dev-test-gaps

Announce: "Using dev-test-gaps (Phase 5.5) to validate test coverage against requirements."

Load shared enforcement:

Read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../references/constraints/dev-common-constraints.md.

Contents

• The Iron Law of Test-Only
• Red Flags - STOP Immediately
• The Process
• Phase 1: Read Requirements and Plan
• Phase 2: Scan Test Infrastructure
• Phase 3: Map Coverage
• Phase 4: Classify Coverage
• Phase 5: Fill Gaps
• Phase 6: Produce VALIDATION.md
• Exit Criteria

Test Gap Validation

## The Iron Law of Test-Only

NEVER MODIFY IMPLEMENTATION CODE. TESTS ONLY OR ESCALATE. This is not negotiable.

Your job is to validate that tests exist for every requirement, and fill gaps by writing NEW tests. You do NOT fix bugs, refactor code, or touch implementation files.

Allowed	NOT Allowed
Read implementation code (for understanding)	Edit implementation code
Write new test files	Modify existing implementation files
Update existing test files (add cases)	"Quick fix" to make a test pass
Create test fixtures/helpers	Change production code to be "more testable"
Escalate implementation bugs	Silently work around implementation bugs

If a test fails because the implementation is wrong, ESCALATE. Do not fix the implementation.

## Red Flags - STOP Immediately If You Catch Yourself Thinking:

Thought	Why It's Wrong	Do Instead
"The implementation has a small bug, let me fix it"	You are a test auditor, not an implementer	Escalate: mark requirement as FAIL in VALIDATION.md
"This requirement doesn't need a test"	Every requirement needs coverage evidence	Write the test. If truly untestable, document why.
"The existing test sort of covers this"	"Sort of" = PARTIAL, not COVERED	Write the specific test or classify as PARTIAL
"I'll adjust the implementation to match the test"	Implementation is immutable to you	Write the test to match the spec, escalate if it fails
"This is a trivial requirement"	Trivial requirements have trivial tests. Write them.	Write the test anyway
"Tests are passing so coverage must be fine"	Passing tests prove what IS tested, not what ISN'T	Map every requirement explicitly
"I need to refactor the code to test it"	Refactoring = modifying implementation = violation	Escalate as "untestable without refactor"

The Process

1. READ requirements from .planning/SPEC.md
2. READ tasks from .planning/PLAN.md
3. SCAN test infrastructure (framework, config, patterns)
4. MAP each requirement → test coverage
5. CLASSIFY: COVERED / PARTIAL / MISSING
6. FILL gaps by spawning test-gap-auditor agent for MISSING requirements
7. PRODUCE .planning/VALIDATION.md with full coverage map

Phase 1: Read Requirements and Plan

Read .planning/SPEC.md and extract every testable requirement:

For each requirement in SPEC.md:
  - Extract the requirement ID (e.g., AUTH-01, UI-02) from the Requirements table
  - Note the requirement description
  - Note the scope (v1/v2/out-of-scope) — only v1 requirements need coverage
  - Note the acceptance criteria from Success Criteria (mapped by ID)

Read .planning/PLAN.md and extract:

• Testing strategy (framework, commands)
• Task-to-requirement mapping
• Test file locations mentioned

Output: A list of requirements to validate, each with acceptance criteria.

Phase 2: Scan Test Infrastructure

Detect the project's test setup:

# Detect test framework and config
ls package.json pyproject.toml Cargo.toml pixi.toml setup.cfg 2>/dev/null

Then read the relevant config to identify:

• Framework: pytest, jest, vitest, cargo test, etc.
• Config file: jest.config.*, pytest.ini, pyproject.toml [tool.pytest], etc.
• Test directories: tests/, tests/, spec/, test/
• Run command: npm test, pytest, cargo test, etc.
• Existing test patterns: How are tests structured? (describe/it, test functions, test classes)

# Find test files
fd -e test.ts -e test.js -e spec.ts -e spec.js -e _test.py -e _test.go -e _test.rs . 2>/dev/null || fd test . tests/ __tests__/ spec/ test/ 2>/dev/null | head -30

Read 2-3 existing test files to understand patterns (naming, imports, assertions, fixtures).

Output: Test infrastructure summary table.

Phase 3: Map Coverage

For each requirement extracted in Phase 1:

1. Search for test coverage:

   • Grep test files for keywords from the requirement
   • Look for test names that reference the requirement
   • Check if acceptance criteria are asserted

2. Read candidate test files to confirm they actually exercise the requirement (not just mention it)

3. Record the mapping: requirement ID -> test file -> specific test(s)

Phase 4: Classify Coverage

For each requirement, assign a classification:

Classification	Criteria
COVERED	Test exists, exercises the requirement, asserts correct behavior
PARTIAL	Test exists but: missing edge cases, incomplete assertions, or only tests happy path
MISSING	No test exercises this requirement

Classification Red Flags

These do NOT count as COVERED:

• Test file exists but test is .skip()'d or @pytest.mark.skip
• Test imports the module but never calls the function
• Test checks type/existence but not behavior
• Test only uses mocks (no integration with real code)
• Test name references requirement but assertions are trivial

Phase 5: Fill Gaps

For each MISSING requirement, spawn a test-gap-auditor agent using subagent_type="workflows:test-gap-auditor":

Tool Restrictions: The auditor can Write/Edit test files ONLY. It MUST NOT modify implementation source code. If it discovers an implementation bug, it escalates — it does not fix.

