How 'discuss' and 'verify' checkpoints improve AI-assisted coding in mini framework

The mini development framework introduces two human-in-the-loop checkpoints — 'discuss' and 'verify' — designed to catch gaps that automated testing cannot. The 'discuss' command runs before planning a phase, prompting structured conversation about design decisions without writing any code, and saves conclusions to a markdown file for later steps to reference. During the building of pycalc's parser, this surfaced critical decisions such as how to handle end-of-input error positions and whether to build an AST, preventing costly mid-implementation surprises. The 'verify' checkpoint runs after tests pass, inviting a human to review output quality — such as the readability of CLI error messages — that automated tests cannot assess. Together, the two checkpoints sit symmetrically around the core development loop, each producing a persistent record that informs subsequent automated steps.