feat: let verify fail on a missing required file

scripts/pipeline.py

@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ def main():
     all_ok = _truth_steps(args, results) and all_ok
 
     # Step 3: Verify
-    verify_cmd = [sys.executable, "scripts/verify.py", "--all"]
+    verify_cmd = [sys.executable, "scripts/verify.py", "--all", "--strict"]
     if args.include_archived:
         verify_cmd.append("--include-archived")
     if args.target:

scripts/verify.py

@@ -2064,6 +2064,11 @@ def main():
         help="Show emulator ground truth details",
     )
     parser.add_argument("--json", action="store_true", help="JSON output")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--strict",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Exit 1 when a platform that checks hashes misses a required file",
+    )
     args = parser.parse_args()
     if args.platform:
         require_platform(args.platform, args.platforms_dir)
@@ -2190,12 +2195,33 @@ def main():
         for result, group in group_results:
             print_platform_result(result, group, verbose=args.verbose)
             print()
+        if len(group_results) > 1:
+            print(_overall_summary(group_results))
 
     if args.json:
         for r in all_results.values():
             r["details"] = [d for d in r["details"] if d["status"] != Status.OK]
         print(json.dumps(all_results, indent=2))
 
+    critical = sum(r["severity_counts"].get(Severity.CRITICAL, 0) for r, _ in group_results)
+    if args.strict and critical:
+        print(f"ERROR: {critical} required file(s) missing where the frontend "
+              "checks hashes", file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+
+def _overall_summary(group_results: list[tuple[dict, list[str]]]) -> str:
+    """One closing line for a multi-platform run, worst severity first."""
+    platforms = sum(len(group) for _, group in group_results)
+    totals = {
+        sev: sum(r["severity_counts"].get(sev, 0) for r, _ in group_results)
+        for sev in (Severity.CRITICAL, Severity.WARNING, Severity.INFO)
+    }
+    return (
+        f"{platforms} platforms: {totals[Severity.CRITICAL]} critical, "
+        f"{totals[Severity.WARNING]} warning, {totals[Severity.INFO]} info"
+    )
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()

tests/test_system_selection.py

@@ -111,5 +111,40 @@ class AMistypedPlatformIsNamed(unittest.TestCase):
                 self.assertIn("Did you mean 'batocera'?", proc.stderr)
         self.assertFalse(out.exists())
 
+
+class StrictVerifyFailsOnACriticalMiss(unittest.TestCase):
+    """verify exited 0 with a required file missing on an md5 platform, so
+    the pipeline printed "verify OK" over a pack the frontend rejects."""
+
+    def test_strict_exits_nonzero_and_plain_does_not(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory(dir=REPO_ROOT / "tmp") as tmp:
+            root = Path(tmp)
+            (root / "plat").mkdir()
+            (root / "emu").mkdir()
+            (root / "plat" / "fx.yml").write_text(
+                "platform: Fx\nverification_mode: md5\nbase_destination: bios\n"
+                "systems:\n  sony-playstation:\n    files:\n    - name: absent.bin\n"
+                "      destination: absent.bin\n      required: true\n"
+                "      md5: 00000000000000000000000000000000\n"
+            )
+            (root / "db.json").write_text(
+                '{"files": {}, "indexes": {"by_md5": {}, "by_name": {}, '
+                '"by_crc32": {}, "by_path_suffix": {}}}'
+            )
+            base = [sys.executable, "scripts/verify.py", "--platform", "fx",
+                    "--platforms-dir", str(root / "plat"), "--emulators-dir",
+                    str(root / "emu"), "--db", str(root / "db.json")]
+            plain = subprocess.run(base, capture_output=True, text=True,
+                                   cwd=str(REPO_ROOT), timeout=300, check=False)
+            strict = subprocess.run([*base, "--strict"], capture_output=True, text=True,
+                                    cwd=str(REPO_ROOT), timeout=300, check=False)
+        self.assertEqual(plain.returncode, 0, plain.stderr)
+        self.assertEqual(strict.returncode, 1, strict.stderr)
+        self.assertIn("1 required file(s) missing", strict.stderr)
+
+    def test_the_pipeline_asks_for_it(self):
+        source = (REPO_ROOT / "scripts" / "pipeline.py").read_text()
+        self.assertIn('"scripts/verify.py", "--all", "--strict"', source)
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()

wiki/tools.md

@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ Check BIOS coverage for each platform using its native verification mode.
 
 ```bash
 python scripts/verify.py --all                     # all platforms
+python scripts/verify.py --all --strict            # exit 1 on a missing required file (md5/sha1 platforms)
 python scripts/verify.py --platform batocera       # single platform
 python scripts/verify.py --platform retroarch --verbose  # with ground truth details
 python scripts/verify.py --emulator dolphin        # single emulator