Test Classification

Test Classification

Prompt template for surface-level test classification and triage. Designed for a Haiku sub-agent to quickly categorize test files and flag those needing deep analysis.

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When to Use This Skill

This is an internal skill loaded by the orchestrator during Test Audit pipeline.

| Context | Action | |---------|--------| | /test-audit invoked | Orchestrator loads this skill for Stage 1 | | Test Audit pipeline triggered by hook | Orchestrator loads this skill for Stage 1 | | Need to classify test files | Load directly as prompt template for Haiku |

DO NOT use for:

• Direct user invocation (not user-invocable)
• Mock detection (use mock-detection skill)
• Full audit synthesis (use test-audit skill)

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Role in Test Audit Pipeline

This skill provides the first stage prompt template:

test-audit (P0.8) orchestrates:
  Stage 1: test-classification (Haiku) → classification YAML
  Stage 2: mock-detection (Sonnet) → violations YAML
  Stage 3: synthesis (Sonnet) → audit report

The orchestrator loads this skill and constructs a 4-part prompt for a general-purpose Haiku sub-agent.

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4-Part Prompt Template

GOAL

Classify all test files in {target} by type and flag files needing deep analysis for mock appropriateness.

CONSTRAINTS

• Do NOT modify any files
• Classify every test file found
• Use filename-first classification (content validates)
• Flag mock+integration mismatches for deep analysis
• Use AST verification_lines as ground truth when provided in context (do NOT re-count).

Only fall back to manual counting if AST data is unavailable.

• Complete within 30 tool calls

CONTEXT

Target directory: {target}

Test file patterns: *.test.*, *.spec.*, test_*, *.integration.*, *.e2e.*

Classification rules: See "Classification Logic" section below

Deep analysis triggers: See "needsdeepanalysis Triggers" section below

Line counting rules: See "Verification Line Counting" section below

AST verification_lines (MANDATORY when available): If the orchestrator provides ast_verification_lines per file, use that value directly as verification_lines in the output. Do NOT override with your own count. The AST value is deterministic and precise; heuristic counting at scale is error-prone.

OUTPUT

Write classification to: logs/test-classification-{YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS}.yaml

Write diagnostics to: logs/diagnostics/test-classification-{YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS}.yaml

Use the schema specified in "Output Schema" section below.

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Classification Logic

1. Filename Pattern (Primary)

| Pattern | Category | |---------|----------| | *.integration.* | integration | | *.e2e.* | e2e | | *.test.*, *.spec.*, test_* | unit (default) |

2. Content Validation (Secondary)

After filename classification, scan content to validate:

| Content Signal | Interpretation | |----------------|----------------| | Imports test framework (jest, vitest, mocha, pytest) | Confirms test file | | Imports system modules (child_process, fs, http) | Note for risk assessment | | Contains jest.mock(), vi.mock(), patch() | Mock indicator | | Contains describe(, it(, test( | Standard test structure |

3. Risk Detection

| Risk | Condition | Recommendation | |------|-----------|----------------| | test_management | Single file contains multiple test types (unit + integration) | Split into separate files |

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needsdeepanalysis Triggers

Flag a file for deep analysis when ANY of these conditions are met:

Always Flag (Regardless of Mock Indicators)

| Trigger | Reason | |---------|--------| | *.integration.* file | Integration tests need chain verification - may have T3+ violations without explicit mocks | | *.e2e.* file | E2E tests should have minimal mocking - verify end-to-end flow |

Rationale: The absence of jest.mock() in an integration test doesn't mean it's clean. T3+ violations (broken integration chains) use inline mock data instead of upstream function outputs. These are only detectable through deep analysis.

Mock Indicator Triggers

| Trigger | Reason | |---------|--------| | Unit test with any jest.mock() / vi.mock() on core modules | Potential T1 (mocking SUT) or over-mocking | | Unit test with >3 top-level mocks | Unusual mock density suggests over-mocking | | Unit test mocking core modules (spawn, fs, fetch, http) | Known risky patterns requiring contextual analysis |

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Verification Line Counting

Count "verification lines" per file for test effectiveness calculation. This count is used by P0.7 to calculate how many effective test lines remain after violations are identified.

