App User Story QA

Purpose

Use this skill to turn a broad "test every feature in this app" request into a controlled loop with one source of truth. Anchor every feature to code, track expected behavior in a canonical spreadsheet, run tests against each user story, and classify failures. Apply fixes only when the current request explicitly authorizes them.

Route

Use plan_first for most runs. Switch to clarify_first only when the app boundary, writable checkout, production risk, or acceptance criteria are unclear enough that a wrong assumption would waste substantial work.

Before editing:

1. Run a repo state snapshot: current path, branch, latest remote, dirty files, open PRs when relevant.
2. If the checkout is dirty or user work is present, first decide which state the user asked to test. Preserve current user work in the isolated test worktree when the request targets the working tree; use a clean base only when the user asked for the base branch.
3. Read applicable repo instructions such as AGENTS.md, README, architecture docs, and feature entrypoints.
4. Search for existing QA trackers before creating a new one.
5. Define the app boundary by user-facing surfaces, not internal helper functions.

Operating Contract

Select one mode before editing production code:

• report_only is the default for audit, inventory, test, diagnose, or tracker requests. It may create or update the requested canonical tracker and run tests, but it must not change product behavior.
• apply_fixes requires the current user request to explicitly ask for fixes. It covers only defects already reproduced and classified within the agreed app boundary. Earlier approval and a generic request to "test everything" do not authorize fixes.

If the mode is ambiguous, use report_only and record proposed fixes in the tracker.

Direct actions:

• Inventory local code and docs, create or update the single canonical tracker, run local tests, and document failures.
• In apply_fixes only, fix narrow in-scope logistical or UX defects and add focused coverage when user-observable behavior changes.

Escalate before:

• Testing production systems, using paid external services, changing credentials or deployment state, deleting user data, or broadening the app boundary beyond the user's request.
• Editing shared test infrastructure, weakening assertions, or changing product requirements instead of the implementation.

Evidence-backed pushback:

• Challenge requests to skip the tracker, mark untested rows as passed, or fix symptoms without reproducing the failure. Cite the tracker row, command output, code anchor, or missing environment precondition.

Feedback loop:

• Promote repeated setup failures, brittle manual paths, or recurring test gaps into tracker notes, scripts, docs, or follow-up issues instead of leaving them only in chat.

Gotchas

• Do not create scattered notes or duplicate trackers. One canonical tracker is the audit log.
• Do not invent expected behavior from product hopes. Expected behavior comes from current code, docs, and visible user surfaces.
• Do not mark a feature passed from stale output. Fresh evidence from the current session is required.
• Do not "fix" environment blockers unless the user asked for environment repair.
• Do not infer fix authorization from words such as "audit", "test", "check", or "create a tracker". Keep those runs in report_only.

Canonical Tracker

Create or update exactly one tracker. Prefer a real spreadsheet when the runtime supports it; otherwise use a CSV and treat it as the canonical spreadsheet. Do not scatter status across side reports.

Use these columns:

Feature ID,Surface,Feature / capability,User story,Expected behavior based on code,Code anchors,Initial test approach,Initial test command or route,Status,Test result,Errors,Fix status,Retest result,Notes

Rules:

• Assign stable IDs such as F001, F002.
• Require at least one code anchor per row. A row without an anchor is not complete.
• Write expected behavior from current code and docs, not from aspirational specs.
• Keep the tracker parseable: validate CSV/spreadsheet row widths after edits.
• Update the tracker during the loop, not only at the end.

Status Values

Use a small, consistent status set:

• Not Tested
• Passed
• Failed - Product
• Failed - UX
• Failed - Logistical
• Failed - Test Infra
• Blocked - Env
• Fixed
• Passed after fix

Use Failed - Logistical for repo-owned setup, script, port, packaging, or local workflow defects that block a valid user path. Use Blocked - Env for local machine issues such as missing credentials, occupied services outside the repo, stale PATH binaries, or unavailable optional runtimes. Do not "fix" the user's environment unless they explicitly ask.

Defect Taxonomy

Classify every failure before fixing:

• Product: implemented behavior violates the user story or loses data.
• UX: behavior works but the user path is confusing, brittle, or poorly surfaced.
• Logistical: scripts, ports, setup, packaging, or local workflow make valid behavior hard to exercise.
• Test Infra: the test itself is flaky, racy, or asserts the wrong contract.
• Env: external setup blocks execution and is not a repo defect.

Fix only defects that are in scope for the task. Record out-of-scope defects in the tracker with clear rationale.

Workflow

1. Inventory

Map all user-visible surfaces first:

• CLI commands and flags
• Web or desktop UI routes
• API endpoints
• background jobs or hooks that affect users
• plugin, package, install, or release surfaces
• import/export, backup, migration, and governance flows

For each feature, record the user story as:

As a <user>, I want <capability>, so <outcome>.

Keep stories practical. Do not create rows for private helpers unless the user can observe the behavior through a surface.

2. Test

For every tracker row, choose the strongest feasible evidence:

• direct smoke test for the user path
• focused unit or integration test for the exact contract
• broad regression suite when a feature is already covered there
• manual or browser test when automation is missing

Record the command, route, or manual steps in the tracker. Fresh output from the current session is required before marking a row passed.

3. Fix

In report_only, record the reproduced defect, evidence, and proposed fix, then continue testing without editing production code.

In apply_fixes, state the exact defect and files being changed before editing. Keep fixes narrow:

• For UX defects, fix production code and add or update focused coverage.
• For product defects, record the evidence and escalate unless the user's request explicitly authorizes product behavior fixes.
• For logistical defects, improve scripts, defaults, setup checks, or error messages.
• For test-infra defects, preserve the behavior contract and fix the fixture or race.
• Do not weaken assertions to make the suite pass.

Stop and re-evaluate after three failed attempts on the same defect.

4. Retest

After each fix:

1. Rerun the focused failing test or smoke.
2. Rerun the relevant broader gate for the touched surface.
3. Update Fix status and Retest result.
4. Keep the original error text or summary in Errors so the tracker remains an audit log.

Before completion, run the repo's required formatting, build, typecheck, lint, and test commands when practical.

Completion Gate

Finish only when:

• every feature row has a user story, expected behavior, code anchors, and a status;
• every Failed row is fixed and retested in apply_fixes, or is explicitly recorded as proposed, out of scope, or blocked with evidence in report_only;
• every applied fix has a retest result;
• the tracker validates structurally;
• the final answer names the tracker path, changed files, defects found, fixes made, and verification commands.

If the repo has existing dirty work that is not yours, mention the isolated worktree or scope boundary in the final answer.