Test Plan Generation Skill

What Is a Test Plan?

A Test Plan is the master document that defines the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of all testing activities for a software project or feature. As specified by IEEE 829 (Standard for Software and System Test Documentation), a test plan communicates the intent of testing to all stakeholders and provides a framework for organizing, tracking, and evaluating test efforts. It answers fundamental questions: what will be tested, how it will be tested, who will test it, when testing will happen, and what criteria determine whether testing is complete.

Within the software development lifecycle a Test Plan sits downstream of the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and Technical Design documents. It translates functional and non-functional requirements into concrete, verifiable test cases. A well-constructed Test Plan reduces the risk of undetected defects reaching production, provides measurable quality gates, and serves as the contractual agreement between development, QA, and product teams on what "done" means from a quality perspective.

This skill treats the Test Plan as a living artifact. It is authored once, but it evolves as requirements change, new risks emerge, and test execution reveals areas needing deeper coverage.

Six-Step Workflow

Every Test Plan generated by this skill follows a disciplined six-step process. Each step must be completed before moving to the next.

Step 1 -- Scan Project and Test Infrastructure

Before writing any test documentation, scan the project to build situational awareness of both the application under test and the existing test infrastructure.

1. Glob the project tree to discover the repository structure, source modules, and naming conventions. Use patterns such as **/*.md, **/package.json, **/pyproject.toml, **/*.test.*, **/*.spec.*, **/__tests__/**, or language-specific test directories to map the landscape.