# QA > Exercise a developed feature through its real user or consumer interface, enumerate paths and edge/error/loading states first, and report evidence and coverage. Use for "qa", "QA the last feature", "test this feature end to end", "manual QA", or "check the user flows". Defaults to the last developed feature; accepts a feature, URL, command, app, or other scope. Covers web, native apps, CLIs, agent plugins, libraries, and backends. Use test for suite work and code-review for source review. - Skill: `nielsmadan/qa` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 7 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add nielsmadan/qa` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/nielsmadan/qa/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: nielsmadan (https://skillmd.com/u/nielsmadan) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/nielsmadan/qa --- # QA Exercise the product as a user or consumer would. Default to reproducing and reporting findings. `--fix` or an explicit repair request authorizes fixing confirmed bugs and retesting. Run this workflow yourself; do not dispatch agents by default. ## Instructions ### 1. Resolve the feature and execution surface An explicit target wins. Otherwise infer the **last developed feature** from the current conversation and its acceptance criteria, corroborated by relevant local changes. Read `AGENTS.md`, startup instructions, feature docs, and existing manual test procedures. Inspect `git status --short`, staged/unstaged diffs, relevant untracked files, and recent commits as needed. On a clean tree, follow the latest coherent feature across commits; the newest commit may only be a fix or formatting. Do not assume a feature branch, an upstream, or a branch named `main`. State the selected feature, evidence for that choice, and affected interfaces. Include adjacent behavior sharing the changed boundary. Avoid turning a default run into a whole-project audit. If several unrelated features remain equally plausible, ask one scope question while continuing environment discovery. In a multi-repo workspace, resolve the target repository first. Identify the actual build/URL/device/binary and the documented way to run it. Read only the applicable adapter(s): | Surface | Adapter | |---|---| | Web or Electron | [web](references/web.md): agent-browser | | iOS, Android, macOS, native UI library | [native](references/native.md): agent-device and the existing sample app | | CLI/TUI, agent plugin/skill, library | [CLI and plugin](references/cli-plugin.md): executable, real host, or consumer | | API, service, worker | [backend](references/backend.md): client requests and observable state | For mixed features, follow the affected path across boundaries. Existing tests inform coverage; they do not prove the running build works. If there is no changed consumer behavior and relevant tests already cover the internal change, explain that runtime exploration adds little and run the appropriate checks instead. ### 2. Enumerate paths before exercising them Derive expected behavior from the request, specification, and existing contract; do not use the current implementation as the sole oracle. Read code to discover branches and dependencies, then translate them into observable scenarios. Create a scenario matrix using [the run template](assets/run.md). Each row needs a stable ID, priority, entry point/preconditions, actions/input, and expected intermediate and final outcome. Include the setup needed to reach each state. Show the compact matrix before execution and proceed without an approval gate. Consider these dimensions, selecting cases relevant to this feature: - **Paths:** normal completion, alternate entry/action, cancel/back, revisit, reload/relaunch, and the closest affected existing workflow. - **Data:** empty/first-use, one/many items, boundary values, invalid/missing input, long text, Unicode, stale or conflicting data. - **Async states:** initial loading and action pending → success; pending → error → retry/recovery; duplicate action, cancellation, or leaving during work. - **Failures:** unavailable/slow dependency, offline, denied/expired authorization, validation errors, partial completion, and recovery without lost/duplicate work. - **Presentation/lifecycle:** relevant viewport, keyboard/focus, permissions, background/resume, persistence, and multiple-user/session behavior. Every async operation in scope needs a loading/pending case and an error/recovery case, or a specific N/A reason. Enumerate meaningful branches and risky combinations, not the Cartesian product of every input/device. Order core paths and high-impact risks first. Add newly discovered paths to the matrix as testing proceeds. ### 3. Prepare controlled state and run the matrix Use the project's local/test environment and disposable data. Reuse documented fixtures, mocks, launch scripts, and per-checkout resources. Confirm the running artifact contains the change before interpreting results. Record versions and relevant local changes; a commit hash alone does not identify a modified build. Use unique sessions, track processes/settings/fixtures you create, and keep interactions on one shared target sequential. Use existing test credentials through the project's normal mechanism. Keep secrets and private data out of reports. Production mutations or real external sends need existing explicit authorization; continue independent local cases if one action needs input. Exercise each row through the real interface. Check both feedback and the final effect: a success toast, HTTP 202, zero exit code, or loaded plugin manifest may precede the actual result. Capture screenshots for visual states and inspect them; use short recordings for timing or gesture defects and transcripts for CLI/API work. **Make loading and errors happen.