CollectFlow/_bmad/tea/workflows/testarch/automate/steps-c/step-01-preflight-and-context.md

name, description, outputFile, nextStepFile, knowledgeIndex

name	description	outputFile	nextStepFile	knowledgeIndex
step-01-preflight-and-context	Determine mode, verify framework, and load context and knowledge	{test_artifacts}/automation-summary.md	./step-02-identify-targets.md	{project-root}/_bmad/tea/testarch/tea-index.csv

Step 1: Preflight & Context Loading

STEP GOAL

Determine execution mode, verify framework readiness, and load the necessary artifacts and knowledge fragments.

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES

• 📖 Read the entire step file before acting
• ✅ Speak in {communication_language}
• 🚫 Halt if framework scaffolding is missing

---

EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

• 🎯 Follow the MANDATORY SEQUENCE exactly
• 💾 Record outputs before proceeding
• 📖 Load the next step only when instructed

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

• Available context: config, loaded artifacts, and knowledge fragments
• Focus: this step's goal only
• Limits: do not execute future steps
• Dependencies: prior steps' outputs (if any)

MANDATORY SEQUENCE

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

1. Verify Framework

Ensure a framework exists:

• playwright.config.ts or cypress.config.ts
• package.json includes test dependencies

If missing: HALT with message "Run framework workflow first."

---

2. Determine Execution Mode

• BMad-Integrated if story/tech-spec/test-design artifacts are provided or found
• Standalone if only source code is available
• If unclear, ask the user which mode to use

---

3. Load Context

BMad-Integrated (if available)

• Story with acceptance criteria
• PRD and/or tech spec
• Test-design document (if exists)

Standalone

• Skip artifacts; proceed to codebase analysis

Always Load

• Test framework config
• Existing test structure in {test_dir}
• Existing tests (for coverage gaps)

Read TEA Config Flags

• From {config_source} read tea_use_playwright_utils
• From {config_source} read tea_browser_automation

---

4. Load Knowledge Base Fragments

Use {knowledgeIndex} and load only what is required.

Core (always load):

• test-levels-framework.md
• test-priorities-matrix.md
• data-factories.md
• selective-testing.md
• ci-burn-in.md
• test-quality.md

Playwright Utils (if enabled):

• overview.md, api-request.md, network-recorder.md, auth-session.md, intercept-network-call.md, recurse.md, log.md, file-utils.md, burn-in.md, network-error-monitor.md, fixtures-composition.md

Traditional Patterns (if Playwright Utils disabled):

• fixture-architecture.md
• network-first.md

Healing (if auto-heal enabled):

• test-healing-patterns.md
• selector-resilience.md
• timing-debugging.md

Playwright CLI (if tea_browser_automation is "cli" or "auto"):

• playwright-cli.md

MCP Patterns (if tea_browser_automation is "mcp" or "auto"):

• (existing MCP-related fragments, if any are added in future)

---

5. Confirm Inputs

Summarize loaded artifacts, framework, and knowledge fragments, then proceed.

---

6. Save Progress

Save this step's accumulated work to {outputFile}.

• If {outputFile} does not exist (first save), create it with YAML frontmatter:

  ---
  stepsCompleted: ['step-01-preflight-and-context']
  lastStep: 'step-01-preflight-and-context'
  lastSaved: '{date}'
  ---
  

  Then write this step's output below the frontmatter.

• If {outputFile} already exists, update:

  • Add 'step-01-preflight-and-context' to stepsCompleted array (only if not already present)
  • Set lastStep: 'step-01-preflight-and-context'
  • Set lastSaved: '{date}'
  • Append this step's output to the appropriate section.

Load next step: {nextStepFile}

🚨 SYSTEM SUCCESS/FAILURE METRICS:

✅ SUCCESS:

• Step completed in full with required outputs

❌ SYSTEM FAILURE:

• Skipped sequence steps or missing outputs Master Rule: Skipping steps is FORBIDDEN.