Pin the observed behavior of a running legacy system as replayable golden masters — record normalized stimulus/observation pairs into migration/characterization/, replay them against the lifted or re-architected system, report behavior diffs. Owns the record/replay/reconcile discipline; the observable surface (HTTP, messaging, batch files, CLI, database state) is system-dependent. Characterization tests are system tests whose expectations are recorded, not specified — composes with system-tests (contract) and the stack skill (test syntax). Brackets every code-changing migration step; retires as sbce specs and ears-tests take over. Invoke explicitly as /characterization-tests record|replay. Not for spec-derived tests — use ears-tests.
How to install characterization-tests?
adambien/airails/characterization-tests
$npx -y skills add adambien/airails --skill characterization-testsInstalls into the current project.
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Run `npx skills use "https://github.com/adambien/airails" --skill "adambien/airails/characterization-tests"` and follow the generated skill instructions now. Read its complete output, redirecting it to a temporary file first if necessary. Resolve relative paths from the supporting-files directory it provides.
Use the skills in "https://github.com/adambien/airails" that are relevant to the current task. Run `npx skills add "https://github.com/adambien/airails"` and select the relevant skills, then follow their instructions.
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