- Do not finish with tiny, cropped-wrong, off-bottom, or sidebar-heavy GIFs.

- Do not invent a generic proof. The proof must match the PR behavior.

- Do not force GIFs for internal-only, workflow-only, test-only, docs-only, or

otherwise non-visual PRs. A no-visual-proof manifest is a successful outcome

when GIFs would be misleading.

otherwise non-visual PRs. A no-visual-proof manifest is a successful workflow

outcome when GIFs would be misleading, but it is not proof that the PR passed.

- Keep public-facing manifest summaries short and user-domain. Do not mention

harness internals, mock-provider limits, secret/trust boundaries, local paths,

transcript seeding, or workflow implementation details in the summary.

Inputs are provided as environment variables:

before/after. If it does not, write

`${MANTIS_OUTPUT_DIR}/mantis-evidence.json` with `comparison.pass: true`, no

artifacts, and a summary that starts with

`Mantis did not generate before/after GIFs because`. Include the concrete

reason in the summary. Use this manifest shape and do not create worktrees

or start Crabbox for this case:

`Mantis did not generate before/after GIFs because`. Include a short

public reason, such as `the PR changes internal session bookkeeping rather

than Telegram-visible behavior`. Use this manifest shape and do not create

worktrees or start Crabbox for this case:

```json

{

}

```

If the PR appears visual but proof is blocked by Telegram Desktop session

state, authorization, credentials, Crabbox, or another capture-infrastructure

issue, do not describe it as a no-visual PR. Write a manifest with

`comparison.pass: false`, skipped lanes, no artifacts, and a summary that

starts with `Mantis could not capture Telegram Desktop proof because`. The

publisher will keep that out of PR comments so the failure stays in the

workflow logs and artifacts.

4. Decide what Telegram message, mock model response, command, callback, button,

media, or sequence best proves the PR. Use `MANTIS_INSTRUCTIONS` as extra

maintainer guidance, not as a replacement for reading the PR.

`Main` and `This PR`.

- No-visual-proof manifests contain no artifacts and have `comparison.pass:

true`.

- Capture-infrastructure failure manifests contain no artifacts and have

`comparison.pass: false`.

- The worktree can be dirty only under `.artifacts/`.