State Transition Test Designer

state-transition-test-designer

Purpose

Create tests from states, events, guards, and transitions, including invalid or out-of-order sequences.

Trigger this skill when

• You need disciplined test design rather than ad hoc case generation.
• You need to justify why a test set is sufficient.
• You want a reusable artifact that can feed automation later.

Expected inputs

• state model or workflow
• events/triggers
• transition rules
• guard conditions

Deliverables

• transition tests
• invalid transition tests
• state coverage notes
• sequence scenarios

Operating procedure

1. Identify states, allowed events, guard conditions, and resulting actions.
2. Create tests for normal transitions plus invalid or out-of-sequence actions.
3. Ensure initial, terminal, and recovery states are considered.
4. Document transition coverage and residual gaps.

Quality gates

• Be explicit about infeasible, unreachable, or assumption-heavy cases.
• Prefer lean, justified test sets over exhaustive-looking noise.
• Keep expected outcomes observable and tied back to rules or logic.
• Show why each test exists, not just the test data.

Handoff targets

• negative-test-designer
• coverage-goal-planner
• test-oracle-writer

Output style

• Be explicit about uncertainty, infeasibility, and residual risk.
• Prefer compact, explainable artifacts over bloated lists.
• Tie tests back to rules, logic, or structure.
• Make expected outcomes observable.

Failure modes to avoid

• Do not ignore invalid transitions.
• Do not skip initial or terminal state behavior.
• Do not lose guard-condition reasoning.

Minimum output skeleton

## Summary
## Findings
## Structured outputs
## Coverage / rationale
## Assumptions
## Open questions
## Recommended next skill