Launch the app and hands-on verify that it works by interacting with it. Falls back to an existing integration test suite when there is no interactive surface in scope.
SkillScore55Maintained
Automatic
◆QA & Test Engineering pack
Last verified 8/27/2026
What it changes
Passed 9 of 17 test cases with the skill, and 8 of 17 without it.
Without skill45%
With skill55%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Confirms the port is released before reporting cleanup complete.
Recommends running the $investigate skill on the smoke test report.
Records the stub PID and port in the Setup contract under Owned cleanup.
and 2 more in the full report
5 fixed7 passed either way7 still failing3 broke
Pass-rate lift
+9 pp
Tokens
+102%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-29%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/27/2026v612 of 22 cases passed with skill · 17 comparable
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 5 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 5
Prompt
A smoke test execution against shipping-tracker-app resulted in 2 failed scenarios out of 5. What specific diagnostic skill command should be recommended to investigate the failure report?
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Recommends running the $investigate skill on the smoke test report.
Missed
Passed
case-22 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/27/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md150 linessingle file
Smoke Test
Launch the app and hands-on verify that it works by interacting with it. Every smoke test is a concrete interaction with the running app: navigating a screen, clicking a control, filling a form, running a CLI command, and observing the result.
Step 1: Determine Scope
Resolve scope using the first match:
User-specified — the user says what to test. Use that.
PR — a PR URL or number is provided. Fetch the PR details (title, description, changed files, comments) and read the changed code.
Conversation context — prior conversation contains recent work (a feature, fix, or refactor). Extract what changed, where it lives, and expected behavior.
App-level discovery — fresh context with no prior work. Examine the project (entry points, routes, commands, README) to identify the app's core user-facing flows. Design tests that verify the app launches and its primary functionality works end-to-end.
Step 2: Determine Testing Approach
Always check for project-specific testing skills or MCP tools first. Use the fallbacks below when nothing project-specific is available:
Library with no entry point → report that smoke testing is not applicable and stop
Step 3: Plan Smoke Tests
Before drafting tests, check whether there is something to exercise:
No user-visible change in the resolved scope — look for an existing integration test target that covers the change and is not part of the default test suite (so it hasn't already run in this session). If one exists, run it via the Integration Test Path in Step 4. If nothing exists, report that there is no interactive surface to verify and no separate integration suite to fall back on, then stop.
Required infrastructure cannot be stood up in this session (backend service, auth provider, seed data, external dependency) — look for a stub before reporting blocked. When the dependency is reached through a client whose endpoint is runtime configuration, repoint that endpoint at a local stub; the same interception yields an artifact the system emits rather than provides (a token, a session identifier, a single-use link). Confine this to runtime configuration and leave the working tree unchanged. When a stub works, record its response shapes and state transitions in the Setup contract's Mock boundaries item, and its PID and port in Owned cleanup, then carry on with the plan. Report blocked when no stub applies or the ones that do fail, naming what is missing and what was tried, then stop.
A test needs privileged state or a second participant (an entitlement or plan tier, an elevated role, a second concurrent client or session) — provision it through a path the project already exposes for development, such as its own development-only endpoint, an administrative command, or a second client this run starts. Keep the test in the plan once provisioning succeeds, and record the granted state in the Setup contract's Test identity item and every session, role, and record this run creates in Owned cleanup. When the provisioning path writes to a shared external system, carry it through the write enumeration and approval sequence this step requires for such writes. Drop the test to unverified only after an attempt failed.
Otherwise, design targeted smoke tests. Each test should:
Exercise a specific flow from the determined scope
Stage files, create a commit, and push in one step. Use when the user asks to "stage commit and push", "add commit and push", "commit and push", or "commit and push my changes".