Skills

aid-design-test

Frontmatter

name — aid-design-test
description — Develop a test design as a DESIGN SEED in .aid/design/test.md — the units under test, the cases, and the framework and fixtures. Use this skill when what a test should actually assert is still being worked out. Grounded in the Knowledge Base (.aid/knowledge/) and the project source. It WRITES NO production code and NO KB document — realize the seed into authored tests with /aid-create-test once it is ready. To design the testing policy rather than specific tests, use /aid-design-testing-strategy; to RUN existing suites rather than design them, use /aid-test. Produced by the aid-architect agent and independently verified by aid-reviewer (full verify). Allocates a work-NNN folder.
allowed-tools — Read, Glob, Grep, Bash, Write, Edit, Agent
argument-hint — <subject> — the tests to design (units under test, cases, framework/fixtures)

Definition: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md

Flow

flowchart TB
  classDef aidNode color:#fff
  classDef aidEntry fill:#166534,stroke:#14532d,color:#fff
  classDef aidExit fill:#991b1b,stroke:#7f1d1d,color:#fff
  classDef aidDecision fill:#92400e,stroke:#78350f,color:#fff
  classDef aidLoopBack fill:#1e3a8a,stroke:#1e3a8a,color:#fff
  classDef aidStep fill:#1a2035,stroke:#d4a853,color:#f1f5f9
  n1(["INTAKE"])
  n2["DESIGN"]
  n3["VERIFY"]
  n4["PRESENT<br/>hard stop -- the user decides"]
  n5(["DONE"])
  n1 --> n2
  n2 --> n3
  n3 -.-> n2
  n3 --> n4
  n4 --> n5
  class n1 aidEntry
  class n2 aidStep
  class n3 aidLoopBack
  class n4 aidStep
  class n5 aidExit
  class n1 aidNode
  class n2 aidNode
  class n3 aidNode
  class n4 aidNode
  class n5 aidNode

Source fragments

Every node in the chart above, in chart order, with the exact canonical/ text it was derived from.

1 · INTAKE · entry

## State: INTAKE

1. **Require a subject.** Empty argument -> ask one bootstrapping question ("What tests do
   you want to design -- the units under test, the cases, and the framework?") and wait.
2. **Allocate** through the Work Initiation Gate exactly as the contract's Allocation rule
   requires (`canonical/skills/aid-design/SKILL.md` INTAKE step 4 is the shape), with
   `initiator: aid-design-test`. `phase` is not driven.
3. **Acquire `.aid/design/`** per the contract, then read `.aid/design/test.md` if a prior
   seed exists -- re-invocation iterates it rather than starting over.
4. **Classify complexity** for the `aid-architect` dispatch (verifier tier >= producer).

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L38-L47 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L38-L49

2 · DESIGN · step

## State: DESIGN

Dispatch **`aid-architect`** (clean context, tiered) to write or iterate
`.aid/design/test.md` in the seed shape the contract fixes (`design-seed.md`;
feature-002 §4), grounded in `.aid/knowledge/` and the project source plus any seed read
in INTAKE. What this artifact's seed must settle: **the units under test, the cases, and
the framework and fixtures**; its `## Destination` names where the authored tests land.
**Never writes `.aid/knowledge/` and never writes production code** -- the `design`
invariant (`design-lifecycle.md`).

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L53-L61 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L53-L63

3 · VERIFY · loop-back

## State: VERIFY

**Full verify**, as `design-lifecycle.md` defines it. Not clean -> loop to DESIGN; the
3-cycle circuit breaker there escalates to IMPEDIMENT + `lifecycle: Blocked`.

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L67-L70 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L67-L72

4 · PRESENT — hard stop — the user decides · step

## State: PRESENT (hard stop -- the user decides)

Set `lifecycle: Paused-Awaiting-Input`. Present the seed clearly. Assert no resolution --
the user iterates (re-invoke this skill) or realizes it now (`/aid-create-test`).

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L76-L79 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L76-L81

5 · DONE · exit · UNSPECIFIED

## State: DONE

Set `lifecycle: Completed`, `updated` now, append a `## Lifecycle History` row. The seed
persists at `.aid/design/test.md`; consumption happens at `/aid-create-test`.

Source: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L85-L88 · full step: canonical/skills/aid-design-test/SKILL.md#L85-L88

Report an issue with this page →