Agent Skills: Write test that fails

When To Use

• After planning phase completes
• Ready to implement tasks
• Need systematic execution with tracking
• Want checkpoint-based validation
• Executing task lists with dependencies
• Monitoring progress and velocity

When NOT To Use

• No implementation plan exists (use Skill(attune:project-planning) first)
• Still planning or designing (complete planning phase before execution)
• Single isolated task (execute directly without framework overhead)
• Exploratory coding or prototyping (use focused development instead)

Integration

With superpowers:

• Uses Skill(superpowers:executing-plans) for systematic execution
• Uses Skill(superpowers:systematic-debugging) for issue resolution
• Uses Skill(superpowers:verification-before-completion) for validation
• Uses Skill(superpowers:test-driven-development) for TDD workflow

With imbue:

• Uses Skill(imbue:graduated-implementation) at the ramp gate so each increment's ambition is earned by demonstrated understanding of the prior one, not ramped on completion alone

Without superpowers:

• Standalone execution framework
• Built-in checkpoint validation
• Progress tracking patterns

Execution Framework

Pre-Execution Phase

Actions:

1. Load implementation plan
2. Validate project initialized
3. Check dependencies installed
4. Review task dependency graph
5. Identify starting tasks (no dependencies)

Validation:

• ✅ Plan file exists and is valid
• ✅ Project structure initialized
• ✅ Git repository configured
• ✅ Development environment ready

Task Execution Loop

For each task in dependency order:

1. PRE-TASK
   - Verify dependencies complete
   - Review acceptance criteria
   - Create feature branch (optional)
   - Set up task context

2. IMPLEMENT (TDD Cycle)
   - Write failing test (RED)
   - Implement minimal code (GREEN)
   - Refactor for quality (REFACTOR)
   - Repeat until all criteria met

3. VALIDATE
   - All tests passing?
   - All acceptance criteria met?
   - Code quality checks pass?
   - Documentation updated?

4. RAMP GATE (before the next, more ambitious task)
   - Invoke Skill(imbue:graduated-implementation)
   - Demonstrate understanding of THIS increment, sized to stakes:
     low-stakes on the evidence gate (green tests plus a recorded
     tradeoff), high-stakes on the human explaining the diff unaided
   - On a clean demonstration, record it in the ramp ledger and
     mark the rung widened; below the band, hold and split the next
     task smaller instead of ramping

5. CHECKPOINT
   - Mark task complete IMMEDIATELY (do NOT batch)
   - Update execution state
   - Report progress
   - Identify blockers

Task Completion Discipline: Always call TaskUpdate(taskId: "X", status: "completed") right after finishing each task. Never defer completions to end of session.

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Post-Execution Phase

Actions:

1. Verify all tasks complete
2. Run full test suite
3. Check code quality metrics
4. Generate completion report
5. Prepare for deployment/release
6. Record lessons learned (see below)

Record Lessons Learned (decision journal)

Implementation is where the honest lessons appear: the approach that had to be reworked, the blocker that cost a day, the assumption from planning that did not hold. Capture these in docs/lessons-learned.md now, blamelessly, instead of letting them vanish into "done." Draft and confirm one entry per substantive lesson:

• If leyline is installed, invoke Skill(leyline:decision-journal) and follow it to append a lesson entry: what_happened, what_didnt_work, root_cause, and a concrete action. Set phase to execute. Show the draft; append on confirmation (status starts open).
• Fallback (leyline absent): append to docs/lessons-learned.md by hand using the in-file ENTRY TEMPLATE; assign the next LL-NNN id.

Trigger this whenever execution involved rework, a failed approach, or a blocker that exhausted the two-challenge / 3-attempt limit. A clean run with no surprises needs no entry.

Terminal Phase Notice

This is the final phase of the attune workflow. No auto-continuation occurs after execution completes. The workflow terminates here. Unlike brainstorming, specification, and planning phases, execution does NOT auto-invoke any subsequent phase.

Task Execution Pattern

TDD Workflow

RED Phase:

# Write test that fails
def test_user_authentication():
    user = authenticate("user@example.com", "password")
    assert user.is_authenticated
# Run test → FAILS (feature not implemented)

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

GREEN Phase:

# Implement minimal code to pass
def authenticate(email, password):
    # Simplest implementation
    user = User.find_by_email(email)
    if user and user.check_password(password):
        user.is_authenticated = True
        return user
    return None
# Run test → PASSES

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

REFACTOR Phase:

# Improve code quality
def authenticate(email: str, password: str) -> Optional[User]:
    """Authenticate user with email and password."""
    user = User.find_by_email(email)
    if user is None:
        return None

    if not user.check_password(password):
        return None

    user.mark_authenticated()
    return user
# Run test → STILL PASSES

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Checkpoint Validation

Quality Gates:

- [ ] All acceptance criteria met
- [ ] All tests passing (unit + integration)
- [ ] Code linted (no warnings)
- [ ] Type checking passes (if applicable)
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] No regression in other components

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Automated Checks:

# Run quality gates
make lint          # Linting passes
make typecheck     # Type checking passes
make test          # All tests pass
make coverage      # Coverage threshold met

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Progress Tracking

Execution State

Save to .attune/execution-state.json:

{
  "plan_file": "docs/implementation-plan.md",
  "started_at": "2026-01-02T10:00:00Z",
  "last_checkpoint": "2026-01-02T14:30:22Z",
  "current_sprint": "Sprint 1",
  "current_phase": "Phase 1",
  "tasks": {
    "TASK-001": {
      "status": "complete",
      "started_at": "2026-01-02T10:05:00Z",
      "completed_at": "2026-01-02T10:50:00Z",
      "duration_minutes": 45,
      "acceptance_criteria_met": true,
      "tests_passing": true
    },
    "TASK-002": {
      "status": "in_progress",
      "started_at": "2026-01-02T14:00:00Z",
      "progress_percent": 60,
      "blocker": null
    }
  },
  "metrics": {
    "tasks_complete": 15,
    "tasks_total": 40,
    "completion_percent": 37.5,
    "velocity_tasks_per_day": 3.2,
    "estimated_completion_date": "2026-02-15"
  },
  "blockers": []
}

Verification: Run pytest -v to verify tests pass.

