test-design-techniques

The test-design-techniques skill provides a structured, agent-driven approach to software testing by automating the application of proven mathematical and logical testing methodologies. Designed for software engineers, quality assurance professionals, and SDETs, this skill orchestrates specialized agents like the qe-test-generator to transform raw requirements into mathematically sound, comprehensive test suites. By systematically applying techniques that reduce the combinatorial explosion typical of complex systems, the skill ensures high code coverage while maintaining lean, efficient test execution cycles.

• Automatically generates Boundary Value Analysis (BVA) and Equivalence Partitioning (EP) for numeric constraints and input fields to detect off-by-one errors and edge-case failures.

• Implements Decision Tables to map complex business logic and nested conditional rules, ensuring all logical paths are verified without missing critical combinations.

• Coordinates State Transition testing to validate complex workflows and object lifecycles, ensuring the system behaves correctly across different states.

• Utilizes Pairwise and Combinatorial testing strategies to reduce the number of test cases required for high-parameter scenarios, such as cross-browser, cross-platform, and multi-device matrix testing.

• Orchestrates a fleet of agents including qe-coverage-analyzer and qe-quality-analyzer to validate that the generated tests effectively exercise the target code paths.

• Input expectations include field definitions, numeric ranges, constraint objects, and parameter arrays.

• Best utilized during the initial design phase of a feature or when optimizing legacy test suites that have become bloated and redundant.

• Operates seamlessly with agentic platforms such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor via the agentic-qe MCP server.

• Constraints: While highly effective for functional testing, this skill should be combined with risk-based testing strategies to ensure that testing efforts are prioritized toward the most business-critical modules.

• Users should define inputs using standard object structures (e.g., specifying constraints: {min, max}) to trigger automated generation of boundary-focused unit or integration tests.