Place verification

Status: Proposed 2026-09-24, check-ins implemented 2026-10-24. Disputed is not implemented yet.

A map of vegan places is only as good as its worst entry. A restaurant that dropped its vegan menu six months ago and still shows full costs a member a wasted trip and costs the app trust. The Trick Book has an admin-only verified flag on spot trick history; Vegan Grove needs verification that scales with members and stays anonymous.

Signals

Signal	Source	Weight
Approval	Admin reviewed the submission	Required to appear at all
Check-in	A member visited and confirmed the vegan level (rating optional)	Strong, decays over time
Correction	A member reports "vegan level is wrong" or "closed"	Strong negative, triggers review
Claim	The business claimed the Place and set details	Medium, shown as "claimed"
Source freshness	OSM last-modified date, curated review date	Weak

A Place is specified with three verification states: Verified (a check-in in the last 180 days that agrees with the level), Unverified (no recent agreeing check-in), Disputed (an open correction). The API implements the first two. verification is verified or unverified. Disputed is not implemented yet: a place report has no correction subtype, so an open report is not treated as a dispute, and the place stays on the map with whichever of the two states the check-ins support. There is no member badge, no first-visitor flag, and no leaderboard.

Anonymity

• Check-ins live in place_checkins, one row per member per place per UTC month. The server assigns the month. The client does not send it. userId is stored for that limit and so account deletion can detach the row. The Place page shows checkInCount and latestCheckInMonth, never who.
• The optional rating on a check-in is stored and returned by no route. A review is a separate row in place_reviews. A past visit month belongs on the review as visitedMonth. The handle shows only when that review set showHandle and the account still exists.
• Corrections are reports (reports collection, target type place) and are handled by admins. The reporter is never shown. Filing one does not flip the place to Disputed.
• Admin tooling shows the handle of a reporter only when needed to handle abuse, and never lists them.

Flow

The Verified and Unverified transitions are what the API does today, from places.lastAgreeingCheckInAt and a 180-day window. The Disputed transitions are the design above. They are not implemented yet.

Open questions

• Should a fully vegan place that receives a "now has non-vegan items" correction flip to options automatically after two independent corrections, or always wait for an admin? Proposal: wait for an admin in v1, automate when there is data on false-correction rates.
• Whether businesses that claim a Place can see check-in counts. Proposal: yes, counts only.