Home / phelan164 / codex-howto · skills/test-software/SKILL.md · GitHub

test-software skillA

test-software is agent-read markdown (skill) from phelan164/codex-howto: Design, implement, and evaluate risk-based software tests across unit, integration, contract, end-to-end, and regression layers. Use when adding tests, reproducing bugs, improving coverage, diagnosing flaky tests, or defining a test strategy; do not use to change production behavior unless the user also requests implementation..

Indexed from public GitHub and served as immutable, content-addressed versions. Install it pinned to an exact SHA-256 with the mdr CLI, and every file is verified against the hash recorded here before it reaches your agent. The deterministic audit below grades the latest version, and the same file always earns the same grade.

What the file says

# Test Software

## Test contract

- Define the behavior, invariant, or defect before selecting a test layer.
- Use the lowest layer that observes the risk without hiding the integration
  boundary under test.
- Test behavior rather than private implementation details.
- Avoid snapshots that hide meaningful assertions.
- Do not mock the component whose integration contract is under test.
- Control time, randomness, concurrency, and external dependencies explicitly.
- Keep fixtures minimal and readable.
- Do not “fix” flaky tests by adding blind retries or sleeps.
- Do not claim a regression test without proving it fails against the broken behavior when feasible.
- Treat tests as potentially state-changing: they may write databases, queues,
  files, snapshots, browsers, or external sandboxes.
- Do not run tests against production, shared customer data, or external
  services without explicit authorization and a verified isolation strategy.
- Stop when the configured test target or cleanup behavior is ambiguous.

## Execute and report

Read [references/test-strategy.md](references/test-strategy.md) when choosing
test layers or specialized methods, investigating flakes, or planning
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

Latest version
mdr add phelan164/codex-howto/test-software@git:20260731.42e092c
Exact content
mdr add phelan164/codex-howto/test-software@sha256:72bc9a51a8acf62a

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Versions

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git:20260731.42e092c latest2026-07-31 42e092c 2,036 BA view · diff
git:20260724.a8a71482026-07-24 a8a7148 2,651 BA view

Audit of the latest version

A  17 of 17 checks passed. Deterministic, no model, same answer every run.
  • pass: Frontmatter block present
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a name
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a description
  • pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (2036 bytes)
  • pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
  • pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
  • pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
  • pass: No credential-shaped string
  • pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
  • pass: No text hidden with inline styles
  • pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
  • pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
  • pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
  • pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
  • pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
  • pass: No link to a raw IP address
  • pass: No script tag

Source

GitHub

phelan164/codex-howto · 9 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-09-21 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_tc7wrhu5cmzsgro2
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=phelan164/codex-howto/test-software
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/72bc9a51a8acf62a4eac76c86baf54d246cdc8382b695018a3a083d5c378cf31

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