bi-agents/_bmad/tea/workflows/testarch/bmad-testarch-automate/steps-c/step-01-preflight-and-context.md

name, description, outputFile, nextStepFile, knowledgeIndex

name	description	outputFile	nextStepFile	knowledgeIndex
step-01-preflight-and-context	Determine mode, verify framework, and load context and knowledge	{test_artifacts}/automation-summary.md	./step-02-identify-targets.md	{project-root}/_bmad/tea/testarch/tea-index.csv

Step 1: Preflight & Context Loading

STEP GOAL

Determine execution mode, verify framework readiness, and load the necessary artifacts and knowledge fragments.

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES

• 📖 Read the entire step file before acting
• ✅ Speak in {communication_language}
• 🚫 Halt if framework scaffolding is missing

---

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. Stack Detection & Verify Framework

Read config.test_stack_type from {config_source}.

Auto-Detection Algorithm (when test_stack_type is "auto" or not configured):

• Scan {project-root} for project manifests:
  • Frontend indicators: package.json with react/vue/angular/next dependencies, playwright.config.*, vite.config.*, webpack.config.*
  • Backend indicators: pyproject.toml, pom.xml/build.gradle, go.mod, *.csproj/*.sln, Gemfile, Cargo.toml
  • Both present = fullstack; only frontend = frontend; only backend = backend
• Explicit test_stack_type config value overrides auto-detection
• Backward compatibility: if test_stack_type is not in config, treat as "auto" (preserves current frontend behavior for existing installs)

Store result as {detected_stack} = frontend | backend | fullstack

Verify framework exists:

If {detected_stack} is frontend or fullstack:

• playwright.config.ts or cypress.config.ts
• package.json includes test dependencies

If {detected_stack} is backend or fullstack:

• Relevant test config exists (e.g., conftest.py, src/test/, *_test.go, .rspec, test project *.csproj)

If missing: HALT with message "Run framework workflow first."

---

2. Determine Execution Mode

• BMad-Integrated if story/tech-spec/test-design artifacts are provided or found
• Standalone if only source code is available
• If unclear, ask the user which mode to use

---

3. Load Context

BMad-Integrated (if available)

• Story with acceptance criteria
• PRD and/or tech spec
• Test-design document (if exists)

Standalone

• Skip artifacts; proceed to codebase analysis

Always Load

• Test framework config
• Existing test structure in {test_dir}
• Existing tests (for coverage gaps)

Read TEA Config Flags

• From {config_source} read tea_use_playwright_utils
• From {config_source} read tea_use_pactjs_utils
• From {config_source} read tea_pact_mcp
• From {config_source} read tea_browser_automation
• From {config_source} read test_stack_type

---

Tiered Knowledge Loading

Load fragments based on their tier classification in tea-index.csv:

1. Core tier (always load): Foundational fragments required for this workflow
2. Extended tier (load on-demand): Load when deeper analysis is needed or when the user's context requires it
3. Specialized tier (load only when relevant): Load only when the specific use case matches (e.g., contract-testing only for microservices, email-auth only for email flows)

Context Efficiency: Loading only core fragments reduces context usage by 40-50% compared to loading all fragments.

Playwright Utils Loading Profiles

If tea_use_playwright_utils is enabled, select the appropriate loading profile:

• API-only profile (when {detected_stack} is backend or no page.goto/page.locator found in test files): Load: overview, api-request, auth-session, recurse (~1,800 lines)

• Full UI+API profile (when {detected_stack} is frontend/fullstack or browser tests detected): Load: all Playwright Utils core fragments (~4,500 lines)

Detection: Scan {test_dir} for files containing page.goto or page.locator. If none found, use API-only profile.

Pact.js Utils Loading

If tea_use_pactjs_utils is enabled (and {detected_stack} is backend or fullstack, or microservices indicators detected):

Load: pactjs-utils-overview.md, pactjs-utils-consumer-helpers.md, pactjs-utils-provider-verifier.md, pactjs-utils-request-filter.md (~800 lines)

If tea_use_pactjs_utils is disabled but contract testing is relevant (microservices architecture detected, existing Pact config found):

Load: contract-testing.md (~960 lines)

Detection: Scan {project-root} for Pact indicators: pact/ directory, @pact-foundation/pact in package.json, pactUrls in test files, PACT_BROKER in env files.

Pact MCP Loading

If tea_pact_mcp is "mcp":

Load: pact-mcp.md (~150 lines) — enables agent to use SmartBear MCP tools for fetching provider states and generating pact tests during automation.

4. Load Knowledge Base Fragments

Use {knowledgeIndex} and load only what is required.

Core (always load):

• test-levels-framework.md
• test-priorities-matrix.md
• data-factories.md
• selective-testing.md
• ci-burn-in.md
• test-quality.md

Playwright Utils (if enabled):

• overview.md, api-request.md, network-recorder.md, auth-session.md, intercept-network-call.md, recurse.md, log.md, file-utils.md, burn-in.md, network-error-monitor.md, fixtures-composition.md

Traditional Patterns (if Playwright Utils disabled):

• fixture-architecture.md
• network-first.md

Pact.js Utils (if enabled):

• pactjs-utils-overview.md, pactjs-utils-consumer-helpers.md, pactjs-utils-provider-verifier.md, pactjs-utils-request-filter.md

Contract Testing (if pactjs-utils disabled but relevant):

• contract-testing.md

Pact MCP (if tea_pact_mcp is "mcp"):

• pact-mcp.md

Healing (if auto-heal enabled):

• test-healing-patterns.md
• selector-resilience.md
• timing-debugging.md

Playwright CLI (if tea_browser_automation is "cli" or "auto"):

• playwright-cli.md

MCP Patterns (if tea_browser_automation is "mcp" or "auto"):

• (existing MCP-related fragments, if any are added in future)

---

5. Confirm Inputs

Summarize loaded artifacts, framework, and knowledge fragments, then proceed.

---

6. Save Progress

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

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

  ---
  stepsCompleted: ['step-01-preflight-and-context']
  lastStep: 'step-01-preflight-and-context'
  lastSaved: '{date}'
  ---
  

  Then write this step's output below the frontmatter.

• If {outputFile} already exists, update:

  • Add 'step-01-preflight-and-context' to stepsCompleted array (only if not already present)
  • Set lastStep: 'step-01-preflight-and-context'
  • Set lastSaved: '{date}'
  • Append this step's output to the appropriate section.

Update inputDocuments: Set inputDocuments in the output template frontmatter to the list of artifact paths loaded in this step (e.g., knowledge fragments, test design documents, configuration files).

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.