PhraseryPhrasery homeGet Phrasery
Tests & QA21 categories

Audit a test suite for value versus noise

A suite that takes 20 minutes and nobody trusts the red runs.

Longauditmaintenancereview
Audit the test suite below. I want to know which tests are worth their maintenance cost.

Classify each test as:
- **Keep**: would catch a real bug, is clear when it fails.
- **Fix**: tests the right thing badly, whether unclear, slow, or over-mocked.
- **Merge**: duplicates another test's coverage.
- **Delete**: asserts implementation detail, tests the framework or the language, or has never failed for a real reason.

For each, one line of justification. Then:
1. Estimate what proportion of the suite is doing real work.
2. Name the slowest tests and whether their coverage justifies the time.
3. Identify coverage that would be lost by the deletions, and say whether it matters.

Be willing to recommend deleting a lot. Do not hedge by keeping everything.

Test suite:

Making it yours

  • Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
  • Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
  • If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.

Test strategy. Unit or integration, what to skip, fixture design, and pruning a suite that costs too much.

Related prompts

Keep this one

Phrasery saves prompts with a right-click and puts them back the same way. Add this to your own library in one click.

Add to your browser โ€” free