Paths: File paths (shared/, references/, ../ln-*) are relative to skills repo root. If not found at CWD, locate this SKILL.md directory and go up one level for repo root.

Inputs

Input	Required	Source	Description
`storyId`	Yes	args, git branch, kanban, user	Story to process

Resolution: Story Resolution Chain. Status filter: To Review

Manual Tester

Manually verifies Story AC on running code and reports structured results for the quality gate.

Purpose & Scope

Create executable test scripts in tests/manual/ folder of target project.
Run AC-driven checks via bash/curl (API) or puppeteer (UI).
Save scripts permanently for regression testing (not temp files).
Document results in Linear with pass/fail per AC and script path.
No status changes or task creation.

When to Use

Invoked by ln-520-test-planner after ln-521-test-researcher completes
Research comment "## Test Research:" exists on Story (from ln-521)
All implementation tasks in Story status = Done

Test Design Principles

1. Fail-Fast - No Silent Failures

CRITICAL: Tests MUST return 1 (fail) immediately when any criterion is not met.

Never use: print_status "WARN" + return 0 for validation failures, graceful degradation without explicit flags, silent fallbacks that hide errors.

Exceptions (WARN is OK): Informational warnings that don't affect correctness, optional features (with clear justification in comments), infrastructure issues (e.g., missing Nginx in dev environment).

2. Expected-Based Testing - The Golden Standard

CRITICAL: Tests MUST compare actual results against expected reference files, not apply heuristics or algorithmic checks.

Directory structure:

tests/manual/NN-feature/
├── samples/               # Input files
├── expected/              # Expected output files (REQUIRED!)
│   └── {base_name}_{source_lang}-{target_lang}.{ext}
└── test-*.sh

Heuristics acceptable ONLY for: dynamic/non-deterministic data (timestamps, UUIDs, tokens - normalize before comparison; JSON with unordered keys - use jq --sort-keys).

3. Results Storage

Test results saved to tests/manual/results/ (persistent, in .gitignore). Named: result_{ac_name}.{ext} or response_{ac_name}.json. Inspectable after test completion for debugging.

4. Expected File Generation

To create expected files:

Run test with current implementation
Review output in results/ folder
If correct: copy to expected/ folder with proper naming
If incorrect: fix implementation first, then copy

IMPORTANT: Never blindly copy results to expected. Always validate correctness first.

Workflow

Phase 0: Resolve Inputs

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/input_resolution_pattern.md

Resolve storyId: Run Story Resolution Chain per guide (status filter: [To Review]).

Phase 1: Setup tests/manual structure

Read docs/project/infrastructure.md — get port allocation, service endpoints, base URLs. Read docs/project/runbook.md — get Docker commands, test prerequisites, environment setup
Check if tests/manual/ folder exists in project root
If missing, create structure:
- tests/manual/config.sh — shared configuration (BASE_URL, helpers, colors)
- tests/manual/README.md — folder documentation (see README.md template below)
- tests/manual/test-all.sh — master script to run all test suites (see test-all.sh template below)
- tests/manual/results/ — folder for test outputs (add to .gitignore)
Add tests/manual/results/ to project .gitignore if not present
If exists, read existing config.sh to reuse settings (BASE_URL, tokens)

Phase 2: Create Story test script

Fetch Story, parse AC into Given/When/Then list (3-5 expected)
- Check for research comment (from ln-521-test-researcher) — incorporate findings into test cases
Detect API vs UI (API → curl, UI → puppeteer). IF UI: MANDATORY READ: Load references/puppeteer_patterns.md
Create test folder structure:
- tests/manual/{NN}-{story-slug}/samples/ — input files (if needed)
- tests/manual/{NN}-{story-slug}/expected/ — expected output files (REQUIRED for deterministic tests)
Generate test script: tests/manual/{NN}-{story-slug}/test-{story-slug}.sh
- Use appropriate template: TEMPLATE-api-endpoint.sh (direct calls) or TEMPLATE-document-format.sh (async jobs)
- Header: Story ID, AC list, prerequisites
- Test function per AC + edge/error cases
- diff-based validation against expected files (PRIMARY)
- Results saved to tests/manual/results/
- Summary table with timing
Make script executable (chmod +x)

Phase 3: Update Documentation

Update tests/manual/README.md:
- Add new test to "Available Test Suites" table
- Include Story ID, AC covered, run command
Update tests/manual/test-all.sh:
- Add call to new script in SUITES array
- Maintain execution order (00-setup first, then numbered suites)

Phase 4: Execute and report

MANDATORY READ: Load references/test_result_format_v1.md

Rebuild Docker containers (no cache), ensure healthy
Run generated script, capture output
Parse results (pass/fail counts)
Post Linear comment (per test_result_format_v1.md) with:
- AC matrix (pass/fail per AC)
- Script path: tests/manual/{NN}-{story-slug}/test-{story-slug}.sh
- Rerun command: cd tests/manual && ./{NN}-{story-slug}/test-{story-slug}.sh

Critical Rules

Scripts saved to project tests/manual/, NOT temp files.
Rebuild Docker before testing; fail if rebuild/run unhealthy.
Keep language of Story (EN/RU) in script comments and Linear comment.
No fixes or status changes; only evidence and verdict.
Script must be idempotent (can rerun anytime).

