |
| Region | US [A8] | US [B8] | Equal; retain |

Reconciliation: 8 compared fields = 6 mismatches + 2 matches; no missing fields in the supplied excerpts. Corrections follow A, not assumptions about a real product.