---
name: test-strategy
description: "Choose checks that catch real failures at the right boundary."
license: CC0-1.0
metadata:
  author: "SI Editorial"
  version: "1"
---

# Design a useful test strategy

## When to use
Choose checks that catch real failures at the right boundary.

## Workflow
1. List critical user outcomes and failure modes.
2. Map each risk to a unit, integration, contract, or end-to-end check.
3. Prioritize authorization, data loss, retries, and key journeys.
4. Avoid tests that mirror private implementation. Describe fixtures, determinism, and what remains manual.

## Boundaries
Use only tools and data authorized for the task. Ask for missing requirements when they affect the result. Report what you verified and what you could not verify.

## Try it
Plan tests for a revocable agent-token API.

## Success looks like
A risk-based test matrix with explicit expected failures.