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-510-test-planner after ln-511-test-researcher completes

• Research comment "## Test Research:" exists on Story (from ln-511)

• 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 1: Setup tests/manual structure

• Read docs/project/runbook.md — get Docker commands, API base URL, 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-511-test-researcher) — incorporate findings into test cases

• Detect API vs UI (API → curl, UI → puppeteer)

• 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 2.5: 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 3: Execute and report

• Rebuild Docker containers (no cache), ensure healthy

• Run generated script, capture output

• Parse results (pass/fail counts)

• Post Linear comment 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

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: ln-513-auto-test-planner/references/risk_based_testing_guide.md

- Research findings: ln-511-test-researcher creates "## Test Research" comment on Story

Version: 1.0.0 (Renamed from ln-503, Phase 0 Research moved to ln-511-test-researcher)
Last Updated: 2026-01-15