** Hold/delay a real request through a documented test mechanism, supply a controlled failure, then restore it and test recovery. Observe the pending state before waiting for completion. Check feedback, duplicate actions, input preservation, and completion after retry/cancel as applicable. Record the fault mechanism and its scope. A painted spinner or source-code branch is not runtime evidence. If the required condition cannot be induced, record it as blocked. Prefer reversible runtime controls to product-source edits. Label stubbed responses and verify real integration separately. Wait on observable conditions with bounded timeouts; do not let a hanging case consume the run. Retry suspected defects from a known state and record attempts. Preserve intermittent observations with their frequency and uncertainty rather than discarding them. ### 4. Record findings and close coverage Record each finding when discovered: scenario ID, severity by user impact, exact reproduction, expected/actual behavior, evidence, and reproducibility. Separate runtime defects from source-only suspicions. Use no bug quota or invented score. Mark every scenario **Pass**, **Fail**, **Blocked**, **Not run**, or **N/A**. Pass needs observed evidence; explain the last three. Label automated-check evidence separately from exploratory observations. Report zero bugs plainly when that is the result. With repair authorization, preserve the failure evidence, make the smallest confirmed fix, run the relevant checks, and repeat the failing path plus affected neighbors. Add a regression test when it pins the defect through a useful boundary. Retain the original failure and append retest evidence. Otherwise leave product code unchanged and report the findings. QA alone does not authorize git mutations. Restore injected faults and changed settings, remove only owned disposable state, and stop only processes/sessions started for QA. Confirm cleanup rather than assuming it happened. Preserve reproducible recipes and useful evidence before deleting temp fixtures. Never reset the user's checkout or clear unrelated app/device state. ### 5. Save and report the result Follow the shared [manual test record convention](../doc/references/manual-tests.md): reuse or create `docs/tests/qa-FEATURE/README.md` for the repeatable procedure and `runs/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.md` for this run. Use a collision-safe suffix and relative evidence links. The procedure records setup, fixture/fault creation, expected outcomes, and cleanup; the dated record captures actual steps, the completed matrix, and findings. Keep previous run results intact. Routine suite-only checks need no new manual-test record; honor an explicit request for conversation-only output. End with the tested scope, coverage counts, highest-impact findings, blockers, and the report link. State whether coverage is complete or partial; “no bugs found” is qualified by what was actually exercised. Research provenance for maintainers is in [sources](references/sources.md). ## Examples - **“qa” after a file-upload feature:** infer upload from the conversation/diff; enumerate valid upload, invalid/empty file, pending progress, double submit, interruption, server failure/retry, and revisit. Delay the local upload response, capture progress, then verify the saved file. Report any blocked fault setup. - **“qa the new CLI export command”:** use a fixture workspace; test the documented invocation, empty and malformed input, stdout/file output, noninteractive mode, interruption, and rerun. Record output, exit status, and resulting file contents. - **“qa the plugin's resume behavior --fix”:** verify the built plugin loads in the intended host, activate it, resume, and check the promised behavior and session isolation. Reproduce a defect, fix it, then repeat the same host sequence. - **“qa the background import endpoint”:** create a test import; observe pending, completion, and fetched results; inject a dependency failure and retry. Existing parser tests help but do not establish the running worker's behavior. ## Troubleshooting - **Wrong or stale build:** verify executable/package path, dev port, installed app, and host cache/version against the checkout. Rebuild using project instructions and rerun affected cases; do not blame the feature before identifying the artifact. - **Cannot reach a loading/error/auth state:** use the documented fixture or fault mechanism. If absent, record the specific missing prerequisite and continue other rows. Never replace runtime observation with static inspection and call it passed. - **Automation fails:** refresh stale refs and verify the selected app/surface before reporting a product defect. For EPERM or sandbox errors, rule out a sandbox denial (a sandbox-diagnosis skill, if you have one) before recording a blocker.