Test Evidence Review

Test Evidence Review

/smoke-check verifies that test files exist and pass. This skill goes further — it reviews the quality of those tests and evidence documents. A test file that exists and passes may still leave critical behaviour uncovered. A manual evidence doc that exists may lack the sign-offs required for closure.

Output: Summary report (in conversation) + optional production/qa/evidence-review-[date].md

When to run:

• Before QA hand-off sign-off (/team-qa Phase 5)
• On any story where test quality is in question
• As part of milestone review for Logic and Integration story quality audit

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1. Parse Arguments

Modes:

• /test-evidence-review [story-path] — review a single story's evidence
• /test-evidence-review sprint — review all stories in the current sprint
• /test-evidence-review [system-name] — review all stories in an epic/system
• No argument — ask which scope: "Single story", "Current sprint", "A system"

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2. Load Stories in Scope

Based on the argument:

Single story: Read the story file directly. Extract: Story Type, Test Evidence section, story slug, system name.

Sprint: Read the most recently modified file in production/sprints/. Extract the list of story file paths from the sprint plan. Read each story file.

System: Glob production/epics/[system-name]/story-*.md. Read each.

For each story, collect:

• Type: field (Logic / Integration / Visual/Feel / UI / Config/Data)
• ## Test Evidence section — the stated expected test file path or evidence doc
• Story slug (from file name)
• System name (from directory path)
• Acceptance Criteria list (all checkbox items)

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3. Locate Evidence Files

For each story, find the evidence:

Logic stories: Glob tests/unit/[system]/[story-slug]_test.*

• If not found, also try: Grep in tests/unit/[system]/ for files containing the story slug

Integration stories: Glob tests/integration/[system]/[story-slug]_test.*

• Also check production/session-logs/ for playtest records mentioning the story

Visual/Feel and UI stories: Glob production/qa/evidence/[story-slug]-evidence.*

Config/Data stories: Glob production/qa/smoke-*.md (any smoke check report)

Note what was found (path) or not found (gap) for each story.

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4. Review Automated Test Quality (Logic / Integration)

For each test file found, read it and evaluate:

Assertion coverage

Count the number of distinct assertions (lines containing assert, expect, check, verify, or engine-specific assertion patterns). Low assertion count is a quality signal — a test that makes only 1 assertion per test function may not cover the range of expected behaviour.

Thresholds:

• 3+ assertions per test function → normal
• 1-2 assertions per test function → note as potentially thin
• 0 assertions (test exists but no asserts) → flag as BLOCKING — the test passes vacuously and proves nothing

Edge case coverage

For each acceptance criterion in the story that contains a number, threshold, or "when X happens" conditional: check whether a test function name or test body references that specific case.

Heuristics:

• Grep test file for "zero", "max", "null", "empty", "min", "invalid", "boundary", "edge" — presence of any is a positive signal
• If the story has a Formulas section with specific bounds: check whether tests exercise at minimum/maximum values

Naming quality

Test function names should describe: the scenario + the expected result. Pattern: test_[scenario]_[expected_outcome]

Flag functions named generically (test_1, test_run, testBasic) as naming issues — they make failures harder to diagnose.

Formula traceability

For Logic stories where the GDD has a Formulas section: check that the test file contains at least one test whose name or comment references the formula name or a formula value. A test that exercises a formula without mentioning it by name is harder to maintain when the formula changes.

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5. Review Manual Evidence Quality (Visual/Feel / UI)

For each evidence document found, read it and evaluate:

Criterion linkage

The evidence doc should reference each acceptance criterion from the story. Check: does the evidence doc contain each criterion (or a clear rephrasing)? Missing criteria mean a criterion was never verified.

Sign-off completeness

Check for three sign-off lines (or equivalent fields):

• Developer sign-off
• Designer / art-lead sign-off (for Visual/Feel)
• QA lead sign-off

If any are missing or blank: flag as INCOMPLETE — the story cannot be fully closed without all required sign-offs.

Screenshot / artefact completeness

For Visual/Feel stories: check whether screenshot file paths are referenced in the evidence doc. If referenced, Glob for them to confirm they exist.

For UI stories: check whether a walkthrough sequence (step-by-step interaction log) is present.

Date coverage

Evidence doc should have a date. If the date is earlier than the story's last major change (heuristic: compare against sprint start date from the sprint plan), flag as POTENTIALLY STALE — the evidence may not cover the final implementation.

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6. Build the Review Report

For each story, assign a verdict:

Verdict	Meaning
ADEQUATE	Test/evidence exists, passes quality checks, all criteria covered
INCOMPLETE	Test/evidence exists but has quality gaps (thin assertions, missing sign-offs)
MISSING	No test or evidence found for a story type that requires it

The overall sprint/system verdict is the worst story verdict present.

## Test Evidence Review

> **Date**: [date]
> **Scope**: [single story path | Sprint [N] | [system name]]
> **Stories reviewed**: [N]
> **Overall verdict**: ADEQUATE / INCOMPLETE / MISSING

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### Story-by-Story Results

#### [Story Title] — [Type] — [ADEQUATE/INCOMPLETE/MISSING]

**Test/evidence path**: `[path]` (found) / (not found)

**Automated test quality** *(Logic/Integration only)*:
- Assertion coverage: [N per function on average] — [adequate / thin / none]
- Edge cases: [covered / partial / not found]
- Naming: [consistent / [N] generic names flagged]
- Formula traceability: [yes / no — formula names not referenced in tests]

**Manual evidence quality** *(Visual/Feel/UI only)*:
- Criterion linkage: [N/M criteria referenced]
- Sign-offs: [Developer ✓ | Designer ✗ | QA Lead ✗]
- Artefacts: [screenshots present / missing / N/A]
- Freshness: [dated [date] — current / potentially stale]

**Issues**:
- BLOCKING: [description] *(prevents story-done)*
- ADVISORY: [description] *(should fix before release)*

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### Summary

| Story | Type | Verdict | Issues |
|-------|------|---------|--------|
| [title] | Logic | ADEQUATE | None |
| [title] | Integration | INCOMPLETE | Thin assertions (avg 1.2/function) |
| [title] | Visual/Feel | INCOMPLETE | QA lead sign-off missing |
| [title] | Logic | MISSING | No test file found |

**BLOCKING items** (must resolve before story can be closed): [N]
**ADVISORY items** (should address before release): [N]

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7. Write Output (Optional)

Present the report in conversation.

Ask: "May I write this test evidence review to production/qa/evidence-review-[date].md?"

This is optional — the report is useful standalone. Write only if the user wants a persistent record.

After the report:

• For BLOCKING items: "These must be resolved before /story-done can mark the story Complete. Would you like to address any of them now?"
• For thin assertions: "Consider running /test-helpers [system] to see scaffolded assertion patterns for common cases."
• For missing sign-offs: "Manual sign-off is required from [role]. Share [evidence-path] with them to complete sign-off."

Verdict: COMPLETE — evidence review finished. Use CONCERNS if BLOCKING items were found.

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Collaborative Protocol

• Report quality issues, do not fix them — this skill reads and evaluates; it does not modify test files or evidence documents
• ADEQUATE means adequate for shipping, not perfect — avoid nitpicking tests that are functioning and comprehensive enough to give confidence
• BLOCKING vs. ADVISORY distinction is important — only flag BLOCKING when the gap leaves a story criterion genuinely unverified
• Ask before writing — the report file is optional; always confirm before writing