{
  "slug": "proof-assistant-vs-smt",
  "term": "Proof assistant vs SMT-based verifier",
  "tools": [
    "lean4",
    "picus",
    "certora-prover",
    "kani"
  ],
  "definition": "A proof assistant (Lean, Rocq, Isabelle, F*) checks human- or AI-written proofs against a small kernel and can express arbitrary mathematics; an SMT-based verifier (Picus, CIVER, Certora Prover, Kani) discharges properties automatically but only within decidable fragments and may return 'unknown'.",
  "detail": [
    "The practical trade: SMT tools give results in minutes with no proof engineering and no specification (for determinism) but time out on large or nonlinear problems; proof assistants scale to any property and any size at the cost of expert time. Mature pipelines use both: automatic checks first, proofs for what matters most."
  ],
  "page": "https://sorryfree.com/glossary/proof-assistant-vs-smt/",
  "updated": "2026-09-13"
}