CollectFlow/_bmad/tea/workflows/testarch/automate/steps-c/step-03-generate-tests.md

name, description, nextStepFile

name	description	nextStepFile
step-03-generate-tests	Orchestrate parallel test generation via subprocesses	./step-03c-aggregate.md

Step 3: Orchestrate Parallel Test Generation

STEP GOAL

Launch parallel subprocesses to generate API and E2E tests simultaneously for maximum performance.

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES

• 📖 Read the entire step file before acting
• ✅ Speak in {communication_language}
• ✅ Launch TWO subprocesses in PARALLEL
• ✅ Wait for BOTH subprocesses to complete
• ❌ Do NOT generate tests sequentially (use subprocesses)
• ❌ 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, coverage plan from Step 2, knowledge fragments
• Focus: subprocess orchestration only
• Limits: do not generate tests directly (delegate to subprocesses)
• Dependencies: Step 2 outputs (coverage plan, target features)

---

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 = {
  features: /* from Step 2 coverage plan */,
  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  // "auto" | "cli" | "mcp" | "none"
  },
  timestamp: timestamp
};

---

2. Launch Subprocess A: API Test Generation

Launch subprocess in parallel:

• Subprocess File: ./step-03a-subprocess-api.md
• Output File: /tmp/tea-automate-api-tests-${timestamp}.json
• Context: Pass subprocessContext
• Execution: PARALLEL (non-blocking)

System Action:

🚀 Launching Subprocess A: API Test Generation
📝 Output: /tmp/tea-automate-api-tests-${timestamp}.json
⏳ Status: Running in parallel...

---

3. Launch Subprocess B: E2E Test Generation

Launch subprocess in parallel:

• Subprocess File: ./step-03b-subprocess-e2e.md
• Output File: /tmp/tea-automate-e2e-tests-${timestamp}.json
• Context: Pass subprocessContext
• Execution: PARALLEL (non-blocking)

System Action:

🚀 Launching Subprocess B: E2E Test Generation
📝 Output: /tmp/tea-automate-e2e-tests-${timestamp}.json
⏳ Status: Running in parallel...

---

4. Wait for Both Subprocesses to Complete

Monitor subprocess execution:

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

[... time passes ...]

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

✅ All subprocesses completed successfully!

Verify both outputs exist:

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

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

---

5. 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!

---

6. Proceed to Aggregation

Load aggregation step: Load next step: {nextStepFile}

The aggregation step (3C) will:

• Read both subprocess outputs
• Write all test files to disk
• Generate shared fixtures and helpers
• Calculate summary statistics

---

EXIT CONDITION

Proceed to Step 3C (Aggregation) when:

• ✅ Subprocess A (API tests) completed successfully
• ✅ Subprocess B (E2E tests) completed successfully
• ✅ Both output files exist and are valid JSON
• ✅ Performance metrics displayed

Do NOT proceed if:

• ❌ One or both subprocesses failed
• ❌ Output files missing or corrupted
• ❌ Timeout occurred (subprocesses took too long)

---

🚨 SYSTEM SUCCESS/FAILURE METRICS:

✅ SUCCESS:

• Both subprocesses launched successfully
• Both subprocesses completed without errors
• Output files generated and valid
• Parallel execution achieved ~50% performance gain

❌ SYSTEM FAILURE:

• Failed to launch subprocesses
• One or both subprocesses failed
• Output files missing or invalid
• Attempted sequential generation instead of parallel

Master Rule: Parallel subprocess execution is MANDATORY for performance.