Test Scenario Hygiene

1. Review git changes to find test scenarios added this session
2. Use Task tool with general-purpose subagent to categorize tests
3. Present categorization to user via AskUserQuestion
4. Execute user's choice (remove selected tests)
5. Run formatters/linters
6. Present cleanup summary

Overview

After TDD completes, many test scenarios may be temporary scaffolding, useful during development but adding little long-term value. You must review and clean up these tests.

Announce at start: "I'm using the Test Scenario Hygiene skill to review and clean up test scenarios from this session."

Core Principles

Integration test hitting real boundaries Unit test for pure utility function Durable end-to-end test for user workflow Edge case that risks application failure

Test that exclusively exercises mocks Test for stdlib/builtin/library behavior Brittle test checking internal state Duplicate coverage for already-tested behavior

Red Flags

Signs a test should likely be discarded:

• Test name includes "temp", "scaffold", "wip", "todo"
• Test only calls mocked functions and asserts on mock call counts
• Test duplicates coverage from an integration test
• Test asserts on implementation details (private methods, internal state)
• Test was added just to verify a single line of code works
• Test has skip or xfail markers with no clear reason

Cleanup Steps

Step 1: Gather Test Changes

Review all changes from this session to identify added test scenarios.

# Check staged and unstaged changes
git diff --name-only
git diff --cached --name-only

# If no current changes, check recent commits from this session
git log --oneline -20
git diff HEAD~N..HEAD --name-only  # where N = commits from this session

Create a list of all test files that were modified or created. For each test file, identify the specific test scenarios (functions/methods) that were added.

If no test changes are found: Report this to the user and skip to Step 5 (formatters/linters).

Step 2: Delegate Review to Subagent

Use the Task tool with subagent_type=general-purpose to review test quality.

Pass the list of tests with this prompt:

Review each of these test cases. For each test, determine:

- Is this test durable and likely useful over time? (Tests real behavior, good coverage, not overly specific to implementation details)
- OR is this test temporary/scaffolding? (Maybe useful during TDD, but brittle, testing a builtin or library, adds little long-term value)

Return a structured list categorizing each test as 'keep' or 'discard' with a brief reason.

Tests to review:
<list of test file paths and test function names>

Step 3: Present Results to User

Summarize the results to the user:

Recommended to KEEP:

• path/to/test.ts:42 - test_name: [reason]
• path/to/test.ts:58 - other_test: [reason]

Recommended to DISCARD:

• path/to/test.ts:87 - scaffolding_test: [reason]
• path/to/test.ts:102 - mock_only_test: [reason]

Would you like to:

1. Accept all recommendations
2. Review each test individually
3. Keep all tests
4. Discard all recommended tests

Use AskUserQuestion to determine the choice from the four options.

Step 4: Execute User's Choice

Based on user selection:

• Accept all: Remove tests marked for discard
• Review each: Present each discard candidate one at a time, ask keep/discard
• Keep all: Skip removal, proceed to Step 5
• Discard all: Remove all tests marked for discard

When removing tests, edit the test files to delete the specific test functions/methods. Do not delete entire files unless all tests in the file are being removed.

Step 5: Run Formatters and Linters

Check if the project has formatting/linting configured:

# Look for common config files
ls package.json pyproject.toml Cargo.toml setup.cfg .eslintrc* .prettierrc* Makefile justfile 2>/dev/null

If NO formatters/linters are configured: Ask the user if something was missed. Do not fail - just note it and proceed.

Use the Task tool to run any formatters and fix issues in a subagent. Provide this prompt the subagent:

Run the project's formatters and linters. Fix any issues that arise.

Look for:
- npm run lint / npm run format
- yarn lint / yarn format  
- just fmt / just fix
- make lint / make format
- ruff / black / isort (Python)
- eslint --fix / prettier --write (JavaScript/TypeScript)
- cargo fmt / cargo clippy

Step 6: Present Cleanup Summary

Present the final summary to the user:

Temporary tests removed:

• path/to/test.ts:87 - scaffolding_test
• path/to/test.ts:102 - mock_only_test

These tests were used to keep development on track with requirements and have now been cleaned up.

Tests retained: N tests across M files

Formatters/linters: [Ran successfully / No issues / Fixed N issues / Not configured]