bi-agents/_bmad/tea/workflows/testarch/bmad-testarch-automate/steps-c/step-02-identify-targets.md

name, description, outputFile, nextStepFile

name	description	outputFile	nextStepFile
step-02-identify-targets	Identify automation targets and create coverage plan	{test_artifacts}/automation-summary.md	./step-03-generate-tests.md

Step 2: Identify Automation Targets

STEP GOAL

Determine what needs to be tested and select appropriate test levels and priorities.

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES

• 📖 Read the entire step file before acting
• ✅ Speak in {communication_language}
• 🚫 Avoid duplicate coverage across test levels

---

EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

• 🎯 Follow the MANDATORY SEQUENCE exactly
• 💾 Record outputs before proceeding
• 📖 Load the next step only when instructed

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

• Available context: config, loaded artifacts, and knowledge fragments
• Focus: this step's goal only
• Limits: do not execute future steps
• Dependencies: prior steps' outputs (if any)

MANDATORY SEQUENCE

CRITICAL: Follow this sequence exactly. Do not skip, reorder, or improvise.

1. Determine Targets

BMad-Integrated:

• Map acceptance criteria to test scenarios
• Check for existing ATDD outputs to avoid duplication
• Expand coverage with edge cases and negative paths

Standalone:

• If specific target feature/files are provided, focus there
• Otherwise auto-discover features in {source_dir}
• Prioritize critical paths, integrations, and untested logic

If {detected_stack} is frontend or fullstack:

Browser Exploration (if tea_browser_automation is cli or auto):

Fallback: If CLI is not installed, fall back to MCP (if available) or skip browser exploration and rely on code/doc analysis.

Use CLI to explore the application and identify testable pages/flows:

1. playwright-cli -s=tea-automate open <target_url>
2. playwright-cli -s=tea-automate snapshot → capture page structure and element refs
3. Analyze snapshot output to identify testable elements and flows
4. playwright-cli -s=tea-automate close

Session Hygiene: Always close sessions using playwright-cli -s=tea-automate close. Do NOT use close-all — it kills every session on the machine and breaks parallel execution.

If {detected_stack} is backend or fullstack:

Source & API Analysis (no browser exploration):

• Scan source code for route handlers, controllers, service classes, and public APIs
• Read OpenAPI/Swagger specs (openapi.yaml, swagger.json) if available
• Identify database models, migrations, and data access patterns
• Map service-to-service integrations and message queue consumers/producers
• Check for existing contract tests (Pact, etc.)

---

If use_pactjs_utils is enabled — Provider Endpoint Mapping (all stacks):

When consumer-driven contract tests will be generated, build a Provider Endpoint Map during target identification. This applies to all {detected_stack} values — frontend, backend, and fullstack consumers all need provider scrutiny.

1. Locate provider source and/or OpenAPI spec: Scan workspace for provider project (from config, monorepo structure, or adjacent repositories). Also check for OpenAPI/Swagger spec files (openapi.yaml, openapi.json, swagger.json) — these document the provider's contract explicitly and can supplement or replace handler code analysis.
2. Map each consumer endpoint to its provider counterpart:
   • Provider file path (route handler)
   • Route pattern (METHOD + path)
   • Validation schema location (Joi, Zod, class-validator) or OpenAPI request schema
   • Response type/DTO definition location or OpenAPI response schema
   • OpenAPI spec path (if available, e.g., server/openapi.yaml)
3. Output as "Provider Endpoint Map" table in the coverage plan:

| Consumer Endpoint     | Provider File                     | Route                     | Validation Schema                   | Response Type   | OpenAPI Spec                                      |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| GET /api/v2/users/:id | server/src/routes/userHandlers.ts | GET /api/v2/users/:userId | server/src/validation/user.ts       | UserResponseDto | server/openapi.yaml#/paths/~1api~1v2~1users~1{id} |
| POST /api/v2/users    | server/src/routes/userHandlers.ts | POST /api/v2/users        | server/src/validation/createUser.ts | UserResponseDto | server/openapi.yaml#/paths/~1api~1v2~1users       |

4. If provider source not accessible: Mark entries with TODO — provider source not accessible and note in coverage plan that provider scrutiny will use graceful degradation (see contract-testing.md Provider Scrutiny Protocol)

---

2. Choose Test Levels

Use test-levels-framework.md to select:

• E2E for critical user journeys
• API for business logic and service contracts
• Component for UI behavior
• Unit for pure logic and edge cases

---

3. Assign Priorities

Use test-priorities-matrix.md:

• P0: Critical path + high risk
• P1: Important flows + medium/high risk
• P2: Secondary + edge cases
• P3: Optional/rare scenarios

---

4. Coverage Plan

Produce a concise coverage plan:

• Targets by test level
• Priority assignments
• Justification for coverage scope (critical-paths/comprehensive/selective)

---

5. Save Progress

Save this step's accumulated work to {outputFile}.

• If {outputFile} does not exist (first save), create it with YAML frontmatter:

  ---
  stepsCompleted: ['step-02-identify-targets']
  lastStep: 'step-02-identify-targets'
  lastSaved: '{date}'
  ---
  

  Then write this step's output below the frontmatter.

• If {outputFile} already exists, update:

  • Add 'step-02-identify-targets' to stepsCompleted array (only if not already present)
  • Set lastStep: 'step-02-identify-targets'
  • Set lastSaved: '{date}'
  • Append this step's output to the appropriate section.

Load next step: {nextStepFile}

🚨 SYSTEM SUCCESS/FAILURE METRICS:

✅ SUCCESS:

• Step completed in full with required outputs

❌ SYSTEM FAILURE:

• Skipped sequence steps or missing outputs Master Rule: Skipping steps is FORBIDDEN.