test-freshness
Skill2 starsChanged 9 days agoMITView on GitHub
Use when a regression test is added, mocks may have drifted, interfaces change, or green tests conflict with observed behavior.
In this repository15 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- capability-incident-diagnoserSkill
- context-managementSkill
- goal-workflowSkill
- host-cli-usageSkill
- tool-useSkill
- fast-checksSkill
- filesystem-wizardSkill
- lean-codeSkill
- security-boundary-reviewSkill
- portable-shellSkill
- process-debuggingSkill
- brokered-git-operatorSkill
- finalize-loopSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
2 rules. About 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈2
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 12
Look for false reassurance: assertions on setup alone, unused fixtures, mocks that bypass the changed path, or snapshots regenerated …
- Distinctive: line 14
Prefer observable outcomes to matching source text.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Would the test catch the failure?
Trace an important assertion through its fixture or mock to the production behavior. Compare the mocked interface with the real caller's arguments, return values, and failure modes.
Look for false reassurance: assertions on setup alone, unused fixtures, mocks that bypass the changed path, or snapshots regenerated without review. Prefer observable outcomes to matching source text.
Where practical, demonstrate that the regression test fails on the old behavior or a controlled fault. Remove the fault before final verification. Distinguish a stale test from a product defect; repair the contract without relaxing the expected outcome.
A fingerprint proves only that selected bytes match, not that a test detects a bug. Use freshness manifests only at boundaries that need them; keep the expected baseline separate and never regenerate it merely to restore green.
Report the assertion traced, the fault caught or missed, and any remaining coverage gap. Do not present structural fixture validation as an executed end-to-end test.
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