# Test Init > Analyze the current repository and generate (or update) its test plans — TESTS_E2E.md for autonomous integration runs and TESTS_MANUAL.md for guided hand-testing — at the repo root. Use whenever the user wants to set up e2e or manual testing, create or refresh a test plan, "init the tests", bootstrap acceptance testing, or after a feature lands and the plans need updating. Also use when test-e2e… - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-knowhowlab-agent-testkit-test-init` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [knowhowlab](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/knowhowlab) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [knowhowlab](https://github.com/knowhowlab) - **Source:** https://github.com/knowhowlab/agent-testkit/tree/main/skills/test-init ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-knowhowlab-agent-testkit-test-init ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # test-init — Generate the project's test plans **Goal**: Produce two reviewable, versioned plan files at the repository root — `TESTS_E2E.md` (consumed by the `test-e2e` skill) and `TESTS_MANUAL.md` (consumed by `test-manual`) — that together cover the project's acceptance surface. Both follow plan format v1: read `references/plan-format.md` in this skill's directory **before writing anything**, and `references/coverage-map.md` before the recon. ## Mode detection If `TESTS_E2E.md` or `TESTS_MANUAL.md` already exists at the repo root → **update mode**. Otherwise → **create mode**. If the user's request names only one of the two files, still keep the sibling in sync where coverage overlaps (parity rule), but don't rewrite it wholesale. ## Create mode 1. **Recon first, questions second.** Work through the recon checklist in `references/coverage-map.md`: task runners, build files, compose files, CI workflows, docs and quickstarts, existing test trees, health endpoints, previous protocol files. Read; do not execute the stack. 2. **Draft the coverage arc.** Map findings onto the universal arc (gates → build → static validation → live → verification → failure/recovery → matrix → lifecycle → packaging → teardown → wrap-up). Note per phase whether it belongs in E2E, MANUAL, or both. 3. **Interview.** One batched message with only the questions recon couldn't answer (the list is in coverage-map.md): canonical commands, known flakes → Facts, credentials pointer, manual-only vs e2e-only flows, wanted scopes, destructive fences, flaky external dependencies. Wait for answers. 4. **Write both files** per the format contract. Non-negotiables: - Every step has a concrete `Expect:` — no "run it and see". - Same phase numbers where the two files cover the same ground; mode-exclusive phases appended after the shared ones. - E2E steps are fully assertable by a machine; MANUAL steps are one action each, copy-paste-ready, with GUI actions as `Do:` lines. - Secrets never inline — pointers to where they live. - Known caveats and flakes land under `## Facts` so executors won't "fix" expected behavior. - Long commands become helper scripts under `tests/manual/helpers/`, listed as Fixtures. - Stamp the marker comment: ``. 5. **Static sanity pass.** Verify every file, script, and path the plans reference actually exists, and every command's binary is plausibly available (`command -v`, manifest inspection). Fix the plans, not the repo. Do not start services. 6. **Report.** Show the user: phases per file, scopes defined, Facts recorded, anything you could not determine (marked `TODO(user)` in the plan). Recommend a first run: `test-manual` once by hand to shake out the plan, then `test-e2e` for regressions. ## Update mode 1. Read the existing plans; note `Source docs` from Meta and any `` fences (locked sections are never rewritten). 2. Re-run recon focused on drift: new scripts, changed CI gates, new services in compose, new specs/quickstarts since the `generated` date, phases referencing commands or paths that no longer exist. 3. Propose changes as a compact summary (added / changed / removed per phase) **before** editing. Apply on confirmation. Preserve the user's hand-edits outside the drifted sections; update the marker comment date. 4. Run the same static sanity pass and report. ## Rules 1. **Plans are artifacts, not scratch.** They will be reviewed in PRs. Write them tight, imperative, and self-explaining. 2. **Never run the stack during init.** Recon is read-only; the sanity pass checks existence, not behavior. 3. **Don't invent coverage.** If recon and interview leave a phase's commands unknown, write the phase with `TODO(user)` markers rather than guessing plausible-looking commands. 4. **Respect repo conventions.** If the project already has protocol directories, naming habits, or helper-script conventions, adopt them in Meta instead of imposing defaults. ## Defaults (when the user has no preference) - Protocol dirs: `tests/integration/` (e2e), `tests/manual/` (manual). - Protocol prefixes: `test-e2e-protocol`, `test-manual-protocol`. - Scopes offered: `quick` (skip `slow`-tagged phases), `no-build`, `keep-up` (skip teardown). - Retry default: connection refused / initializing → wait 15–30 s, retry once, then investigate. ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [knowhowlab](https://github.com/knowhowlab) - **Source:** [knowhowlab/agent-testkit](https://github.com/knowhowlab/agent-testkit) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-knowhowlab-agent-testkit-test-init - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/knowhowlab - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.