CollectFlow/_bmad/tea/workflows/testarch/atdd/steps-c/step-04-generate-tests.md

name, description, nextStepFile

name	description	nextStepFile
step-04-generate-tests	Orchestrate parallel FAILING test generation (TDD red phase)	./step-04c-aggregate.md

Step 4: Orchestrate Parallel FAILING Test Generation

STEP GOAL

Launch parallel subprocesses to generate FAILING API and E2E tests simultaneously (TDD RED PHASE) for maximum performance.

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES

• 📖 Read the entire step file before acting
• ✅ Speak in {communication_language}
• ✅ Launch TWO subprocesses in PARALLEL
• ✅ Generate FAILING tests only (TDD red phase)
• ✅ Wait for BOTH subprocesses to complete
• ❌ Do NOT generate sequential tests (use subprocesses)
• ❌ Do NOT generate passing tests (this is red phase)
• ❌ Do NOT proceed until both subprocesses finish

---

EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

• 🎯 Follow the MANDATORY SEQUENCE exactly
• 💾 Wait for subprocess outputs
• 📖 Load the next step only when instructed

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

• Available context: config, acceptance criteria from Step 1, test strategy from Step 3
• Focus: subprocess orchestration only
• Limits: do not generate tests directly (delegate to subprocesses)
• Dependencies: Steps 1-3 outputs

---

MANDATORY SEQUENCE

CRITICAL: Follow this sequence exactly. Do not skip, reorder, or improvise.

1. Prepare Subprocess Inputs

Generate unique timestamp for temp file naming:

const timestamp = new Date().toISOString().replace(/[:.]/g, '-');

Prepare input context for both subprocesses:

const subprocessContext = {
  story_acceptance_criteria: /* from Step 1 */,
  test_strategy: /* from Step 3 */,
  knowledge_fragments_loaded: /* list of fragments */,
  config: {
    test_framework: config.test_framework,
    use_playwright_utils: config.tea_use_playwright_utils,
    browser_automation: config.tea_browser_automation
  },
  timestamp: timestamp
};

---

2. Launch Subprocess A: Failing API Test Generation

Launch subprocess in parallel:

• Subprocess File: ./step-04a-subprocess-api-failing.md
• Output File: /tmp/tea-atdd-api-tests-${timestamp}.json
• Context: Pass subprocessContext
• Execution: PARALLEL (non-blocking)
• TDD Phase: RED (failing tests)

System Action:

🚀 Launching Subprocess A: FAILING API Test Generation (RED PHASE)
📝 Output: /tmp/tea-atdd-api-tests-${timestamp}.json
🔴 TDD Phase: RED (tests will fail until feature implemented)
⏳ Status: Running in parallel...

---

3. Launch Subprocess B: Failing E2E Test Generation

Launch subprocess in parallel:

• Subprocess File: ./step-04b-subprocess-e2e-failing.md
• Output File: /tmp/tea-atdd-e2e-tests-${timestamp}.json
• Context: Pass subprocessContext
• Execution: PARALLEL (non-blocking)
• TDD Phase: RED (failing tests)

System Action:

🚀 Launching Subprocess B: FAILING E2E Test Generation (RED PHASE)
📝 Output: /tmp/tea-atdd-e2e-tests-${timestamp}.json
🔴 TDD Phase: RED (tests will fail until feature implemented)
⏳ Status: Running in parallel...

---

4. Wait for Both Subprocesses to Complete

Monitor subprocess execution:

⏳ Waiting for subprocesses to complete...
  ├── Subprocess A (API RED): Running... ⟳
  └── Subprocess B (E2E RED): Running... ⟳

[... time passes ...]

  ├── Subprocess A (API RED): Complete ✅
  └── Subprocess B (E2E RED): Complete ✅

✅ All subprocesses completed successfully!

Verify both outputs exist:

const apiOutputExists = fs.existsSync(`/tmp/tea-atdd-api-tests-${timestamp}.json`);
const e2eOutputExists = fs.existsSync(`/tmp/tea-atdd-e2e-tests-${timestamp}.json`);

if (!apiOutputExists || !e2eOutputExists) {
  throw new Error('One or both subprocess outputs missing!');
}

---

5. TDD Red Phase Report

Display TDD status:

🔴 TDD RED PHASE: Failing Tests Generated

✅ Both subprocesses completed:
- API Tests: Generated with test.skip()
- E2E Tests: Generated with test.skip()

📋 All tests assert EXPECTED behavior
📋 All tests will FAIL until feature implemented
📋 This is INTENTIONAL (TDD red phase)

Next: Aggregation will verify TDD compliance

---

6. Performance Report

Display performance metrics:

🚀 Performance Report:
- Execution Mode: PARALLEL (2 subprocesses)
- API Test Generation: ~X minutes
- E2E Test Generation: ~Y minutes
- Total Elapsed: ~max(X, Y) minutes
- Sequential Would Take: ~(X + Y) minutes
- Performance Gain: ~50% faster!

---

7. Proceed to Aggregation

Load aggregation step: Load next step: {nextStepFile}

The aggregation step (4C) will:

• Read both subprocess outputs
• Verify TDD red phase compliance (all tests have test.skip())
• Write all test files to disk
• Generate ATDD checklist
• Calculate summary statistics

---

EXIT CONDITION

Proceed to Step 4C (Aggregation) when:

• ✅ Subprocess A (API failing tests) completed successfully
• ✅ Subprocess B (E2E failing tests) completed successfully
• ✅ Both output files exist and are valid JSON
• ✅ TDD red phase status reported

Do NOT proceed if:

• ❌ One or both subprocesses failed
• ❌ Output files missing or corrupted
• ❌ Subprocess generated passing tests (wrong - must be failing)

---

🚨 SYSTEM SUCCESS/FAILURE METRICS:

✅ SUCCESS:

• Both subprocesses launched successfully
• Both subprocesses completed without errors
• Output files generated and valid
• Tests generated with test.skip() (TDD red phase)
• Parallel execution achieved ~50% performance gain

❌ SYSTEM FAILURE:

• Failed to launch subprocesses
• One or both subprocesses failed
• Output files missing or invalid
• Tests generated without test.skip() (wrong phase)
• Attempted sequential generation instead of parallel

Master Rule: TDD RED PHASE requires FAILING tests (with test.skip()). Parallel subprocess execution is MANDATORY for performance.