Agent prompt template:

You are a test auditor. Your ONLY job is to write tests.

REQUIREMENT: [requirement description from SPEC.md]
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA: [from SPEC.md]
TEST FRAMEWORK: [detected framework]
TEST PATTERNS: [patterns from existing tests]
TEST DIRECTORY: [where tests live]

RULES:
1. Write a test that exercises this requirement
2. Follow the existing test patterns in the project
3. Run the test and confirm it passes
4. If the test FAILS because the implementation is buggy, DO NOT fix the implementation
   - Report the failure
   - Include the error output
   - Mark as FAIL (escalated)
5. You have max 3 debug iterations to get the test working
   - Iteration 1: Write and run test
   - Iteration 2: Fix test issues (imports, setup, fixtures)
   - Iteration 3: Final attempt
   - After 3 failures: report FAIL (escalated)

OUTPUT: Report back with:
- Test file path
- Test name(s)
- PASS or FAIL (escalated)
- If FAIL: error output and whether it's a test issue or implementation bug

Auditor Constraints

**The test-gap-auditor agent MUST NOT modify implementation code.**

If the auditor reports that a test fails due to an implementation bug:

1. Record it as FAIL (escalated) in VALIDATION.md
2. Do NOT spawn another agent to fix it
3. Do NOT fix it yourself
4. The escalation will be addressed in the review phase

Fixing implementation bugs is dev-implement's job, not dev-test-gaps'.

Auditor Iteration Rules

Attempt 1: Write test → Run
  PASS → Done (record as gap filled)
  FAIL (test bug) → Fix test → Attempt 2
  FAIL (impl bug) → Escalate immediately

Attempt 2: Fixed test → Run
  PASS → Done (record as gap filled)
  FAIL (test bug) → Fix test → Attempt 3
  FAIL (impl bug) → Escalate immediately

Attempt 3: Fixed test → Run
  PASS → Done (record as gap filled)
  FAIL → Escalate (max iterations)

Phase 6: Produce VALIDATION.md

After all requirements are mapped and gaps addressed, create .planning/VALIDATION.md:

---
status: [draft | validated | gaps_found]
coverage: [N/M requirements covered]
---
# Test Coverage Validation

## Test Infrastructure
| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Framework | [detected] |
| Config | [path] |
| Run command | [command] |

## Coverage Map
| Req ID | Requirement | Test File | Status | Notes |
|--------|-------------|-----------|--------|-------|
| CAT-01 | [description] | [test path] | COVERED/PARTIAL/MISSING | [details] |

## Gaps Filled
| Req ID | Requirement | Test File | Result |
|--------|-------------|-----------|--------|
| CAT-01 | [description] | [new test path] | PASS/FAIL (escalated) |

## Summary
- Requirements: N total
- Covered: X
- Partial: Y
- Missing: Z (W filled, V escalated)

Status Rules

Condition	Status
All requirements COVERED, no escalations	validated
All requirements COVERED after gap-filling, no escalations	validated
Any PARTIAL or MISSING remain, or any escalations	gaps_found
Validation in progress	draft

Exit Criteria

Checkpoint type: human-verify (VALIDATION.md status is machine-verifiable)

Validation passes (proceed to review):

• .planning/VALIDATION.md exists with status validated
• All requirements classified as COVERED
• All gap-filling tests pass
• No escalations

Validation fails (gaps found):

• .planning/VALIDATION.md exists with status gaps_found
• Report to dev-implement orchestrator:
  • Which requirements have gaps
  • Which tests failed due to implementation bugs (escalations)
  • Recommendation: re-run specific implementation tasks or escalate to user

Run Final Test Suite

Before setting status to validated, run the FULL test suite one final time:

# Run whatever test command was detected in Phase 2
[detected test command]

• ALL tests must pass (including newly written ones)
• If any test fails, investigate: is it a test issue or implementation bug?
• Test issues: fix the test (within the 3-iteration limit)
• Implementation bugs: escalate

Only set status to validated after the full suite passes.

Drive-Aligned Framing

**Skipping test gap validation is NOT HELPFUL -- you're shipping code with unknown coverage holes the user will discover in production.**

Your Drive	Why You Skip	What Actually Happens	The Drive You Failed
Helpfulness	"Tests passed, coverage must be fine"	Passing tests prove what IS tested, not what ISN'T. User finds untested bugs.	Anti-helpful
Competence	"I wrote good tests during implementation"	Good tests per task != full requirement coverage. Gaps hide between tasks.	Incompetent
Efficiency	"Validation is redundant after TDD"	TDD ensures task-level coverage. Test gap validation ensures requirement-level coverage. Different.	Inefficient

The protocol is not overhead you pay. It is the safety net you provide.