API Aqa Flow

End-to-end backend API test automation from test case input to working automated tests.

Prerequisite: Rosetta Prep Steps.

Terminology. External systems are named by role throughout this workflow and its phases: Test Management System (TMS), Issue Tracker, and Wiki. TestRail, Jira, and Confluence are canonical examples only — adapt identifiers, URLs, requests, calls, and query syntax to the systems resolved for the current project (from repository-root gain.json, explicit user input, recognizable URLs/handles, and available integrations).

At completion the user has: corrected, passing API test files in the repository; the per-session artifacts under plans/api-aqa-{IDENTIFIER}/ (raw-data.md, api-analysis.md, analysis.md, test-specs.md, execution-report.md); and agents/TEMP/<FEATURE>/api-aqa-state.md recording phase completion, metrics, and HITL approvals.

• Phases 0→7 MUST run in order; sanctioned skips per <skip_rules> only.
• All Rosetta prep steps MUST be FULLY completed, SKILL load-project-context loaded and fully executed.
• NO ASSUMPTIONS: never assume endpoints, payloads, auth mechanisms, or response schemas — ask the user when missing.
• MUST ALWAYS use todo tasks ledger, ASAP. Prioritize ACCURACY over SPEED. Proactively use available tools/MCPs, if question can be answered from code or MCP call - do that first.
• Drive loop (owned by this workflow): execute phases in order — for each: APPLY PHASE its phase file → update agents/TEMP/<FEATURE>/api-aqa-state.md → verify the phase-output gate → next; keep todos matched to the active phase; never batch-load future phases; never skip without approval (<skip_rules>). When a phase delegates work to subagents, dispatch per USE SKILL orchestration.
• Phase-output gate (verify before advancing): each phase's mandatory artifact must exist and pass its phase-file completion gate before the next phase starts — notably Phase 4: every ATC-NNN in test-specs.md traces to a Phase 3 source (a raw-data.md test case and/or an analysis.md G[N]/C[N]/A[N] finding); also Phase 1 raw-data.md, Phase 2 api-analysis.md, and Phase 6 execution-report.md present and non-placeholder.

This block owns ONLY the api-aqa-flow-specific skip rules below: a set of always-in-force carve-outs plus a single verification-failure unilateral-start override (the only no-ask deviation; its preconditions are in the table further down). The carve-outs bind unconditionally; the override is subordinate to them. Gate-execution mechanics (how to run an approval gate, token handling) are owned by USE SKILL hitl — defer to it; not restated here.

• Always-in-force carve-outs (the override never suppresses these):

  1. Per-phase HITL gates (Phases 3-7 marked type="HITL") — explicit user approval per the hitl skill.
  2. NO ASSUMPTIONS rule (above) — every non-skip-gate decision.
  3. Safety / destructive confirmations — file deletion, edits outside plans/api-aqa-{IDENTIFIER}/, comparable irreversible actions.

• Verification-failure unilateral-start override — subordinate to the hitl skill + the carve-outs above; the only no-ask deviation, applies only at this skip-verification gate.

  Precondition (ALL true, independently verified)	Action
  (a) user asserts Phases 0-2 complete this turn AND (b) agents/TEMP/<FEATURE>/api-aqa-state.md marks them complete AND (c) raw-data.md + api-analysis.md exist under plans/api-aqa-{IDENTIFIER}/	Print (a)/(b)/(c) each with its concrete evidence (user-assertion quote · the api-aqa-state rows · the two artifact paths), then skip Phases 0-2 and resume at Phase 3. Any precondition not showable with concrete evidence → treat as uncertain (last row).
  Any of (a)/(b)/(c) false AND user instruction unambiguous	Print failing conditions; begin Phase 0 same turn.
  Any precondition uncertain	Fall back to normal HITL ask. Ambiguity defaults to ASK.

agents/TEMP/<FEATURE>/api-aqa-state.md carries: header (Last Updated / Current Phase 0-7 / Test Case Source / Feature / IDENTIFIER — matching the Phase 0 stub; API Base URL is appended once Phase 2 resolves it) + 8-row ## Phase Completion Status checklist (one row per phase 0-7) + per-phase append blocks. Each phase file owns its own state-update snippet (the delta it appends after running) — this workflow does not restate the full template.

Subagents: discoverer · architect · engineer · executor (optional, mechanical actions).

Cross-phase skills: qa-structure (paths / identifier / state-file shape) and qa-knowledge (modes, taxonomies, artifact skeletons — loads its own assets at point of use).

Integrations: TMS, Issue Tracker, and Wiki per <description_and_purpose> Terminology.