Exclude from Count

• Comment lines (//, /* */, /** */, #)
• Import/require statements (import, require, from)
• Empty/whitespace-only lines
• Test framework boilerplate:
• describe(, it(, test(
• beforeEach(, afterEach(
• beforeAll(, afterAll(
• setUp(, tearDown(

Include in Count

• Actual test logic (assertions, function calls, variable assignments within tests)
• Mock setup lines (these may be marked as violation scope by P0.7)
• Assertion statements (expect(, assert, should)
• Setup code within test bodies

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Output Schema

metadata:
  skill: test-classification
  timestamp: "{ISO-8601}"
  target: "{directory}"
  model: haiku

files:
  - path: tests/proxy.test.ts
    category: unit
    total_lines: 150
    verification_lines: 95   # Use ast_verification_lines if provided; only count manually if unavailable
    mock_indicators:
      - "jest.spyOn(child_process, 'spawn')"
    needs_deep_analysis: true
    deep_analysis_reason: "Unit test mocks core module (spawn)"

  - path: tests/api.integration.ts
    category: integration
    total_lines: 80
    verification_lines: 55
    mock_indicators:
      - "jest.mock('node-fetch')"
    needs_deep_analysis: true
    deep_analysis_reason: "Integration test contains mocks"

  - path: tests/utils.test.ts
    category: unit
    total_lines: 60
    verification_lines: 40
    mock_indicators: []
    needs_deep_analysis: false

risks:
  test_management:
    - path: tests/everything.test.ts
      reason: "Single file contains unit, integration, and e2e tests"
      recommendation: "Split into separate files by test type"

summary:
  total_files: 25
  by_category:
    unit: 15
    integration: 8
    e2e: 2
  total_verification_lines: 1250
  needs_deep_analysis: 5
  test_management_risks: 1

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Diagnostic Output

Write diagnostic output to logs/diagnostics/test-classification-{YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS}.yaml:

diagnostic:
  skill: test-classification
  timestamp: "{ISO-8601}"
  model: haiku

execution:
  tool_calls: 15
  files_scanned: 25
  classification_time_estimate: "surface scan"

decisions:
  - file: tests/proxy.test.ts
    decision: needs_deep_analysis
    reason: "Found jest.spyOn on child_process.spawn"
    confidence: high

  - file: tests/utils.test.ts
    decision: clean
    reason: "No mock indicators found"
    confidence: high

errors: []

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Integration Notes

Orchestrator Usage

The orchestrator (P0.8) constructs the full prompt by:

1. Loading this skill content
2. Substituting {target} with user-provided path or inferred target
3. Spawning: Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", model="haiku", prompt=...)
4. Reading output from logs/test-classification-{YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS}.yaml

Downstream Usage

P0.7 (mock-detection) receives:

• List of files with needs_deep_analysis: true
• verification_lines count per file (for effectiveness calculation)
• mock_indicators as starting points for deep analysis

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Batching for Scale

When processing large test suites (>20 files), the orchestrator must batch classification to avoid context limits.

Batching Instructions

IF file_count > 20:
    Split files into batches of 20-25
    FOR each batch:
        Spawn Haiku sub-agent with batch file list
        Collect classification YAML for batch
    Merge all batch results into single classification output
ELSE:
    Process all files in single sub-agent call

Batch Merge Strategy

When merging batch results:

1. Combine all files arrays
2. Combine all risks entries
3. Recalculate summary totals across all batches
4. Preserve individual file classifications exactly

Parallel Execution

For optimal performance, spawn batch sub-agents in parallel:

Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", model="haiku", prompt=batch1_prompt, run_in_background=true)
Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", model="haiku", prompt=batch2_prompt, run_in_background=true)
...

Read all outputs after completion, then merge.

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Related Skills

• mock-detection (P0.7) - Deep analysis of flagged files
• test-audit (P0.8) - Orchestration and synthesis
• pipeline-templates (P0.3) - Test Audit pipeline definition

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: ashaykubal
• Source: ashaykubal/essential-agents-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.