diff --git a/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-phase.md b/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-phase.md
index 7810cfcf..e5b0c71d 100644
--- a/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-phase.md
+++ b/get-shit-done/workflows/verify-phase.md
@@ -374,9 +374,34 @@ If a requirement specifies a quantity of test cases (e.g., "30 calculations"), c
 </step>
 
 <step name="identify_human_verification">
-**Always needs human:** Visual appearance, user flow completion, real-time behavior (WebSocket/SSE), external service integration, performance feel, error message clarity.
+**First: determine if this is an infrastructure/foundation phase.**
 
-**Needs human if uncertain:** Complex wiring grep can't trace, dynamic state-dependent behavior, edge cases.
+Infrastructure and foundation phases — code foundations, database schema, internal APIs, data models, build tooling, CI/CD, internal service integrations — have no user-facing elements by definition. For these phases:
+
+- Do NOT invent artificial manual steps (e.g., "manually run git commits", "manually invoke methods", "manually check database state").
+- Mark human verification as **N/A** with rationale: "Infrastructure/foundation phase — no user-facing elements to test manually."
+- Set `human_verification: []` and do **not** produce a `human_needed` status solely due to lack of user-facing features.
+- Only add human verification items if the phase goal or success criteria explicitly describe something a user would interact with (UI, CLI command output visible to end users, external service UX).
+
+**How to determine if a phase is infrastructure/foundation:**
+- Phase goal or name contains: "foundation", "infrastructure", "schema", "database", "internal API", "data model", "scaffolding", "pipeline", "tooling", "CI", "migrations", "service layer", "backend", "core library"
+- Phase success criteria describe only technical artifacts (files exist, tests pass, schema is valid) with no user interaction required
+- There is no UI, CLI output visible to end users, or real-time behavior to observe
+
+**If the phase IS infrastructure/foundation:** auto-pass UAT — skip the human verification items list entirely. Log:
+
+```markdown
+## Human Verification
+
+N/A — Infrastructure/foundation phase with no user-facing elements.
+All acceptance criteria are verifiable programmatically.
+```
+
+**If the phase IS user-facing:** Only flag items that genuinely require a human. Do not invent steps.
+
+**Always needs human (user-facing phases only):** Visual appearance, user flow completion, real-time behavior (WebSocket/SSE), external service integration, performance feel, error message clarity.
+
+**Needs human if uncertain (user-facing phases only):** Complex wiring grep can't trace, dynamic state-dependent behavior, edge cases.
 
