Test Implementer

A technology-agnostic skill for test execution and result analysis.

Test Execution Patterns

Execution Strategy

strategy: progressive_execution description: "Run tests in order of feedback speed"

phases: 1_unit_tests: description: "Fast, isolated tests" run_first: true fail_fast: true typical_duration: "seconds"

2_integration_tests: description: "Component interaction tests" run_if: "Unit tests pass" fail_fast: false typical_duration: "seconds to minutes"

3_system_tests: description: "Full system tests" run_if: "Integration tests pass" fail_fast: false typical_duration: "minutes"

4_e2e_tests: description: "End-to-end user flows" run_if: "System tests pass" fail_fast: false typical_duration: "minutes to hours"

Test Selection

selection_patterns: changed_files: description: "Run tests affected by changes" approach: - "Identify modified files" - "Find tests that import/use those files" - "Run only affected tests"

smoke_tests: description: "Critical path verification" use_when: "Quick validation needed" coverage: "Core functionality only"

full_suite: description: "All tests" use_when: - "Pre-merge validation" - "Release preparation" - "Periodic verification"

Failure Classification

Error vs Failure

classification: ERROR: description: "Test couldn't complete execution" causes: - "Missing dependencies" - "Configuration issues" - "Environment problems" - "Syntax/compilation errors" action: "Fix infrastructure before debugging test"

FAILURE: description: "Test ran but assertion didn't pass" causes: - "Code behavior doesn't match expectation" - "Business logic incorrect" - "Edge case not handled" action: "Debug production code or update test"

Failure Categories

failure_categories: assertion_failure: pattern: "Expected X but got Y" analysis: - "Is the expected value correct?" - "Is the production code wrong?" - "Has the requirement changed?"

exception_failure: pattern: "Unexpected exception thrown" analysis: - "What triggered the exception?" - "Is the exception handling missing?" - "Is the test data invalid?"

timeout_failure: pattern: "Test exceeded time limit" analysis: - "Is there an infinite loop?" - "Is external service slow/unavailable?" - "Is the timeout too short?"

setup_failure: pattern: "Fixture/setup failed" analysis: - "Is the database schema current?" - "Are required services running?" - "Is the test data valid?"

Result Analysis

Result Summary Format

result_summary: overview: total: <number> passed: <number> failed: <number> errors: <number> skipped: <number> duration: <seconds>

failure_details: - test: "<test name>" type: "ERROR|FAILURE" message: "<error message>" location: "<file:line>" category: "<assertion|exception|timeout|setup>"

recommendations: - action: "<what to do>" reason: "<why>" priority: "high|medium|low"

Trend Analysis

trend_indicators: flaky_tests: detection: "Same test passes/fails without code changes" action: "Investigate race conditions or external dependencies"

slow_tests: detection: "Test duration increasing over time" action: "Profile and optimize or parallelize"

cascading_failures: detection: "Many tests fail from single cause" action: "Fix root cause first"

Test Environment Management

Environment Verification

environment_checks: pre_execution: - "Test database accessible?" - "Required services running?" - "Environment variables set?" - "Test fixtures available?"

isolation: - "Tests don't share state?" - "Database reset between tests?" - "No external side effects?"

cleanup: - "Test data removed after run?" - "Temporary files deleted?" - "Mock servers stopped?"

Docker Test Environment

docker_patterns: compose_test: description: "Use docker-compose for test environment" structure: - "docker-compose.test.yml" - "Test-specific configuration" - "Isolated network"

commands: full_run: "docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up --abort-on-container-exit" specific: "TEST_ONLY=<path> docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up" cleanup: "docker compose -f docker-compose.test.yml down -v"

Reporting Patterns

Test Report Structure

report_structure: summary: - "Pass/fail ratio" - "Duration" - "Coverage (if available)"

failures: - "Grouped by category" - "Ordered by priority" - "With actionable context"

next_steps: - "Specific actions to take" - "Which agent should handle" - "Estimated complexity"

Handoff to Debugger

debugger_handoff: when: "Failures detected AND category is FAILURE" provide: - "Failed test list" - "Error messages and stack traces" - "Test input data" - "Expected vs actual results"

exclude: - "Passing test details" - "Irrelevant log entries" - "Unrelated file contents"

Integration

Used By Agents

primary_users:

• test-executor: "Test execution and analysis"

secondary_users:

• test-failure-debugger: "Failure investigation"
• code-developer: "Test-driven development"