Testing Strategy

Use this skill during Stage 3 design to make the verification model explicit before implementation begins.

Current Project Context

System Architecture

!cat docs/03-design/system-architecture.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No system architecture found."

Components

!cat docs/03-design/01-components.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No components artifact found."

Interfaces

!cat docs/03-design/02-interfaces.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No interfaces artifact found."

Technology Choices

!cat docs/03-design/03-technology-choices.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No technology choices artifact found."

Existing Testing Strategy

!cat docs/03-design/05-testing-strategy.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No existing testing strategy found - starting fresh."

Interaction Pattern

1. Review the project architecture and its meaningful boundaries.
   • Testing layers should reflect actual risk boundaries, not generic categories pasted in by habit.
2. Define each test layer the project needs.
   • For each layer, state its purpose, tool, when it runs, and what it does not cover.
3. Justify what is included and excluded.
   • Not every project needs every layer.
   • If a layer is omitted, say why that omission is acceptable.
4. Define where acceptance criteria live.
   • Acceptance criteria do not live in the testing strategy.
   • Feature docs own integration criteria.
   • Story docs own component-level criteria.
5. Define the test execution workflow.
   • Describe the inner loop, pre-commit, pre-merge, CI, and any other important gates.
6. Document constraints and tradeoffs.
   • Real DB versus mocks, browser automation choices, cost/speed tradeoffs, and environment needs should be made explicit.
7. Present the testing strategy for approval.
   • Do not treat the verification model as settled until a human reviews it.

Common Layers Reference

These are guidance, not a mandatory checklist:

• Unit: single function or logic path, no I/O
• Contract: cross-module boundary agreement such as schemas, payloads, or formats
• Integration: real interfaces and infrastructure boundaries
• End-to-end / Smoke: user-facing workflow across the full stack
• Performance: latency, throughput, or resource-constraint verification

Outputs

Produce or update these artifacts as needed:

• docs/03-design/05-testing-strategy.md

Use the template in this skill directory when scaffolding or substantially reshaping the testing strategy.

Gate

Human approval is required before treating the testing strategy as settled.