Test Failure Analysis Mindset

Establish the governing contract before choosing a product or test correction.

Load Python Development Standards for shared rules, preserving the target repository's supported versions, configuration, and conventions.

Core principle

Tests encode claims about expected behavior. Validate those claims against authoritative intent; neither the test nor the current implementation is automatically correct. Documents can establish intent without proving execution. Preserve requirements and established project gates while investigating; do not invent policy to reconcile conflicting artifacts.

Competing hypotheses

Consider an implementation defect, an incorrect or outdated expectation, a producer/consumer contract mismatch, and a fixture, mock, observation, or CI/environment defect. More than one can apply. Name a discriminating observation before changing either the test or the product.