 Format each as: Test Name → What to do → Expected result → Why can't verify programmatically.
 </step>
diff --git a/tests/bug-2504-uat-foundation-phases.test.cjs b/tests/bug-2504-uat-foundation-phases.test.cjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c46edb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/bug-2504-uat-foundation-phases.test.cjs
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+/**
+ * Regression test for bug #2504
+ *
+ * When UAT testing is mandated and a phase has no user-facing elements
+ * (e.g., code foundations, database schema, internal APIs), the agent
+ * invented artificial UAT steps — things like "manually run git commits",
+ * "manually invoke methods", "manually check database state" — and left
+ * work half-finished specifically to create things for a human to do.
+ *
+ * Fix: The verify-phase workflow's identify_human_verification step must
+ * explicitly handle phases with no user-facing elements by auto-passing UAT
+ * with a logged rationale instead of inventing manual steps.
+ */
+
+'use strict';
+
+const { test, describe } = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const VERIFY_PHASE_PATH = path.join(
+  __dirname, '..', 'get-shit-done', 'workflows', 'verify-phase.md'
+);
+
+/**
+ * Extract a named section from a markdown/workflow document.
+ * Returns the text from `heading` up to (but not including) the next `## ` heading,
+ * or to end-of-file if no subsequent heading exists.
+ */
+function extractSection(content, heading) {
+  const start = content.indexOf(heading);
+  if (start === -1) return '';
+  const nextHeading = content.indexOf('\n## ', start + 1);
+  return nextHeading === -1 ? content.slice(start) : content.slice(start, nextHeading);
+}
+
+describe('bug #2504: UAT auto-pass for foundation/infrastructure phases', () => {
+  test('verify-phase workflow file exists', () => {
+    assert.ok(
+      fs.existsSync(VERIFY_PHASE_PATH),
+      'get-shit-done/workflows/verify-phase.md should exist'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('identify_human_verification step handles phases with no user-facing elements', () => {
+    const content = fs.readFileSync(VERIFY_PHASE_PATH, 'utf-8');
+    const section = extractSection(content, 'identify_human_verification');
+    // The step must explicitly call out the infrastructure/foundation case
+    const hasInfrastructureHandling =
+      section.includes('infrastructure') ||
+      section.includes('foundation') ||
+      section.includes('no user-facing') ||
+      section.includes('no user facing') ||
+      section.includes('internal API') ||
+      section.includes('internal APIs') ||
+      section.includes('database schema') ||
+      section.includes('code foundation');
+
+    assert.ok(
+      hasInfrastructureHandling,
+      'verify-phase.md identify_human_verification step must explicitly handle ' +
+      'infrastructure/foundation phases that have no user-facing elements. Without ' +
+      'this, agents invent artificial manual steps to satisfy UAT requirements ' +
+      '(root cause of #2504).'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow includes auto-pass or skip UAT language for non-user-facing phases', () => {
+    const content = fs.readFileSync(VERIFY_PHASE_PATH, 'utf-8');
+    const section = extractSection(content, 'identify_human_verification');
+    const hasAutoPass =
+      section.includes('auto-pass') ||
+      section.includes('auto pass') ||
+      section.includes('automatically pass') ||
+      section.includes('skip UAT') ||
+      section.includes('skip the UAT') ||
+      section.includes('UAT does not apply') ||
+      section.includes('UAT not applicable') ||
+      section.includes('no UAT required');
+
+    assert.ok(
+      hasAutoPass,
+      'verify-phase.md identify_human_verification step must contain language about ' +
+      'auto-passing or skipping UAT for phases without user-facing elements. Agents ' +
+      'must not invent manual steps when there is nothing user-facing to test ' +
+      '(root cause of #2504).'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow prohibits inventing artificial manual steps for infrastructure phases', () => {
+    const content = fs.readFileSync(VERIFY_PHASE_PATH, 'utf-8');
+    const section = extractSection(content, 'identify_human_verification');
+    // The workflow must tell the agent NOT to invent steps when there's nothing to test.
+    // Look for explicit prohibition or the inverse: "do not invent" or "must not create"
+    // or equivalent framing like "only require human testing when..."
+    const hasProhibition =
+      section.includes('do not invent') ||
+      section.includes('must not invent') ||
+      section.includes('never invent') ||
+      section.includes('Do not invent') ||
+      section.includes('Must not invent') ||
+      section.includes('Never invent') ||
+      section.includes('only require human') ||
+      section.includes('only add human') ||
+      (section.includes('only flag') && section.includes('user-facing')) ||
+      // Or via "N/A" framing
+      (section.includes('N/A') && (
+        section.includes('infrastructure') ||
+        section.includes('foundation') ||
+        section.includes('no user-facing')
+      ));
+
+    assert.ok(
+      hasProhibition,
+      'verify-phase.md identify_human_verification step must explicitly prohibit ' +
+      'inventing artificial manual UAT steps for infrastructure phases. The current ' +
+      'wording causes agents to create fake "manually run git commits" steps to ' +
+      'satisfy UAT mandates (root cause of #2504).'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('workflow includes a concept of N/A or not-applicable UAT state', () => {
+    const content = fs.readFileSync(VERIFY_PHASE_PATH, 'utf-8');
+    const section = extractSection(content, 'identify_human_verification');
+    const hasNaState =
+      section.includes('N/A') ||
+      section.includes('not applicable') ||
+      section.includes('not_applicable') ||
+      section.includes('no_uat') ||
+      section.includes('uat_not_applicable') ||
+      section.includes('infrastructure phase') ||
+      section.includes('foundation phase');
+
+    assert.ok(
+      hasNaState,
+      'verify-phase.md identify_human_verification step must include some concept of ' +
+      'a "not applicable" or N/A UAT state for phases with no user-facing elements. ' +
+      'This prevents agents from blocking phase completion on invented manual steps ' +
+      '(root cause of #2504).'
+    );
+  });
+});