write-a-spec

Skill: Write a Spec

Do not write one when…

• An existing journey spec covers the behaviour; extend it.
• The change is a pure function; write a colocated unit test, not evidence.
• You would import ../../apps|packages|ee, read source files, or spawn another test runner. That is a unit test in disguise; the boundary ratchet rejects it.

One spec per user journey, not per PR; bug fixes add an assertion to the journey they escaped from.

Write new tests in evals/specs/**/*.test.ts and import test from @openwork/testkit. App-driving E2E tests use .e2e.test.ts; the PR lane excludes them. Model setup as resources in dependency order: needs() → server() → app().

Use the testkit primitives

• server() boots or reuses Den and provisions isolated organizations.
• app() boots a signed-in desktop. Use profileDir for caller-owned profile continuity and localServerDelayMs for deterministic startup races.
• inviteMember() adds a named member to an existing Den.
• faultProxy() injects faults.status() or faults.latency() and exposes the requests log for assertions about attempts and recovery.
• eventually() bounds polling and reports its last value or error.
• readDenClientState(), readConnectState(), and readConnectStateFile() expose client, local-server, and persisted-profile state.

Claims and witnesses

• Make each claim machine-checkable with an observable assertion and its explicit negative half. Assert both the intended effect and what must not happen to another identity, account, request, file, or state.
• Prose is never proof. Screenshots explain an assertion but cannot replace it.
• Describe product behavior, not incidental layout. Claims such as "side by side" can disagree even when pixels are identical across runs.
• Match claims to what the product actually says on screen. If product and claim diverge, explicitly change one; never silently bend the claim.
• Never smuggle the answer into the prompt. Assert that the user-facing request does not contain connector or resource IDs.

Mocks

• Use mcpMock() witnesses; never exercise real providers from a spec.
• Witnesses live under evals/packages/labs/src/, following mock-mcp.ts and the provider-specific mock-*.ts fixtures.
• Keep witnesses deterministic, identity-scoped, and queryable for assertions.

Evidence contract

• Test evidence is ambient: screenshot() records screenshot artifacts, validate() records their visual validations whether they pass or fail, and recordAssertionEvidence() holds witness assertions.
• Never create or pass test-evidence recorder handles in test bodies.
• Bound every wait.
• Declare every external requirement in needs() so missing dependencies skip loudly instead of timing out or weakening coverage.