Decide whether a change warrants new tests and choose proportionate verification. Use before adding tests, when planning validation, or when reviewing whether a proposed test protects meaningful behavior.
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---
name: strategic-testing
description: Decide whether a change warrants new tests and choose proportionate verification. Use before adding tests, when planning validation, or when reviewing whether a proposed test protects meaningful behavior.
---
# Strategic testing
Add tests only when they protect meaningful behavior or a stable contract that existing checks could realistically miss.
- Prioritize domain invariants, important edge cases, public interfaces, persisted data, security boundaries, and integration seams.
- Skip tests for mechanical edits, implementation details, existing coverage, or changes already verified by types, linting, or schema validation.
- Choose the smallest test level that protects the behavior.
Before adding a test, identify the realistic failure it prevents and confirm that the maintenance cost is justified. If that case is weak, do not add one.
