What they type must name the thing being destroyed
Aliases: type the resource name · matching confirmation · object identity
What it is
For typing to do any checking, the string must be this object’s identity: the repository name, the account email, the project title—not a generic word such as “delete” or “confirm.” Once a generic word is practiced, typed confirmation collapses back into another automatable beat. This entry is about what must match. It is not about why typing is required, and not about how rare the method should be.
Why it happens
While typing, people retrieve the characters they are about to generate. If the target is a fixed verb, they retrieve the verb, object identity never enters working memory, and a wrong-object mistake is not caught. If the target is this object’s current display name, retrieval pulls the name from the surface into the fingers, and the mistake shows up as a failed match: this is not the one they thought. Internal IDs, hashes, and overlong paths are not identity for the user; matching them is matching noise, people paste, and the check vanishes again. The name must be the one they can point at on the surface, not another code in the backend.
Where it stops holding
Bulk destroy cannot demand forty filenames. Switch to a phrase that states the scope (“these 40 files” plus sample names), or split the act into a disable before irreversibility. When the object name is an unreadable encoding, put a human title on the confirm surface and type that title. Ignore case and trimming so the check is not a spelling test. If the object was just renamed and the surface still shows the old name, matching deadlocks—use the name currently shown.
Applying it
- The typed target equals the display name shown in large type on the confirm surface, and submit stays inert until it matches.
- Ban object-free words such as “delete” or “confirm” as targets; once they appear on several paths they get practiced.
- For batches, type a phrase that includes count and object type, and show at least a few real names to check against.
- Verify by attempting to destroy a similarly named object on purpose. If typing a generic word still submits, the match is not pinned to the object.