Progress Reports

Daily Standup:

# Daily Standup - [Date]

## Yesterday
- ✅ [Task] ([duration])
- ✅ [Task] ([duration])

## Today
- 🔄 [Task] ([progress]%)
- 📋 [Task] (planned)

## Blockers
- [Blocker] or None

## Metrics
- Sprint progress: [X/Y] tasks ([%]%)
- [Status message]

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

Sprint Report:

# Sprint [N] Progress Report

**Dates**: [Start] - [End]
**Goal**: [Sprint objective]

## Completed ([X] tasks)
- [Task list]

## In Progress ([Y] tasks)
- [Task] ([progress]%)

## Blocked ([Z] tasks)
- [Task]: [Blocker description]

## Burndown
- Day 1: [N] tasks remaining
- Day 5: [M] tasks remaining ([status])
- Estimated completion: [Date] ([delta])

## Risks
- [Risk] or None identified

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

Blocker Management

Blocker Detection

Common Blockers:

• Failing tests that can't be fixed quickly
• Missing dependencies or APIs
• Technical unknowns requiring research
• Resource unavailability
• Scope ambiguity

Systematic Debugging

When blocked, apply debugging framework:

1. Reproduce: Create minimal reproduction case
2. Hypothesize: Generate possible causes
3. Test: Validate hypotheses one by one
4. Resolve: Implement fix or workaround
5. Document: Record solution for future

Escalation

When to escalate:

• Blocker persists > 2 hours
• Requires architecture change
• Impacts critical path
• Needs stakeholder decision

Escalation format:

## Blocker: [TASK-XXX] - [Issue]

**Symptom**: [What's happening]

**Impact**: [Which tasks/timeline affected]

**Attempted Solutions**:
1. [Solution 1] - [Result]
2. [Solution 2] - [Result]

**Recommendation**: [Proposed path forward]

**Decision Needed**: [What needs to be decided]

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

Quality Assurance

Definition of Done

Task is complete when:

• ✅ All acceptance criteria met
• ✅ All tests written and passing
• ✅ Code reviewed (self or peer)
• ✅ Linting passes with no warnings
• ✅ Type checking passes (if applicable)
• ✅ Documentation updated
• ✅ No known regressions
• ✅ Deployed to staging (if applicable)

Testing Strategy

Test Pyramid:

**Verification:** Run `pytest -v` to verify tests pass.
     /\
    /E2E\      Few, slow, expensive
   /------\
  /  INT  \    Some, moderate speed
 /----------\
/   UNIT    \  Many, fast, cheap

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

Per Task:

• Unit tests: Test individual functions/classes
• Integration tests: Test component interactions
• E2E tests: Test complete user flows (for user-facing features)

Velocity Tracking

Burndown Metrics

Track daily:

• Tasks remaining
• Story points remaining
• Days left in sprint
• Velocity (tasks or points per day)

Formulas:

**Verification:** Run `pytest -v` to verify tests pass.
Velocity = Tasks completed / Days elapsed
Estimated completion = Tasks remaining / Velocity
On track? = Estimated completion <= Sprint end date

Verification: Run the command with --help flag to verify availability.

Velocity Adjustments

If ahead of schedule:

• Pull in stretch tasks
• Add technical debt reduction
• Improve test coverage
• Enhance documentation

If behind schedule:

• Identify causes (blockers, underestimation)
• Reduce scope (drop low-priority tasks)
• Increase focus (reduce distractions)
• Request help or extend timeline

Exit Criteria

• [ ] All planned tasks are marked complete and the full test suite passes.
• [ ] A completion report is generated.
• [ ] Any rework, failed approach, or exhausted-retry blocker is recorded to docs/lessons-learned.md as an open entry (a clean run needs none).
• [ ] No subsequent phase is auto-invoked (this is the terminal phase).

Related Skills

• Skill(superpowers:executing-plans) - Execution framework (if available)
• Skill(superpowers:systematic-debugging) - Debugging (if available)
• Skill(superpowers:test-driven-development) - TDD (if available)
• Skill(superpowers:verification-before-completion) - Validation (if available)
• Skill(attune:mission-orchestrator) - Full lifecycle orchestration

Related Agents

• Agent(attune:project-implementer) - Task execution agent

Related Commands

• /attune:execute - Invoke this skill
• /attune:execute --task [ID] - Execute specific task
• /attune:execute --resume - Resume from checkpoint

Mission Report

At mission completion, produce a Mission Report using the template from references/mission-report.md. The report documents:

• Mission identification: Links to brief, spec, plan
• Duration: Start, end, total time
• Outcome: success | partial | failed
• Delivered artifacts: Files created/modified/deleted
• Decisions: Key choices with rationale
• Validation evidence: Tests, reviews, demos
• Follow-ups: Recommended next steps

See references/mission-report.md for the full template and example reports for successful, partial, and failed missions.

Examples

See /attune:execute command documentation for complete examples.