{"record":{"id":"0f2442eb7d0c8f8b","repo":"rohitg00/ai-engineering-from-scratch","slug":"refused-to-start-verify-override-secret-is-unset","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"refused to start: VERIFY_OVERRIDE_SECRET is unset. Set the env var, or pass VERIFY_DEMO_MODE=1 to run the lesson demo only.","messagePattern":"refused to start: VERIFY_OVERRIDE_SECRET is unset\\. Set the env var, or pass VERIFY_DEMO_MODE=1 to run the lesson demo only\\.","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"RuntimeError","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"phases/14-agent-engineering/38-verification-gates/code/main.py","lineNumber":47,"sourceCode":"# Audit secret used to sign override entries. In production read from a secrets\n# manager. Fail closed: only fall back to a demo secret when VERIFY_DEMO_MODE=1\n# is set explicitly, and shout about it so it cannot land in CI by accident.\n_OVERRIDE_SECRET_ENV = \"VERIFY_OVERRIDE_SECRET\"\n_DEMO_MODE_ENV = \"VERIFY_DEMO_MODE\"\n\n\ndef _load_override_secret() -> str:\n    secret = os.environ.get(_OVERRIDE_SECRET_ENV)\n    if secret:\n        return secret\n    if os.environ.get(_DEMO_MODE_ENV) == \"1\":\n        print(\n            f\"WARNING: {_OVERRIDE_SECRET_ENV} unset and {_DEMO_MODE_ENV}=1; \"\n            \"using insecure demo secret. Do not record real overrides in this mode.\",\n            file=sys.stderr,\n        )\n        return \"demo-override-secret-do-not-ship\"\n    raise RuntimeError(\n        f\"refused to start: {_OVERRIDE_SECRET_ENV} is unset. \"\n        f\"Set the env var, or pass {_DEMO_MODE_ENV}=1 to run the lesson demo only.\"\n    )\n\n\n@dataclass\nclass Finding:\n    code: str\n    severity: str\n    detail: str\n\n\n@dataclass\nclass Artifacts:\n    task_id: str\n    acceptance_commands: list[str]\n    feedback: list[dict[str, object]]\n    scope_report: dict[str, object]","sourceCodeStart":29,"sourceCodeEnd":65,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/rohitg00/ai-engineering-from-scratch/blob/39ea8a1c6d0b61f071226eff7ede4d4105fed820/phases/14-agent-engineering/38-verification-gates/code/main.py#L29-L65","documentation":"Error \"refused to start: VERIFY_OVERRIDE_SECRET is unset. Set the env var, or pass VERIFY_DEMO_MODE=1 to run the lesson demo only.\" thrown in rohitg00/ai-engineering-from-scratch.","triggerScenarios":"Thrown at phases/14-agent-engineering/38-verification-gates/code/main.py:47 when the library encounters an invalid state.","commonSituations":"See trigger scenarios.","solutions":[],"exampleFix":null,"handlingStrategy":null,"validationCode":null,"typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":null,"preventionTips":[],"tags":[],"backgroundTag":null,"analyzedSha":"39ea8a1c6d0b61f071226eff7ede4d4105fed820","analyzedAt":"2026-08-26T03:13:46.626Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-26T07:17:17.940Z"}