ProvelyNo. Observability records what your system did: traces, logs, metrics. Outcome verification reads the external system and decides whether the promised outcome happened. A trace shows a 200 response for a refund that never settled.
| Aspect | Observability | Outcome verification |
|---|---|---|
| Question | What happened inside my system? | Did the promised outcome happen in the external system? |
| Evidence | Your own spans, logs, metrics | Provider readback, provider events, independent systems (E2 to E5) |
| Unit | A request, a span | An operation against a completion contract |
| Result | A dashboard, an alert | A verdict and a signed receipt |
| Gate | None. It observes | Yes. An agent cannot say "done" without VERIFIED |
| Pre-existing state | Not a concern | Must not verify. Correlation is mandatory |
When is observability the right tool?
Use observability for latency, errors, and the path a request took through your services. Use outcome verification when an agent makes a side-effecting call and must not say "done" until the provider proves it.
Questions developers ask
Can I build verification from my traces?
A trace records your side of the call. It cannot record that Stripe moved the money four seconds later. Verification needs a provider readback or event, correlated to the operation.
Does Provely replace my observability stack?
No. Provely emits request ids, structured logs, and spans into your stack. It adds the verdict, which observability never produces.