Definition of Done

tests/manual/ structure exists (config.sh, README.md, test-all.sh, results/ created if missing).
tests/manual/results/ added to project .gitignore.
Test script created at tests/manual/{NN}-{story-slug}/test-{story-slug}.sh.
expected/ folder created with at least 1 expected file per deterministic AC.
Script uses diff-based validation against expected files (not heuristics).
Script saves results to tests/manual/results/ for debugging.
Script is executable and idempotent.
README.md updated with new test suite in "Available Test Suites" table.
test-all.sh updated with call to new script in SUITES array.
App rebuilt and running; tests executed.
Verdict and Linear comment posted with script path and rerun command.

Script Templates

README.md (created once per project)

# Manual Testing Scripts

> **SCOPE:** Bash scripts for manual API testing. Complements automated tests with CLI-based workflows.

## Quick Start

```bash
cd tests/manual
./00-setup/create-account.sh  # (if auth required)
./test-all.sh                 # Run ALL test suites

Prerequisites

Docker containers running (docker compose ps)
jq installed (apt-get install jq or brew install jq)

Folder Structure

tests/manual/
├── config.sh          # Shared configuration (BASE_URL, helpers, colors)
├── README.md          # This file
├── test-all.sh        # Run all test suites
├── 00-setup/          # Account & token setup (if auth required)
│   ├── create-account.sh
│   └── get-token.sh
└── {NN}-{topic}/      # Test suites by Story
    └── test-{slug}.sh

Available Test Suites

Suite	Story	AC Covered	Run Command
—	—	—	—

Adding New Tests

Create script in {NN}-{topic}/test-{slug}.sh
Update this README (Available Test Suites table)
Update test-all.sh (add to SUITES array)


### test-all.sh (created once per project)

```bash
#!/bin/bash
# =============================================================================
# Run all manual test suites
# =============================================================================
set -e
SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
source "$SCRIPT_DIR/config.sh"

echo "=========================================="
echo "Running ALL Manual Test Suites"
echo "=========================================="

check_jq
check_api

# Setup (if exists)
[ -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/00-setup/create-account.sh" ] && "$SCRIPT_DIR/00-setup/create-account.sh"
[ -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/00-setup/get-token.sh" ] && "$SCRIPT_DIR/00-setup/get-token.sh"

# Test suites (add new suites here)
SUITES=(
    # "01-auth/test-auth-flow.sh"
    # "02-translation/test-translation.sh"
)

PASSED=0; FAILED=0
for suite in "${SUITES[@]}"; do
    echo ""
    echo "=========================================="
    echo "Running: $suite"
    echo "=========================================="
    if "$SCRIPT_DIR/$suite"; then
        ((++PASSED))
        print_status "PASS" "$suite"
    else
        ((++FAILED))
        print_status "FAIL" "$suite"
    fi
done

echo ""
echo "=========================================="
echo "TOTAL: $PASSED suites passed, $FAILED failed"
echo "=========================================="
[ $FAILED -eq 0 ] && exit 0 || exit 1

config.sh (created once per project)

#!/bin/bash
# Shared configuration for manual testing scripts
export BASE_URL="${BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8080}"
export RED='\033[0;31m'
export GREEN='\033[0;32m'
export YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
export NC='\033[0m'

print_status() {
    local status=$1; local message=$2
    case $status in
        "PASS") echo -e "${GREEN}[PASS]${NC} $message" ;;
        "FAIL") echo -e "${RED}[FAIL]${NC} $message" ;;
        "WARN") echo -e "${YELLOW}[WARN]${NC} $message" ;;
        "INFO") echo -e "[INFO] $message" ;;
    esac
}

check_jq() {
    command -v jq &> /dev/null || { echo "Error: jq required"; exit 1; }
}

check_api() {
    local response=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$BASE_URL/health" 2>/dev/null)
    if [ "$response" != "200" ]; then
        echo "Error: API not reachable at $BASE_URL"
        exit 1
    fi
    print_status "INFO" "API reachable at $BASE_URL"
}

SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
export SCRIPT_DIR

Test Script Templates

See: references/templates/

Template	Use Case	Location
template-api-endpoint.sh	API endpoint tests (NO async jobs)	template-api-endpoint.sh
template-document-format.sh	Document/file processing (WITH async jobs)	template-document-format.sh

Quick start:

cp references/templates/template-api-endpoint.sh {NN}-feature/test-{feature}.sh      # Endpoint tests
cp references/templates/template-document-format.sh {NN}-feature/test-{format}.sh    # Document tests

Reference Files

Script format reference: prompsit-api tests/manual/ (production example)
AC format: shared/templates/test_task_template.md (or local docs/templates/ in target project)
Risk-based context: shared/references/risk_based_testing_guide.md
Research findings: ln-521-test-researcher creates "## Test Research" comment on Story
Puppeteer patterns: references/puppeteer_patterns.md
Test result format: references/test_result_format_v1.md

Version: 1.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-01-15

ln-522-manual-tester